Good practice guide - Online Pedagogy

What is pedagogy?

The origin of the word comes from the Greek word paidagogÓs

• Paide (child) + agogos (leader)
• Pedagogue = an educator, a teacher

Pedagogy refers to the art or science of teaching across a broad spectrum of ages.

• Including the instruction in teaching methods
• Activities that impart or inform knowledge.

Why pedagogy matters

We all learn in different ways. Being aware of this and having a well thought out approach to facilitating learning and the learning environment can improve the quality of teaching as well as the quality and learning of students. Being mindful and purposeful in the design of the way you teach can support better understanding of how students can achieve a deeper learning. Thinking about how to achieve this is thinking about pedagogy.

Acquiring the skills for activity in the 21^st century requires there to be a broader range of competencies developed, such as collaboration, perseverance, resourcefulness and innovation. Additionally, in the 21^st century, technology is offering new learning opportunities and allowing learners located remotely to interact with each other and with the subject matter. The underlying learning theory for on campus and online learning has the same theoretical constructs (Beetham & Sharpe 2013). What online learning offers is a new model of education rather than a new model of learning.

If 21^st century competencies are to be developed during learning and not left to chance, then online pedagogy needs to be tailored to provide the opportunity for development of these competencies as well as provide knowledge content. How do we do this? What is good practice for online teaching?

One suggested model of education afforded by an online mode of education is the constructionist approach. This model has a focus on learning participants as a community engaged in inquiry into a body of knowledge facilitated by a teacher – a community of inquiry – underpinned by the principle that the more engaged students are with their learning the more they are likely to retain (Garrison, Anderson & Archer 2000).

What is good pedagogic practice online?

Communities of inquiry (CoI) (Garrison, Anderson & Archer 2000) model is considered one of the most effective learning frameworks for online learning. Communities of inquiry are highly engaged in the co-creation, discovery and development of knowledge, capabilities and skills, and is enabled by learning management systems, collaborative platforms and social-constructivist teaching activities. In plain speak, this means ‘Communities of Inquiry’ create active and multi-directional and flexible learning environments where the educator, student and their peers contribute to the learning.

Garrison, Anderson & Archer (2010) identified three critical elements in the experience of online learning - Social Presence, Cognitive Presence, and Teaching Presence. These elements, and their areas of overlap, make up the Community of Inquiry framework (Fig.1).

How each of the elements of the CoI framework work together highlights how it is a good framework for online digital learning and a deeper and more meaningful educational experience.

Looking briefly at each of the elements might clarify how this works in a real-life situation, for you as a teacher.

• Cognitive presence, or the presence of cognition - mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension - would be a fundamental expectation of learning. However, this element is operationalised through a model of practical inquiry based on the idea of reflective thought (Dewey 1933). Dewey theorised that for an educational experience to be worthwhile, it needed to be based on a process involving reflective inquiry. The process of reflective inquiry supports the generation of self-knowledge – placing the knowledge into the students’ own words and supporting the translation of theory into practice. As teachers, we need to offer opportunities for students to reflect on knowledge and apply knowledge to their study. Consider your topic’s cognitive presence in terms of the extent of engagement in the learning activities via FLO which is intellectually challenging for the students. Cognitive presence is engaged when we encourage students to question, assess, and consider alternatives rather than simply accept the knowledge offered. Cognitive presence is stimulated by reinterpreting practice, challenging old assumptions and experiencing dissension of known and new knowledge.
• Teaching presence refers to not only the teaching of content but to the virtual presence of the teacher. Teaching presence can occur through actual contributions to postings, but also through videos talking about assessments, or introducing a new idea in the content. Students can re-watch videos and feel the presence of the teacher in their self-paced learning. Garrison & Arbaugh (2007) found that teaching presence is seen “as a significant determinant of student satisfaction, perceived learning and a sense of community”. Due to the three dimensions at play in the element of teaching presence your role and presence provides a significant contribution to the depth of the student learning experience.
• The element of social presence may sound less relevant; however this is not the case. This element relates to people identifying with the learning community, albeit for a short time. Identification with the learning community is achieved through communicating purposefully in a supportive environment and connecting with fellow learners. Social presence overlaps with the other elements as illustrated above (Fig.1). Social presence can occur through uploading a picture in your FLO profile, using narrative instruction in your FLO site or recording videos. For more interactive forms of social presence consider the use of discussions or collaboration for synchronous (real-time) interaction.

The community of inquiry model provides the potential to evolve an online pedagogy which allows learners to be central. This centrality stems from the COI recognising the importance of motivation, self-efficacy and personal skills which support deep learning and offer a positive learning experience.