Blended/Online Course Design (The COI) & Presentation Media

Considering the common elements of the COI, explain how such technology tools (e.g. Screencast-o-Matic, Blogger, YouTube or other tools you may be familiar) can be used in your blended course.

The integration of technology in blended learning can deepen student knowledge.  Blended learning continues to grow as an approach to meeting learner needs, especially as institutions of higher learning introduce millennial technology tools like Blogger, Screencast-o-Matic, YouTube and other applications.  The growth of blended learning may be set in accordance with the comfort of educators as we expand our digital tools for teaching and learning.  However, it is important to realize that learning to teach with digital tools should never be the greater focus than exploring how to expand student’s knowledge level.

                                       Where it all began UWI Orientation September 2019

According to the COI Framework (2015), the Community of Inquiry theoretical the framework represents a process of creating a deep and meaningful (collaborative-constructivist) learning experience through the development of three interdependent elements – social, cognitive and teaching presence.

Garrison, Anderson & Archer (2001) expressed their meaning of social presence as being connected and interacting with other human beings as “real people” through the medium of communication being used. In the blended/online environment mediums such as Blackboard Collaboration, Vlogs, Bloggers, or YouTube are among the popular forms being utilized.  The ideal social presence environment would be one where learners express feeling and emotions and interact with others in ways that influence learning.  On the other hand, if there exists the perception of a negative social presence this may ultimately impede learners for expressing themselves as real people; in turn, lessening the learning experience.

In order to promote social presence a blended course of which I am to deliver I would encourage learners to incorporate their feelings, experiences, examples, and ideas into completed assignments, utilize video feedback when responding to messages, and by providing messages that are respectful, positive, encouraging, timely, and frequent assists learners to develop social presence and caring behaviors. 

Cognitive presence is by far essential to student learning.  The cognitive presence, in essence, is the quality and measure of a learner’s critical thinking capacity, ability to problem solve, and build meaning through student to student and student to lecturer interactions.  In a blended learning environment, I intend to display and support cognitive presence through interactions with all learners via explanation, discussions, through assignment feedback, and reflection exercises. 

The teaching presence is inclusive of the planning, organizing, developing and delivery of the course.  It also includes what the facilitator does while delivering each module to learners.  It accounts for the way in which the facilitator delivers lessons. give instruction and relays information to the learners.  As a facilitator of a blended learning course, I would include an explanation of the module, direct instruction, offer clarification and insight on misconceptions, offer lessons via demonstration and graphic, and direct learners to utilize the supplementary reading materials and a resource list for assistance with each lesson.

In conclusion as an upcoming educator, I will ensure to utilize the community of inquiry framework in the learning environment utilizing various forms of communication.  Hajibayova (2017) notes that regular faculty engagement through various modes of communication created faculty presence. Both synchronous and asynchronous communication supports student achievement of objectives in the online class (Watts, 2016).

References:

COI. (2015). COI Framework. Retrieved from https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/

Florescu, M. H., & Pop-Pacurar, I. (2016). Is the fear of 'being wrong' a barrier for effective

communication between students and professors? A survey study at Babes-Bolyai University Romania. Acta Didactica Napocensia, 9(2), 47.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based

environment: Computer conferencing in higher education model. The Internet and Higher Education.

Hajibayova, L. (2017). Students' viewpoint: What constitutes a presence in an online

classroom? Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 55(1), 12.

Serdyukov, P., & Serdyukova, N. (2015). Effects of communication, socialization, and

collaboration on online learning. European Scientific Journal, 2, 86-100.

Watts, L. (2016). Synchronous and asynchronous communication in distance learning. Quarterly

Review of Distance Education, 17(1), 23-32.