Virtual Communities of Enquiry: An Argument for Their Necessity and Advice for Their Creation

Abstract

In this article it is argued that communities of enquiry can and should be developed in courses delivered online. These communities make the most of the available technological resources and overcome some otherwise daunting challenges faced in online course delivery. Indeed, asynchronous tools like discussion boards offer a range of benefits for the creation of such communities that are unobtainable in the traditional classroom. Further, the authors also point to some simple measures that have been found to be successful in helping to create net-based communities. Finally, they draw on recent empirical evidence to demonstrate that online communication tools can, if appropriately employed, offer unique benefits for the creation of learning communities.

How Compatible are Communities of Inquiry and the Internet? Some Concerns about the Community of Inquiry Approach to E-learning

“…Swanson and Hornsby claim that 'with web-based instruction everyone enters the conversation on equal footing' and 'gender barriers disappear ' (2001-2002, pp. 99, 102; see also Parsell & Duke-Yonge, 2007;Yip et al, 2008). The assumption that these attributes are primarily corporal is questionable.…”

“…However, they rarely explain either of their theories in much depth (e.g. Garrison & Anderson, 2003;Parsell & Duke-Yonge, 2007;Zehra et al, 2009). Thus, much of the literature devoted to this topic fails to provide an adequate account of the Community of Inquiry.…”

“…It is frequently claimed that the Internet also supports student-centred, constructivist and inquirybased approaches to learning (Garrison & Anderson, 2003;Ferdig & Trammell, 2004;Parsell & Duke-Yonge, 2007;Farmer et al, 2008;McLoughlin & Lee, 2008;Yip et al, 2008). In student-centred approaches to learning, students are active, more autonomous participants in their own learning rather than merely the passive recipients of 'facts' dictated to them by the teacher or textbook.…”

“…Web 2.0 users can also create and publish their own ideas, which others can comment on or annotate, and this feedback may cause individuals to critically reflect on their own ideas and thinking, in much the same way that the communal structure of the P4C classroom is thought to provoke critical self-reflection and metacognition. It is also claimed that since most online communication is text based, it fosters higher-order thinking because 'when we type, we have to formulate our thoughts into written text, which makes our messages more considered than in the case of verbal language, which can be quite impulsive' (Yip et al, 2008, p. 48; see also Garrison & Anderson, 2003;Cheong & Cheung, 2008;Parsell & Duke-Yonge, 2007). Hypertext is also thought to foster higher-order thinking skills and the construction of meaning because it encourages the user to make connections between different ideas and perspectives by following links from one location on the Internet to another.…”

“…It is also claimed that online environments encourage the type of collaboration and community that characterises the Community of Inquiry (Swanson & Hornsby, 2001Garrison & Anderson, 2003;Parsell & Duke-Yonge, 2007;Farmer et al, 2008;McLoughlin & Lee, 2008;Yip et al, 2008). Since Web 2.0 technology, such as wikis and blogs, enables users to respond to, modify, annotate and transform material posted by others, such technology is thought to 'support a truly collaborative learning experience, at a distance and independent of time and space' (Garrison & Anderson, 2003, p. 24).…”