Tuesday, April 12, 2011

2010 Update




Much has happened since my last post; my apologies for the absence. My only comment is that I am not very good with social media. In this regard, I do take a critical but I hope constructive view of social media and mobile learning in my latest book - E-Learning in the 20th Century (2nd Ed.). While the title is the same as the first edition, it is virtually a complete rewrite and an update on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework. This work and another book co-authored with Marti Cleveland-Innes - An Introduction to Distance Education: Understanding Teaching & Learning in a New Era - has occupied much of my time the last year or so. I am now working on an edited book with Zehra Akyol titled - Educational Communities of Inquiry: Theoretical Framework, Research and Practice. We are soliciting chapter proposals for this book (see CoI website). I am also working with Norm vaughan and marti Cleveland-Innes on a proposal for a book on teaching presence in a blended learning context. This is in essence a sequel to Blended Learning in Higher Education (co-authored with Norm Vaughan) that focuses on the practical aspects of designing and delivering blended learning.


I was very honored to receive the 2009 Sloan-C award for Most Outstanding Achiement in Online Learning by an Individual and the 2010 Canadian Association for University Continuing Education Distinguished Research Award. I would also like to draw your attention to a presentation I did last November at the XV Congress on Technology and Distance Education in Costa Rica. I very much enjoyed visiting this beuatiful country and experiencing the rain forest when it did what it does best - rain. I expect to receive a copy of the presentation and will post it on the Community of Inquiry website: http://communities of inquiry.com/


A recent research project worth noting conducted with my colleague Zehra Akyol is on metacognition in the context of a community of inquiry. A paper describing the theoretical model and initial study has been accepted for publication in the Internet & Higher Education. I believe this is an important contribution to the development of the CoI framework as it raises an important issue regarding self-direction in a collaborative community of learners. The suggestion is that perhaps we need to explore shared monitoring and regulation of learning. The metacognitive construct we propose provides an important link between teaching and cognitive presence. We have developed a metacognitive survey instrument we are currently validating for use in further studies of this construct in a community of inquiry context.


The timing of this infrequent posting was also precipitated by the fact that I am finishing my second term as Director, Teaching & Learning Centre at the University of Calgary. I look forward to moving to a teaching and research position in the Faculty of Education after a career as a full-time adminsitrator. Taking on a full teaching load does bring some anxiety but I hope to use some of my adminsitrative leave time to begin preparing for what will be a major adjustment.




Finally, on a personal note, I did mention in my last posting that I had the pleasure of playing golf with my youngest daughter - Sabrine. Well she has made considerable progress in competitive golf. Since winning several tournaments during the summer of 2010, she has competed in two US tournaments this winter where she finished first and second (lost by a shot) in the under 19 category (at age 14). I cannot compete with her anymore but find great pleasure following here around the golf course. The pictures you see here are from those trips. You will also note that Sabrine is a great photographer as she has managed to make me look 10 years younger.

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