Welcome to the online workshop for helping instructors to improve their teaching. To get started, review the requirements below, before beginning the Week 3 tutorial.
It is also highly recommended to obtain and read the following E-Learning in the 21st Century book. This book may be available in libraries, but can also be purchased via Amazon.
Welcome to the EDT 8130 workshop! This is designed to help you understand and implement the Community of Inquiry Framework to build and enhance your classes.
For a successful completion of this workshop, you must fulfill the following requirements:
Work through all three weeks of content in order
Complete the Quizzes for all three stages
Choose one of your existing units, and then implement the techniques from this workshop to rebuild it utilizing COI and Blended Learning strategies.
Individuals learn more effectively in a collaborative environment. Traditional face-to-face classes utilize passive lectures to transmit information, however they also have the potential to foster group discourse. Online e-Learning utilizes technology to foster group discourse and collaboration, yet can lack the social environment of traditional classrooms. The Community of Inquiry Framework provides guidelines to combine the two classes into a blended learning environment. Online education technologies are being adopted into face-to-face classrooms in order to foster group discussions and enhance critical thinking. These groups form a community of learners, working together to solve problems that go beyond rote memorization. Individuals think, but it takes a group to learn (Garrison, 2017).
The instructor for this workshop currently holds a state Ohio teaching license, and has a Masters in Educational Technology. He has taught grades 7 through 12 for eight years, an online course for two years, and several professional development sessions for faculty and staff.
He is currently an IT Director for a local school, and continues to teach a high school class.
Garrison, R. D. (2017). E-Learning in the 21st century a community of inquiry framework for research and practice. New York: Routledge.