{"id":870,"date":"2020-09-06T16:39:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T20:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/?p=870"},"modified":"2020-09-07T11:10:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-07T15:10:15","slug":"digital-facilitation-applying-a-community-of-inquiry-framework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/digital-facilitation-applying-a-community-of-inquiry-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Facilitation: Applying a Community of Inquiry Framework"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having spent many years as a K-12 educator, I now work as an Edtech Trainer with a company that provides learning management systems to K-12, Higher Ed, and business sectors. For this assignment, I will focus on incorporating the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework into training sessions that I facilitate with K-12 teachers that occur in three, synchronous, two-hour-long sessions. The CoI model integrates three core elements: teacher presence, social presence, and cognitive presence (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching Presence<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching presence is the \u201cbinding element\u201d to facilitating a successful CoI (Garrison et al., 2000, p. 96). Instructors (facilitators) first need to establish a clear agenda and structure for the session to assist learners to engage in cognitive presence (\u201cOnline Discussions: Tips for Instructors\u201d, n.d., para. 12). A clear agenda includes what Bull (2013) refers to as valve control<\/em>, a necessary \u201cregulation of the amount of content [to be] covered\u201d (Garrison et al., 2000, p. 96). Secondly, Vaughan et al. (2000) encourage the instructor \u201cto be real and affective\u201d, encouraging a community<\/em> of learners, whereby the facilitator is not only what Bull (2013) refers to as a co-learner,<\/em> but also a tour-guide<\/em> that is appropriately responsive to the group\u2019s learning dynamics (p. 57). Garrison et al. (2000) posit that \u201cfacilitation is necessary to set in motion the inquiry dynamics, but direct instruction may be employed where facilitation of discourse no longer moves the inquiry to integration and resolution\u201d (p. 55). Lastly, providing a summary of learning and discussions helps learners to frame the content and prepare for the next session (Vaughan et al., 2013, pp. 55, 59).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Presence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An effective\nonline learning experience creates the space for virtual introductions at the outset\nof the development of the Community (Vaughan et al., 2013, p. 50). Garrison et\nal. (2000) define social presence \u201cas the ability of participants in the CoI to\nproject their personal characteristics into the community\u201d (p. 89). A vital\nrole of the instructor is to encourage reflective questions, to create\nopportunities for the Community to interact; however, if there is not social\npresence of learners, questions will not be as dynamic or reflective of all voices\n<\/em>in the Community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive Presence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CoI functions optimally\nwhen group norms and learning outcomes are shared at the outset (Vaughan, 2013,\np. 50). A scaffolded model of learning (also shared as an element of teaching\npresence<\/em>) can ease learner-anxiety about the cognitive load or content,\nsetting the stage for cognitive presence. The instructor plays an essential\nrole in mitigating challenges in the group\u2019s cognitive presence by keeping\ndiscussions focused<\/em> (Richardson, Caskurlu, & Ashby, 2018, para. 4). As\nmuch as maintaining a focus in discussions is essential, an instructor also\nneeds to provide opportunities for exploration and integration of new content \u201cto\nelicit multiple levels of critical thinking\u201d (Richardson, Sadaf, & Ertmer,\n2012, as cited in Richardson, 2018, para. 1). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garrison et al. (2000) articulate a \u201ccollaborative constructionist perspective\u201d <\/strong>that will guide my efforts to apply empathy and effective facilitation considering \u201cthe learner\u2019s personal world (reflective and meaning-focused) as well as the shared world (collaborative and knowledge-focused)\u201d (p. 92). My goals revolve around sharing skills to best assist K-12 educators in the revolutionary shift in educational practices that have been created by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bull, B. (2013, June 3). Eight Roles of an Effective Online Teacher. Online Education: Faculty Focus\u2014Higher Ed Teaching Strategies from Magna Publication. <\/em>Retrieved from https:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/online-education\/eight-roles-of-an-effective-online-teacher\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education model. The Internet and Higher Education<\/em>, 2<\/em>(2-3), pp. 87-105. Retrieved from http:\/\/cde.athabascau.ca\/coi_site\/documents\/Garrison_Anderson_Archer_Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mintz, S.\n(2020, February). Beyond the discussion board. Inside Higher Ed. <\/em>Retrieved\nfrom https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/blogs\/higher-ed-gamma\/beyond-discussion-board<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online\nDiscussions: Tips for Instructors (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/uwaterloo.ca\/centre-for-teaching-excellence\/teaching-resources\/teaching-tips\/alternatives-lecturing\/discussions\/online-discussions-tips-for-instructors<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richardson J.\n(2018). Varying your discussion prompts as an instructional strategy. Collaborative Online Learning: Fostering Effective\nDiscussions. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. <\/em>Retrieved from https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/innovativelearning\/supporting-instruction\/portal\/files\/8.1_Varying_your_Discussion_Prompts_as_an_Instructional_Strategy.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richardson, J., Caskurlu, S., & Ashby, I. (2018). Facilitating your online discussions. Collaborative Online Learning: Fostering Effective Discussions. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. <\/em>Retrieved from https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/innovativelearning\/supportinginstruction\/portal\/files\/8_Discussion_Board_Facilitation.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selwyn, N. (2020). Online learning: Rethinking teachers\u2019 \u2018digital competence\u2019 in light of Covid-19. Lens: Monash University<\/em>.\u00a0Retrieved from https:\/\/lens.monash.edu\/@education\/2020\/04\/30\/1380217\/online-learning-rethinking-teachers-digital-competence-in-light-of-covid-19<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching\nin blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of\ninquiry.<\/em> Retrieved from https:\/\/www.aupress.ca\/books\/120229-teaching-in-blended-learning-environments\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having spent many years as a K-12 educator, I now work as an Edtech Trainer with a company that provides learning management systems to K-12, Higher Ed, and business sectors. For this assignment, I will focus on incorporating the Community… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lrnt528","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":895,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions\/895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}