Establishing a Learning Presence: Cooperative Learning, Blended Learning, and Self-Directed Learning

Background

The concept of blended learning (BL) is rooted in the idea that learning is a continuous process and not just a one-time event (Niemi, 2009). While BL is appealing to many because it enables one to take advantage of the “best of both worlds” (Gliner, Morgan, & Harmon, 2002) approach, BL environments could also mix the least effective elements of both face-to-face and technology-mediated worlds, if not designed well (Lindsay, 2004). One cannot simply transfer activities from traditional learning environments into a technology-mediated environment without taking the effect of technology on the course content into consideration (Ross, 2012). The BL model should be designed based on insights regarding the understanding of the character and the nature of the students, and the preparation of content.

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is a useful and well-known model for describing, explaining and improving online and blended education (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009). The CoI focuses on three presences – social, teaching and cognitive. Social presence is “the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities” (Garrison, 2009). Teaching presence is the design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realising personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001). Cognitive presence, in turn, is the extent to which the learners or students are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse (Anderson et al., 2001).