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

Akyol, Zehra

Sep 2012 · IGI Global

About this ebook

Communications technologies have been continuously integrated into learning and training environments which has revealed the need for a clear understanding of the process. The Community of Inquiry (COI) Theoretical Framework has a philosophical foundation which provides planned guidelines and principles to development useful learning environments and guarantees successful educational experiences.

Educational Communities of Inquiry: Theoretical Framework, Research, and Practice is an extensive reference that offers theoretical foundations and developments associated with the COl theoretical framework. This collection is a valuable source of ideas, research opportunities, and challenges for scholars and practitioners in the field of education technology.

About the author

Zehra Akyol is a researcher and practitioner with interests in teaching, online learning, and blended learning environments. She received her PhD degree in Educational Technology. She conducted her doctoral research at the University of Calgary, with focus on community development in online and blended learning environments, as well as the factors affecting the development of communities of inquiry in these learning environments. Recently, she has been studying metacognitive development in a community of inquiry environment in relation to learning and cognition. She is actively involved in inquiry research and serves on the editorial review boards for several journals in distance education technology.

Dr. D. Randy Garrison is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary. Dr. Garrison has published extensively on teaching and learning in adult, higher and distance education contexts. He has authored, co-authored or edited nine books and over 100 refereed articles/papers. His recent books are Blended Learning in Higher Education (2008); An Introduction to Distance Education: Understanding Teaching and Learning in a New Era (2010); and E-Learning in the 21st century (2nd Ed.) (2011). He has also won several awards including the 2009 Sloan-C Award for Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning by an Individual. [Editor]