This research has examined the role of teacher presence in online education. The research has been guided by two research questions: 1) are there challenges to consistently establishing teacher presence in online courses?; and 2) can the role of teacher presence be assumed, in part, by the learning medium? The Community of Inquiry framework as outlined by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) has framed the discussion about the role of teacher presence in online education. Three research projects are presented to explore the research questions. The first study is a case study that examines twelve online instructors’ engagement and experience teaching online over a year at the University of Saskatchewan. The next study builds on that study by exploring teacher engagement and satisfaction of 28 online instructors at the University of Regina using survey techniques. Together the studies suggest that teacher engagement in online courses might be affected by the culture of the university. The third study addresses the second question by creating the NECSUS social computing environment, which assumes some functions of teacher presence. The NECSUS system has been tested in a graduate level ethics courses and demonstrates that it has the potential to support a community of inquiry. This is further demonstrated by the presentation of a NECSUS-like system design that could be modified to support a non-formal learning community for a commercial online education course for snowmobile safety. The outcome of this research suggests that the Community of Inquiry framework can inform the design of learning environments and that assume some responsibilities traditionally assumed by the instructor.

An authoritarian and bureaucratic ethos adopted by South African Schools prior to 1994 continues to be adopted in many schools. It may be assumed that with the advent of the new South African democratic government in 1994 there would be more freedom given to schools to adopt different leadership styles that were relevant to their school context. Given the top-down culture and authoritarian leadership structures of schools that were designed and developed during the apartheid era, secondary school principals and school management teams have struggled to adopt a more democratic approach to running a school since 1994. In the previous dispensation, school decision making was mostly not a collective effort, and involved a minimum of consultation and sharing of ideas, with staff not being seen as having the role or potential to positively influence significant school decisions. The national Department of Education (2003) refers to this as “… the entrenched bureaucratic and hierarchical management practices inherited from apartheid traditions.” However, greater choice and autonomy of thought are part and parcel of the democratic paradigm. A comprehensive literature review on the Community of Enquiry (CoE) methodology, a resource developed by Matthew Lipman, revealed a more open and inclusive approach to thinking together and embraces the principals of choice and autonomy. It is proposed that this methodology could be used to help school management teams (SMTs) become more collaborative and democratic in their approach to decision-making. Particular attention will be paid to the democratic values that underpin a CoE, in particular the values of equality, justice and freedom will be discussed with specific reference to the South African context. Bureaucratic, autocratic and democratic leadership styles may be adopted by the SMTs in various schools and each leadership style could influence the decision making process as well as the culture within a school. The CoE methodology could work in conjunction with a democratic leadership style to allow SMTs to be more collaborative and inclusive in the decision making process.

This three-manuscript dissertation examined the construct and predictive validity of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework through a factor analysis, meta-analysis, and thematic synthesis. Accordingly, the overall results provided conceptual and empirical insights into the construct and predictive validity of the CoI framework.

This study focuses on the potential contribution of new information communication technologies in higher education, in particular the use of microblogging, in transforming teaching practices to enhance critical thinking skills. Recognising the dearth of critical thinking skills in higher education and its importance in the cultivation of an engaged citizenry which is necessary for the creation of a vibrant and thriving democracy, the study seeks to investigate teaching practices in the higher education sector, utilizing the Community of Inquiry model to examine the possible iterative dialogues between lecturer and students in a first year class , in the form of microblogging posts , for evidence of potential critical engagement. In its finding , the study, whilst not being able to demonstrate significant evidence of higher order thinking, ascribed to the use of the of the microblogging activity , does however support the notion that the microblogging platform offers the potential for critical engagement but emphasizes that this potential , is to a very large degree, dependent on the adoption of appropriate and sound pedagogical strategies .

As mobile access and massive open online courses (MOOCs) become a global reality, the realm of potential distance learners is expanding rapidly. Mobile learning (mLearning) as well as MOOCs are based on similar characteristics as shown in the literature review of this study. They both enhance a community feeling, increasing networking and collaboration; they strengthen lifelong and informal learning, they use social media to a large extend and they are ideal for setting up communicative dialogues. The focus on learner interactions is of interest, as research has shown that dialogue is an important element for learning and knowledge enhancement, and mobile access increases the opportunities to enter into such interactions. This thesis study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to investigate the impact of mobile accessibility on learner interaction in a MOOC. The study showed that opening up a MOOC for mobile access has immediate impact on learner interactions, as participants with mobile devices tend to interact more with their fellow learners in comparison to their non-mobile colleagues. This was deduced from the mixed methods approach looking at web-based statistics, an online survey, an analysis using the Community of Inquiry framework and one-on-one interviews with volunteers. The study formulated a set of 20 strategies and possible consequences deriving from the analysis of the impact of mobile accessibility in a MOOC and more specifically how this affects learner interactions. These strategies might optimize the impact of mobile access on learner interactions in an informal, open, online course. Future research needs to support the findings, embracing a larger learner population from a more varied background. Overall, this research hopes to add to the body of knowledge strengthening the field of distance education. / 2013-02

This mixed method study examined how integration of synchronous Web-based desktop conferencing affects undergraduate distance learning students' educational experience. Specifically, it compared students in one distance learning section of an introductory technology course delivered through a synchronous-enhanced mode (employing both synchronous and asynchronous tools) with students in a second section of the same distance learning course provided in the asynchronous only mode to examine variations in cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence through the lens of the Community of Inquiry model (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2000). Additionally, this study measured perceived learning, learner-instructor interaction, and learner-learner interaction to determine whether observable differences between the two groups occurred. Benefits of the synchronous-enhanced distance learning environment predicted in this study included a statistically significantly stronger sense of cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. It was also hypothesized that the synchronous-enhanced distance learning environment would yield statistically significantly higher reported perceived learning and interaction in contrast to the asynchronous condition. This study qualitatively explored how students perceived their experiences in synchronous-enhanced and asynchronous distance learning environments through focus group interviews and deductive analysis. Results of the analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the synchronous-enhanced and asynchronous groups in measuring cognitive presence, social presence, teaching presence, perceived learning, learner-instructor interaction, and learner-learner interaction. Qualitative results evidenced higher frequencies in the synchronous-enhanced group with regard to clarification, collaboration, direct instruction, and interaction.

[pt] Este estudo tem por objetivo analisar o uso de neologismos da área da informática por grupos sociais que caracterizamos como comunidades de prática, tomando como caso exemplar as formas verbais printar e bugar, derivadas do inglês print e bug. Defendendo a hipótese de que os empréstimos são fenômenos linguísticos naturais e inevitáveis, tratamos a questão dos estrangeirismos, primeiramente, sob o ponto de vista histórico, e, posteriormente, como fenômeno gramatical exemplificado por essas novas formas verbais. Finalmente, a questão é considerada do ponto de vista social, buscando-se mostrar a participação das comunidades de prática na consolidação e extensão de significado das importações lexicais. / [en] This study aims to examine the use of neologisms loaned from the area of information technology by social groups characterized as communities of practice, taking as an exemplary case the verb forms printar and bugar, derived from the English words print and bug. Defending the hypothesis that loans are natural and inevitable linguistic phenomena, we treat the appropriation of foreign words initially from the point of view of history, and later as a grammatical phenomenon, exemplified by such new verb forms. Finally, the issue is considered from the social point of view, trying to show the involvement of communities of practice in the consolidation and extension of lexical meaning of loans.

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The COVID-19 pandemic, known as the coronavirus, was declared as a national pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020 (Cucinotta and Vanelli, 2020). Following the declaration of a national pandemic, institutions across society were forced to respond. Among those most immediately impacted, were colleges and universities. Higher education faculty and administrators transitioned in-person courses to an online format to adjust to the restrictions of coronavirus. As a result, college students around the world experienced a sudden shift to taking an entire semester of courses in an unfamiliar online format. The pandemic served as a catalyst to a trend over the last 2 years to provide access to a growing number of online courses. Given this drastic change and the unprecedented future of higher education during uncertain times, it was imperative to further study the nature of quality in online courses. While research on quality in higher education is extensive, a significant gap in literature exists related to students' perspectives of quality, particularly in online courses. To address this gap, I used the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI) (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2000) and related survey to explore aspects that contribute to perceptions of online education quality. The study investigated how undergraduate students at a large public research institution perceived the importance of elements of the CoI Framework. The data analyses included independent sample t tests, one-way ANOVAs, and regression. The results revealed that course pedagogy does affect students' perceptions of online quality. However, student characteristics do not affect students' perceptions of quality for online courses in Higher Education. / Doctor of Philosophy / It is important to understand quality in higher education because of its economic and social value. Gaining a deeper understanding into how students perceive quality is crucial, since they are the main consumer group of higher education. As a result of COVID-19, which was declared a national pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020 (Cucinotta and Vanelli, 2020), all higher education institutions were forced to transition courses to an online format. Due to the prevalence of online courses, quality of online courses became a primary focus for educational leaders. This study sought to better understand how students who are members of a single academic college at a large public university perceive the quality of online courses. The 145 participants in this study completed the online Community of Inquiry survey, which had an estimated 10–15-minute completion time. The survey contained 34 Likert scale questions related to students' experiences in an online course they have taken within the past academic year. This quantitative study utilized the Community of Inquiry framework which creates a deep and meaningful quality learning experience in online courses. (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2000). The results of this study revealed that course pedagogy does affect students' perceptions of online quality. This study also found that student characteristics do not affect students' perceptions of quality for online courses in higher education.

Syftet med studien är att identifiera hur såväl framgångsrika förutsättningar som praktiska tillämpningarskapas av lärarutbildare när det gäller lärarstudenters digitala kollaborativa lärande i matematikundervisningpå distans. Studien genomfördes med utgångspunkt i ett aktionsforskningsarbete, därempirin inhämtades genom skriftliga reflektioner samt enkätfrågor av sluten och öppen karaktär. Iaktionsforskningsarbetet kombinerades ett konferensverktyg och en yta för samarbete online för attskapa en lärande gemenskap i matematikdidaktik inom högre utbildning. Med hjälp av ramverketcommunity of inquiry undersöktes studenters och lärarutbildares presence, närvaro, som uppstår iläromiljön online. När det gäller utvecklingen av kursdesign och innehåll går det att dra slutsatsen attcommunity of inquiry främst uppfyller cognitive presence medan teaching presence behöver förstärkas.När det gäller de känslor som lärarutbildare och studenter förnimmer vid kollaborativa kursmomenti matematikdidaktisk undervisning online går det att dra slutsatsen att både positiva och negativakänslor kan gynna lärandet. Det behövs insatser för att bemöta frustration i olika former hosbåde studenter och lärarutbildare. / The purpose of the study is to explore how helpful conditions such as practical applications are createdby teacher educators regarding student teachers' digital collaborative learning in online mathematicseducation. The study was carried out based on an action research project, where the empiricalevidence was obtained through written reflections and survey questions of a closed and open nature.In the action research a conference tool and an online collaboration surface were combined to createa learning community in mathematics didactics online in higher education. Using the community ofinquiry framework, the presence of students and teacher educators in the online learning environmentwas investigated. When it comes to the development of course design and content, it can beconcluded that the community of inquiry primarily fulfils cognitive presence while teaching presenceneeds to be strengthened. When it comes to the emotions that teacher educators and students feelduring collaborative course elements in online mathematics didactic teaching, it can be concludedthat both positive and negative emotions can benefit learning. Efforts are needed to respond to frustrationin various forms among both students and teacher educators.