Regardless of the environment, meaningful learning does not happen in isolation. It takes place through active interactions between learners, content, and you, the instructor. Students learn together through exploring ideas, checking for understanding, persuading, and giving each other feedback. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model can act as a guide for developing the kind of practical activities that support a student community. The framework of a CoI supports deep, meaningful learning experiences through three intersecting elements:

Social Presence

COI Graphic (created by CDL Graphics) is a derivative of
Community of Inquiry Model by Matbury, which is
licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
What: "The ability of participants to identify with the community..., communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities" (Garrison, 2009).
How: You will build your social presence by encouraging students to interact with each other. This presence intersects with the "cognitive presence" to allow your students to discuss important ideas, and it intersects with "teaching presence" to create the climate of your course.

Cognitive Presence

What: "The extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication" (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2001).
How: You will build your cognitive presence by encouraging students to interact with the content you've selected. This presence intersects with the "teaching presence" to inform the content that you choose and with which your learners will interact.

Teaching Presence

What: "The design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes" (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001).
How: Build your teaching presence by encouraging students to interact with you.

This model pairs critical engagement with open communication where students build knowledge together under your expert guidance as the instructor. These elements work together to support a unique and successful educational experience for all of your learners.

"Students need more than access to videos, text, and disembodied voices commenting on their work. They need the presence of their peers and instructor to help them learn."
Darby & Lang, 2019, p. 78

Please watch the brief video below about the Modified Community of Inquiry Framework, a framework for both creation and evaluation of online teaching and learning.

Modified Community of Inquiry Framework (Time 5:36) by EDUCAUSE