Distance education is growing and becoming increasingly prevalent – especially in higher education. Creating distance education courses and programs is crucial to the livelihood of institutions, but creating courses and programs that are actually effective is even more essential.
Drawing from the work of Dewey and collaborative constructivism, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) proposed the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to define effective distance education in higher education. They say that the most effective distance education experience requires the presence of three elements, cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. Cognitive presence is defined as “the extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication” (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 89). Social presence is “the ability of participants in the Community of Inquiry to project their personal characteristics into the community, thereby presenting themselves to the other participants as ‘real people’ (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 89). Teaching presence is the “design and the facilitation that guides the cognitive process for the purpose of personal and educational meaningful learning outcomes “(Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 89).
The CoI framework has helped to shape the way I understand and approach effective distance education. Though I do not function as an instructor in an official capacity, I do work as a Web designer for educational materials and learning units. I find the CoI research to be valuable in my work in developing effective distance education lessons for students. For educators, this research provides practical implications for online teaching and assessment. For example, Garrison and Anderson suggest that educators address students by name and be conversational in discussion forums to create social presence. For administrators, they explain how the framework can be applied to policy development, strategic planning, and provision of leadership.
Future research with the CoI framework could look at the effectiveness of courses that implement it versus those that do not. Additionally, further research could look at new educational technologies and their potential for addressing cognitive, social and teaching presence.
Whether you, as an educator, administrator, or instructional designer decide to apply the CoI framework to your courses is up to you, but do take time to analyze research and seek to improve educational effectiveness in distance education. The future knowledge of students depends on it.
What is one theory that has positively affected you and/or your students in distance education?
Michael,
ReplyDeleteYou are a very effective writer. You convey your message very clearly and your writing style is enjoyable to read.
I believe in the CoI framework that you described. I value communication above all factors in distance education. I think effective communication is the only way that learning can occur. I learn so much more when I have professors that are willing to e-mail and answer questions. I have learned a great deal of information from blogs and discussion boards. I find that meeting in Elluminate is when I feel most connected with my classmates as mentioned in the collaborative piece of the CoI framework.
I think that you are likely creating very effective modules for students as you implement this framework. Online learning is independent but not alone; I feel that in a few of my prior courses I was more alone in my learning than just independent. I have been blessed this 8-week cycle to feel independent and supported.
Your suggestions for further research are accurate. I feel that conducting multiple comparison studies would provide the data that is need to back up the framework. I appreciated that you left your blog followers with an encouraging message and reminding the readers to make sure the practices they are using are effective. Why would anyone ever want to waste time?
The theory that has had the highest impact on how I teach my students using educational technology is the cognitive overload theory. I used to build my flipcharts around themes but I later realized that just took the learners’ attention away from the content. The elementary training I had did not prepare me for creating flipcharts that were faithful to the theory, but rather we were encouraged to create visually appealing projects. Has anyone else experienced this? When do you think it is appropriate to throw in some fun clipart? Do you ever think it is appropriate?
Great job!
Tiffany
Michael,
ReplyDeleteI love this as a basic framework. More than anything, I think the social presence area is the one that needs the most work. I've been pleseantly surprised with the addition of group collaborative projects and required online meetings that Liberty is now using as it helps to make my classmates seem more like real people.
I felt like that element was completely missing when I finished my undergrad work through Liberty Online and even the early part of my M.Ed. program. The classes this fall seem to have rectified that and I feel like I actually know, and like, some of my classmates now. This portion of distance education has a real chance to take advantage of the increasingly mobile/transient world society to build relationships in new ways.
In terms of synchronous communication, there seem to be just as many proponents as opponents in distance education. There will always be students who enjoy synchronous and then there will be students who would prefer not to be bothered. I believe there is a place for both. Some tasks are better completed synchronously while others are better asynchronously.
ReplyDeleteIn my educational experience, I have come across peers who actually preferred not to have any required synchronous sessions during their coursework, but then when they actually did to complete assignments, they were glad to have had the opportunity to connect with other group members and form distance friendships that would last throughout the rest of their degree, if not longer.
One theory that has positively affected me and my students is transactional distance. One basic premise is that the space between an instructor and student, student and student or even content and student is not physical but rather a cognitive space that could be characterized psychologically and communicatively (Moore, M. and Kearsley, G. 2011). Possibly more importantly, it is the instructional strategies that promote interaction (or dialogue) among teacher and student, student and student and/or content and student that function to overcome this distance. For example, the use of this blog!
ReplyDeleteMoore, M. & Kearsley, G. 2011. Distance education: A systems view of online education. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.