Kristin's Blog

In BC’s K to 12 schools, new electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) have been introduced to assist teachers in communicating ongoing student learning. These e-portfolios are Freshgrade Connect and myBlueprint Spaces. 

Anderson, Archer, and Garrison’s (2000) Community of Inquiry (COI) is a learning theory which specifically considers online learning. COI considers three presences: teaching, learning, and social. The following infographic supports K to 12 teachers in effectively developing a Community of Inquiry (CoI) through sample tasks meant to develop the teaching, social, and learning presence.

These chosen suggestions are based on Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes, and Garrison’s principles of the teaching, social, and learning presences. The rationale is to offer varied opportunities for developing presences to suite varied learning and teaching styles. The variety offered also is intended to support presences in various stages of development and within various subjects and grades. As “[f]acilitation exists as the central activity of teaching in an educational community of inquiry that emerges from the activity between students and instructor” (Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes, & Garrison, 2013, ch. 3) it is the first presence addressed. Teaching presence is important in developing a safe and effective community to allow for learner inquiry. 

References

Anderson, T., Archer, W., & Garrison, D. R. (2000). Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2), 87–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(00)00016-6 

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Athabasca University Press. Chapter 3: Facilitation (pp. 45-61).