Annotation 4

Garrison, D. R. (2007). ‘Online community of inquiry review: Social, cognitive, and teaching presence issues.’ Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, vol. 11, no.1, pp. 61-72.

Summary: The author focuses on developing community in online learning environments and how perceived learning is affected (p. 61).  This article examines the findings of relevant research and attempts to highlight important considerations regarding social, cognitive and teaching presence in online learning environments (Garrison et al, 1999).  The Community of Inquiry framework has previously been important in traditional learning environments, but Garrison seeks to apply this framework meaningfully to online learning and raise further questions for research (p. 64).

Intended Audience: This article highlights the importance of different aspects of online learning, and therefore would be of interest to researchers, teachers, course designers and evaluators of online learning environments.

Purpose: Using the Community of Inquiry model, Garrison investigates three areas of the online learning environment where potential issues may arise:

• ·         Social Presence:  Potential problems may arise when a clear sense of community is not built.  Learning may not be maximised if the community does not make the shift from being merely social in nature to intellectual in nature (p. 64).

• ·         Cognitive Presence:  A goal in online learning is to move beyond information transfer to what Garrison calls Resolution Phase thinking.  Issues may arise in achieving this goal if the course design does not allow for students to achieve shared intellectual goals (p. 66). 

• ·         Teaching Presence:  Without specific guidance from the teacher, students can potentially dominate online conversation with never-ending monologues, thereby weakening a sense of community and lessening the chances of the class moving to resolution thinking (p. 67).

Comparison to other work: This work conducts more of a literature review than empirical research.  The pedagogical background presented in this study aligns strongly with Constructivism and the Community of Inquiry framework originally proposed for the traditional classroom by John Dewey (p. 62).  The potential issues identified in e-learning environments agree with the work of Swan (2001) and Brown & Voltz (2005).

Supporting the topic: This article addresses key issues that need to be considered in the development of asynchronous online environments.  The research presented here focuses on the design of e-learning spaces and how they can be improved for the future.