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In 2000, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer presented their community of inquiry offering elements of an educational experience based on three distinct forms of presence: social, cognitive, and teaching. This framework was first offered as a way to promote an educational community within computer mediated conferences leaning heavily on text-based communication.

Today, with the addition of technology-mediated communications including text, video, and audio in a variety of channels, this framework can provide educators a guide to creating a healthy online community engaged in deep and meaningful learning.

A Community of Inquiry (COI) is a GROUP of people, in COLLABORATIVE ENGAGEMENT, COMMUNICATING and REFLECTING with purpose, CONSTRUCTING PERSONAL MEANING, and CONFIRMING MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING.

You are invited to join the conversation! View the PowerPoint slides linked above and comment on this page, adding your own ideas about how you can promote a COI within your online courses. What will you do to promote a social presence, a cognitive presence, and a teaching presence? We’d also love to hear about the results of your strategies as well!

Comment below and join our community of inquiry.

Jon Tomlinson, PhD
Academic Director of Business Programs
Adult and Graduate Studies Division
Ohio Christian University

Lynn Lease, PhD
Academic Program Director
OCUOnline Plus
Ohio Christian University

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3). Retrieved from http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Garrison_Anderson_Archer_Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf