Selecting Technology Tools to Build a Foundation for a Community of Inquiry
Abstract: In this Best Practices session we will discuss our efforts to implement the Community of Inquiry (CoI) (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) framework into our online courses in order to increase rigor and student engagement. Bridging theory and practice, we will first present several instructional strategies and learning activities that support each type of presence. We will then discuss various technological tools in terms of their affordances (Gibson, 1977; Norman, 1999), in order to show how a carefully planned selection of media can support efforts to build a CoI. This theory-based approach to media selection helps to avoid an overly techno-centric approach. We will present an analysis of our own courses as examples of how we have used various technologies to facilitate CoI and then conclude with a discussion of our future plans for integrating CoI more fully into our course design.