Community of Inquiry Development in a Blended Learning Course for In-service Teachers

Abstract

The paper presents the course design and evaluation methods of an online community of inquiry that is developed in a blended learning training course for in-service teachers working in public K-6 schools in Greece. The course content is about digital storytelling, its educational value, and the use of supportive web 2.0 tools for developing digital stories. It lasts four weeks and is carried out mostly online with two face-to-face meetings, one at the beginning and one at the end of the course. The instructional design and evaluation of the course is based on the community of inquiry model of Garrison, Anderson & Archer (2000). Based on the preliminary findings, since the course is still in progress, the course design is found to be sound and in line with the relevant literature.

Keywords: community of inquiry model, digital storytelling, professional development, teacher training, online learning