Zehra Akyol

Understanding cognitive presence in an online and blended community of inquiry: Assessing outcomes and processes for deep approaches to learning

This paper focuses on deep and meaningful learning approaches and outcomes associated with online and blended communities of inquiry. Applying mixed methodology for the research design, the study used transcript analysis, learning outcomes, perceived learning, satisfaction, and interviews to assess learning processes and outcomes. The findings for learning processes and outcomes indicated that students in both online and blended courses were able to reach high levels of cognitive presence and learning outcomes. The results suggest that cognitive presence in a community of inquiry is associated with perceived and actual learning outcomes. It is recommended that future research efforts focus on quantitative measures to establish links between cognitive presence and the quality of learning outcomes.

Role of Instructional Technology in the Transformation of Higher Education.

It is argued in this article that the convergence of collaborative constructivist ideas and emerging instructional technologies are transforming higher education. The article begins with an overview of instructional and communications technology and how this technology is being used in the service of either sustaining or transforming teaching and learning in higher education. Next, the idea of collaborative constructivist approaches to teaching and learning are explored and the case for a guiding framework is made. The Community of Inquiry framework is briefly described and assessed from a theoretical and practical level. Finally, the discussion turns to the nature and importance of institutional leadership if instructional technologies are to transform the quality of the teaching and learning experience in higher education.

Educational Communities of Inquiry: Theoretical Framework, Research and Practice.

Zehra Akyol is a researcher and practitioner with interest in teaching and learning online and blended learning environments. She got her PhD degree in the field of Educational Technology. She conducted her doctoral research at University of Calgary focusing community development in online and blended learning environments and the factors affecting the development of communities of inquiry in these learning environments. Recently, she is studying metacognitive development in a community of inquiry environment in relation to learning and cognition. She is a member of the community of inquiry research group and on editorial review boards of several journals in the distance education and educational technology. Zehra Akyol (Canada) and D. Randy Garrison (University of Calgary, Canada)

Thinking Collaboratively in Educational Environments: Shared Metacognition and Co-Regulation in Communities of Inquiry

Great geniuses are nurtured in rich environments. Certainly geniuses such as Newton, Darwin and Picasso were intellectually gifted and dedicated, but they did not emerge in a vacuum. Individuals of great accomplishment are immersed in the culture of their times. The idea that great thinkers and artists are solitary geniuses without being influenced intellectually by others is simply a myth. This was made evident by Isaac Newton when he stated: ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ Perhaps the greatest scientist of all time recognised the influences on his accomplishments. It is clear that the gifted are cultivated in complex interactions with their surroundings (Montuori & Purser, 1995). This is no less true for the less gifted and goes to the core of learning from others.