Month: September 2023

As part of my work with a local police agency, I facilitate a 30-minute learning module to introduce new recruits on how polices and procedures are developed and implemented within the organization. This learning experience allows for a Community of Inquiry (COI) to be established.

A COI is “a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and confirm mutual understanding” (Garrison & Akyol, 2013, pg.105). It assumes that meaningful learning comes from the interaction of the following: teaching presence, cognitive presence, and social presence.

Based on Garrison, Anderson & Archer’s definitions, the University of Buffalo (2023) defines each presence as follows:

• Teaching presence: The design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes.
• Cognitive presence: The extent to which the participants can construct and confirm meaning through sustained communication.
• Social presence: The ability to interact with others in a meaningful way.

Teaching Presence

Teaching presence ensures that leaners are being provided with meaningful course content and materials that are developed based on the strategic design and organization of the course (University of Buffalo, 2023).

To create teaching presence in police recruit training, I use the following strategies as suggested by Lynch (2016):

• Present content in an effective and focused manner – I ensure that course content is designed clearly and logically so it meets course learning objectives; this helps ensure that learners are constructing meaning from the content.
• Present content in a conversational rather than academic style – I deliver course content in a casual, conversational style to keep learners engaged and to avoid learners feeling intimidated by what they are learning.
• Share personal meaning/experience – I share personal meaning and experience as it relates to the course content to help enhance learner’s understanding of the content.

Cognitive Presence

Cognitive presence ensures that learners are building critical thinking and problem-solving skills, while developing a deep understanding of the content (University of Buffalo, 2023).

To create cognitive presence in police recruit training, I use the following strategies as suggested by the University of Buffalo (2023):

• Use diverse resources to help learners understand key concepts – I demonstrate the use of the policy software during the learning module and provide handouts on the key concepts discussed.
• Give multiple opportunities for retrieval and rehearsal – I ask learners to follow along and practice the tasks they are learning with regards to the policy software (for example, try marking a policy as read).
• Incorporate frequent assessment and feedback – I frequently ask learners if they have any questions or if I’m going too fast, and encourage them to speak up if isn’t clear; this allows me to make adjustments during the module to meet their needs.

Social Presence

Social presence ensures that learners will be able to apply communication and collaboration skills within their learning context (University of Buffalo, 2023).

To create social presence in police recruit training, I use the following strategies as suggested by Decker (2016), Garcia-O’Neil (2016), and University of Buffalo (2023):

• Invite learners to share personal and professional experiences – I ask learners to share any previous experiences with policy and procedures in their day-to-day work.
• Use open-ended, critical thinking discussion questions – I ask learners open-ended questions, such as “What is the importance of having policies within the organization?”, to prompt reflection and allow learners to use critical thinking skills.
• Be responsive to learners needs – I provide my contact details to learners and remind them that I am always available to answer questions.

References

Community of Inquiry. Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation – University at Buffalo. (2023, April 4). https://www.buffalo.edu/catt/develop/teach/learning-environments/community-of-inquiry.html

Decker, G. (2016). IDel TIP sheet. https://www1.villanova.edu/content/dam/villanova/vital/pdfs/community_of_inquiry.pdf

Garcia-O’Neill, E. (2016, January 21). Social presence in online learning: 7 things instructional designers can do to improve it. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/social-presence-in-online-learning-7-things-instructional-designers-can-improve

Garrison, D. & Akyol, Zehra. (2013). The Community of Inquiry Theoretical Framework. Handbook of Distance Education. 104-119.

Lynch, J. (2016). Teaching presence. https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/ped-blogs/wp-content/pdfs/INSTR6230_TeachingPresence_WP_f.pdf

3 Initial Thoughts

1. Whenever I hear the word “facilitation”, my initial thought is that it’s synonymous with teaching. While this isn’t necessarily wrong, I also recognize that facilitation is so much more. The Association for Talent Development (n.d.) emphasizes that facilitation and presentation are key tools that every trainer should have, yet differentiates between the two, stating that “in contrast to presentation, which is typically characterized by a “sage on the stage” delivering content to an audience, facilitation usually involves a “guide on the side” who asks questions, moderates, discussions, introduces activities, and helps participants learn” (para.1).
2. Boettcher’s (n.d.) ten principles are a great guide to facilitating in an online environment. I recently interviewed for an online instructor position, and among their questions, they asked if I would be open to having a dedicated time each week for students to ask questions (similar to office hours). Since Boettcher (n.d.) emphasized the importance of being present for students, this is something that I will focus on should I be successful in getting the position.
3. I appreciate that Boettcher (n.d.) said that “learning within the setting of an online course community will work better for some students than for others. Some students may choose not to participate very actively at all” (“Best Practice 2”). I am often this student since I don’t feel as though discussion forums are an organic way of communicating. Despite this, I am still interested in many of the topics that are discussed, I just prefer to communicate in-person with smaller groups. All this is to say that not even the greatest facilitator, or leading edge technologies, can tailor an online environment to everyone’s preference.

2 Questions

1. As Boettcher (n.d.) said, “if content is not digital, it is as if it does not exist for students” (“Best Practice “), and since we live in such digital-heavy world, do we even need to specify digital facilitation, or will there be a time (if not already) where facilitation is just assumed to be digital?
2. What can digital facilitators do to help those who are not keen on participating in discussion forums?

1 Metaphor

I couldn’t help but laugh at Boettcher’s (n.d.) comment that content can be accessed through mp3 players – a rather dated reference. But as we all know, technology changes quickly, which leads to digital facilitation evolving as well. I took the metaphor of looking into the future to ponder what’s next for digital facilitation.

References

Boettcher, J. V. (n.d.). Ten best practices for teaching online. Design for Learning. http://designingforlearning.info/writing/ten-best-practices-for-teaching-online/

What is facilitation?: ATD. (n.d.). https://www.td.org/talent-development-glossary-terms/what-is-facilitation