Week 1: Overview

The importance of creating a sense of online community (using a Community-of-Inquiry lens) is embedded in the design and experiences of a FLO workshop. Additional and related topics in this theme include the different perceptions of the value of online learning communities, the roles of instructors and students in creating and sustaining "community" and the challenges of engaging self-directed and busy students in community.

You could extend or deepen the exploration of this theme and introduce dissenting views and alternative approaches.

Resources (FLO):

• Richardson, Jennifer C et al. (2015) Conceptualizing and investigating instructor presence in online learning environments.  The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, [S.l.], v. 16, n. 3, Jun. 2015. ISSN 1492-3831. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2123/3349
• Thormann, Joan, Fidalgo, Patricia (2014)  Guidelines for Online Course Moderation and Community Building from a.Student's Perspective. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 2014, Retrieved from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol10no3/Thorman_0914.pdf

  Note:  Review the Abstract and the final sections - Discussion and Implications (pp383-385).

Community of Inquiry Model

• Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher educationmodel. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. Retrieved from http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Garrison_Anderson_Archer_Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf
• Interactive CoI Model - https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/an-interactive-coi-model/
  Note:  includes definitions and embedded videos explaining elements of each presence