Communities of enquiry in Elearning in Higher Education Exploring community in a postgraduate progra

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Communities of enquiry in E-learning in
Higher EducationExploring community in a
postgraduate programme of professional development

• Ellen Roberts
• Jane Rostron
• Department of Social Policy and Social Work
  
  
• 
  

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Focus of the session

• Purpose to share early findings about a specific
  e-learning community
• a case study
• a wide perspective what factors help and hinder
  the formation of an e-community?
• and a practitioner perspective
• as a contribution to framing the research agenda

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Subject of the case study

• E-Masters in Public Policy and Management
• A programme of professional development for
  experienced managers
• Recruits internationally
• 60 students from 16 countries
• Based on collaborative principles and small-group
  teaching
• Central role of a-synchronous communication

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Communities of enquiry Research challenges

• Meaning
• Measurement
• Value

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Questions

• What do students perceive as the barriers and
  enablers to e-based learning?
• What do these perceptions indicate about the role
  of community in helping and hindering?

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Emerging issues

• Pedagogy
• The benefits of and tensions within asynchronous
  discussions
• The role of tutors in this process
• Technology
• Systems
• Procedures
• support

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The a-synchronous discussions

• Benefits inclusion, reflection, pace and
  permanency
• Tensions
• between different discursive styles and
  preferences
• independent and interdependent study
• social and task-related interaction
• Questions to explore about how best value is/ can
  be added from students perspective
• Deeper/higher learning?
• Motivation/retention?

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The a-synchronous discussions students
perspectives

• The discussions are the programme
• The breadth of the student experience and
  location enriches the experience
• I enjoy the contrast that an international
  cohort brings
• Having compulsory contributions is good as it
  forces one to say something Tutors in classes do
  not often get the quiet ones to voice their
  opinion
• The forums work well for me because in the
  classroom environment I am usually the quiet, shy
  type who never gets to contribute to group
  discussions
• I prefer to be left alone
• I dont find much value in the discussion
  groups for my own personal learning. The value to
  me is that they keep me on track with my
  timetable

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The role of the tutor

• Of key significance in shaping community
• Students appear to model the tutors behaviour
• Interaction and engagement appears to be related
  to
• Group-based and individualised interventions
• Reassurance, guidance and challenge

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Role of the tutor
Tutor presence
Managing the process
Academic Challenge and Guidance
Psycho-social Support
Group
Individual
Tutor interventions
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Technology

• A pre-condition
• Usability
• Accessibility
• Performance
• Some emerging findings about what detailed
  aspects of the VLE appear to be important

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Procedures

• The key role of procedures in the dynamics of
  community
• Examples
• The rules about engagement in the discussions
• Roles created by/ for students (Rapporteurs)
• Tutorial group contracts

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Support

• The role of the tutor
• The place of the tutor within a wider system of
  institutional support
• The notion of institutional presence

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The Dynamics of Elearning Communities
Student
Learning materials and technology
Tutor
Institution
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Garrison and Andersons model
Garrison and Andersons model of Community of
enquiry (2003)
Social presence
Cognitive presence
Teaching presence
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Garrison and Andersons model
An extended model for understanding Community
of enquiry
Institutional presence
Social presence
Cognitive presence
Teaching presence
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Priorities for research

• How collaborative work adds value
• Tutor presence tutor behaviours and the
  modelling effect
• E-learning in an international student group
• Role of the institution