Introduction

Imagine a room with towering industrial shelves lined from floor to ceiling with books in every shape and size covering topics from Medieval Archery to the Origin of Species.  What am I describing? –A library of course!  This used to be the go-to space for finding information, but in recent years, the internet has broadened information access from a finite building containing only the amount of paper, for which money and space would allow, to an infinite and illusive information cloud hovering outside of concrete barriers (Weston, 2009).  Along with this shift in how knowledge is accessed and shared comes a new approach to business and education.  Multinational conferencing can take place between business executives in their pyjamas, and young scholars can earn university degrees without ever stepping foot inside a brick and mortar classroom.  Clearly for teachers, the educational landscape is changing, offering new and innovative ways to not only pass on information, but to encourage students to build their own community of inquiry and construct knowledge together (Kreijns, Van Acker, Vermeulen & Van Buuren, 2014). 

On this note, building community has always been an important part of effective learning, according to proponents of Constructivism and Situated learning (Greeno, Collins & Resnick, 1996).  Considering this view, and the stigma of the internet being a detached host of information, how can teachers engender a sense of community in an online environment?  Is it even possible?  A review of the current research investigating online learning environments suggests that it is not only possible to be personal asynchronously, but that a sense of camaraderie or even hyper-personal activity can be developed and encouraged (Swan, 2001).   This online community building does not come naturally, however; it needs to be fostered through effective course design and teacher presence (Collis & Moonen, 2001). 

Further structure to this framework is outlined in a teaching model called the Community of Inquiry. The online Community of Inquiry model developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, suggests that the three aspects of an effective learning environment are cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence (1999).  This theory has become a springboard for further research into the effectiveness of online learning environments (Anderson, Rourke, & Garrison, 2001).  Therefore, the research presented in this paper will not only seek to define cognitive, social and teaching presence, but also investigate how teachers can improve online learning environments using the framework from the Community of Inquiry model.  Although e-learning is multifaceted and can be assessed from many angles, this paper will be specifically focused on developing asynchronous online environments.

It is to be noted that much of the research regarding the design of online asynchronous learning environments is founded deeply in educational theory and points to similar conclusions in online classrooms as can be found in traditional learning environments (Pallof & Pratt, 2004). For example, the most significant findings regarding teaching presence focus on the type and quality of teacher messages submitted to the online learning environment (Zingaro & Oztok, 2012).  Timely feedback is a predictor of student satisfaction in a face-to-face classroom, so it should not be surprising that the immediacy of teacher feedback is commensurate to its effectiveness in the online learning environment (Brown & Volz, 2005).  The following articles support the assertion that relying on solid theory and meeting educational outcomes are the primary concerns when applying any new strategies to technology-based learning environments (Loveless, 2011).