Amy’s Blog

Community of Inquiry in a F2F and Online Classroom

August 5, 2008

Community of Inquiry Framework

While reading the article Online Community of Inquiry Review:  Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presence Issues by D.R. Garrison, I realized that the dynamics of social, cognitive, and teaching presence in an online course are similar to that of a face to face classroom.  However, they must be established and consistent early on in the course to prevent misconceptions of the course and to allow the student to perform at their personal best. 

The diagram above illustrates the Community of Inquiry Framework within a student’s educational experience.  The combination of social, cognitive, and teaching presence enhance the student’s learning experience.  Students build their social presence through working together in a community and engaging in educational discourse with classmates.  Students build their cognitive presence through exploring data, constructing meaning, and collaborating with others.  The glue that seems to bridge the social and cognitive presence together is the teaching presence.  The design of the course, teacher interactions, teacher instruction, the structure of activities and course expectations make up the teaching presence of a class.  Without a sound teaching presence, social and cognitive presence would not be effectively established. 

As I reflected on my teaching experiences, I realized that social, cognitive, and teaching presence is the foundation of my classroom whether they are online or face to face.  Prior to walking into my classroom on the first day of school my goal would be to create a schedule of events for the students, review the organization and structure of my classroom then present my expectations to the students, get to know my students and allow my students to get to know each other.  Once this is established the student is then able to begin their learning adventure.  I noticed when I began creating my online course, the teaching presence I created was set up in the same fashion, however it was more elaborate and detailed considering I would not be with the child face to face to present this information. 

At the end of each school year, I look back and reflect on my teaching and my students.  Some questions I ask myself are:  what would I like to do differently this upcoming year?  How might I incorporate new team building activities into my teaching?  How might I incorporate more hands on minds on learning opportunities?  As I reflect on the online course I created, it is difficult to predict how my classmates might perceive my course or how my future students might embrace the lessons and activities.  I am looking forward to any constructive feedback that comes my way! 

Garrison, D.R.  Online Community of Inquiry Review:  Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presence Issues.  University of Calgary.  Pages 61-72.

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