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Webinars

How to Design Online Learning Communities

Thursday, June 1, 2023
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework has made a tremendous impact on online and distance education and is widely regarded as one of the most effective models for creating engaging, satisfying and high-quality learning experiences. 

By promoting the development of communities that prioritize higher-order learning, CoI provides valuable guidance for faculty, instructors and instructional designers seeking to create effective online and blended learning environments.

In this webinar, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from two researchers in the field: Dr. Marti Cleveland-Innes, Professor of Education at Athabasca University, and Jenine Hawryluk, a doctoral student in distance education at Athabasca University. Together, they explore how to establish meaningful learning through activity in all four components of the CoI framework: cognitive, social, teaching and emotional presence.

By adopting a community-based, learning-focused approach to online course design, faculty and instructors can create learner-centered environments that offer dedicated support and motivation. Through the design, delivery and assessment of online learning using the CoI framework, you’ll gain valuable insights into how the CoI framework can help you create dynamic, engaging and effective online and blended learning environments.

Key takeaways

This webinar will help you to:

  • Learn the basics of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework for both online and blended learning. 
  • Review practical strategies that offer instructional activities of four components of the framework. 
  • Understand where to find research and practice information about the CoI framework to support your own online and blended course design. 
  • Learn about assessment processes that measure learning outcomes and align with the CoI framework. 
     

Host:

Dr. Martha Cleveland-Innes
Professor of Education at Athabasca University

Dr. Cleveland-Innes is Editor-in-Chief of the bilingual Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, and the co-author of open-source publications The Guide to Blended Learning (2018) and Participant Experience in an Inquiry-Based Massive Open Online Course (2022). In 2019 Martha received an Honorary Doctorate from Mid-Sweden University, served as a member of the Advisory Group for Digital Literacy with the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education (2021-2023), and was the Virtual Educator in Residence, National University of Singapore (Fall, 2022). She is currently Visiting Professor of Pedagogy at Mid-Sweden University. 

Jenine Hawryluk
Doctoral student in distance education at Athabasca University

Ms Hawryluk has taught in China, Japan, Korea and Canada, and has worked as a face-to-face, blended and online instructor in English as a Second or Other Language and teacher training. As the director of training for a non-profit organization, Ms Hawryluk helped create blended training for TESOL instructors preparing to go overseas to teach English, and most recently taught academic writing online to students in Lithuania, where she could explore both synchronous and asynchronous possibilities. Ms Hawryluk’s main interest is pedagogy and teacher training related to TESOL and intercultural education. She is the co-author of the chapter Designing Online Learning Communities in Zawacki-Richter, O. and Jung, I. (Eds.).(2022) Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education.