{"id":253,"date":"2025-09-07T18:50:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/?p=253"},"modified":"2025-09-07T18:50:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:50:35","slug":"facilitating-presence-in-digital-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/facilitating-presence-in-digital-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Facilitating Presence in Digital Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For my LNRT528 course assignment at RRU, I drew on my experience teaching grades 7\u201312 during the sudden switch to online learning. At that time, I didn\u2019t know about the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model. Like many teachers, I was improvising, trying to keep students engaged while navigating new digital platforms. Looking back now with the CoI framework in mind, I can see how much it could have helped me be more intentional in my approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I had applied the CoI model then, here\u2019s what my strategies might have looked like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Teaching presence<\/strong> would have meant building a stronger structure and clarity. Weekly learning goals, step-by-step guides, and short video walkthroughs could have helped reduce confusion. Timely, encouraging feedback would have been a way to both guide and reassure students during uncertain times.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Social presence<\/strong> was one of the hardest things to maintain online, and this is where the CoI lens feels especially valuable. I did small things like check-ins and group work, but I can see now how intentional design could have amplified this. For example, regular breakout activities, peer collaboration, and even informal \u201cstudent lounge\u201d spaces could have helped students feel less isolated and more connected.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Cognitive presence<\/strong> would have been about moving beyond just \u201cgetting through the material.\u201d With CoI in mind, I would have leaned more on open-ended questions, reflective activities, and collaborative problem-solving tasks to help students construct meaning together. These strategies would have supported deeper engagement and helped them connect new ideas to prior knowledge.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Looking back, I realize I was already doing bits and pieces of what CoI describes, but without the framework, it felt more like trial and error. Knowing the model now, I can see how balancing teaching, social, and cognitive presence provides a clearer, more intentional roadmap for digital facilitation. Even though I\u2019m no longer teaching K\u201312, this perspective shapes how I think about supporting learners in any digital context today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

    Blayone, T. J., vanOostveen, R., Barber, W., DiGiuseppe, M., & Childs, E. (2017). Democratizing digital learning: theorizing the fully online learning community model. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14<\/em>(1), 13. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s41239-017-0051-4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Boettcher, J. V. (n.d.). Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online<\/em>. Designing for Learning. http:\/\/designingforlearning.info\/writing\/ten-best-practices-for-teaching-online\/ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013).Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry.\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/read.aupress.ca\/read\/teaching-in-blended-learning-environments\/section\/43261c4a-6d4c-44cf-8c7f-60bc306eb03a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For my LNRT528 course assignment at RRU, I drew on my experience teaching grades 7\u201312 during the sudden switch to online learning. At that time, I didn\u2019t know about the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model. Like many teachers, I was improvising, trying to keep students engaged while navigating new digital platforms. Looking back now with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":319,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt528","category-uncategorized","has-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/319"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions\/255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}