Effective Designing for Distance

CREATING EFFECTIVE AND ENGAGING ONLINE LEARNING

Effective is in the Name

The Pedagogically Effective Online Instructional Design Model (PEOID) is a framework that provides guidance for designing and developing engaging and effective online courses. It aims to create a learner-centered environment that promotes active learning, collaboration, and critical thinking. “A poor-designed online course often confuses online students, loses their focus, and makes them feel frustrated”, (Chen, 2015). The model consists of four key components: identify, select, create, and assess. Due to the different nature of online courses, being able to identify a format is crucial in the process of instructional design. “As an instructor, he/she needs to identify which course format that he/she would like to adopt for instruction first”, (Chen, 2015). The ability to identify instructional objectives, learner needs, and appropriate pedagogical approaches is also within the first of the four components for the enhancement of student learning. For selection, online instructors will choose internet based content, methods of communication and interaction, educational technologies, and resources that can include curriculum, tech support, and mentoring support resources. For the creation component, instructors can build or create a course path, instructional materials and methods, as well as assignments and assessments. Through the assessment component, instructor will assess instructional effectiveness through a variety of strategies that can include projects, presentations, assessments, and discussion forums.

A Community Effort

The Community of Inquiry model is a theoretical framework that provides guidance for creating engaging and pedagogically effective online courses due to educational institutes' use of computer-mediated communication for educational delivery methods. “The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model views the online learning experience as a function of the relationship between three elements: social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence”, (Richardson et al.,2012). It emphasizes the importance of building a sense of community among learners, fostering cognitive presence, and promoting social and teaching presence. This model consists of three core elements: social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence, as well as their interrelationships.

1. Social presence refers to the ability of learners to project themselves as real people and establish a sense of community in the online learning environment that involves creating opportunities for learners to interact with each other, engage in meaningful discussions, and develop interpersonal relationships. This can be achieved through various communication tools such as discussion forums, video conferencing, and social media platforms.

2. Cognitive presence focuses on the process of critical thinking and inquiry-based learning. It involves creating activities and discussions that encourage learners to explore, reflect, and construct knowledge collaboratively. The instructor plays a critical role in facilitating cognitive presence by posing challenging questions, providing guidance, and fostering deep and reflective discussions among learners.

3. Teaching presence refers to the design, organization, and facilitation of the online course. It includes activities such as setting clear learning objectives, providing instructional materials, guiding discussions, and providing feedback. The instructor's presence and involvement are essential in creating a supportive and engaging learning environment.

Creating Effective & Engaging Online Instruction

By following the PEOID model, instructional designers can create online courses that are engaging, interactive, and promote effective learning. The learner-centered approach ensures that the course content and activities are designed to meet the specific needs of the learners, fostering a more meaningful and impactful learning experience. Additionally, the continuous assessment and evaluation processes enable instructors to monitor learners' progress, provide timely feedback, and make necessary adjustments to optimize the learning outcomes. “developing a pedagogically effective instructional design model is essential now more than ever as learning moves to virtual classrooms”, (Chen, 2015). This model supports the design of pedagogically effective online courses that enhance learner engagement, motivation, and achievement.

By implementing the Community of Inquiry model, instructors can create engaging and pedagogically effective online courses. The model emphasizes the importance of building a supportive community, which helps in promoting learner engagement, motivation, and satisfaction. The sense of social presence fosters interaction and collaboration among learners, allowing for the exchange of ideas and perspectives. Cognitive presence encourages critical thinking and deeper understanding of the course content, while teaching presence ensures that learners receive the necessary guidance and support throughout the learning process.

Overall, the CoI model recognizes the importance of social, cognitive, and teaching presence in online learning. By leveraging these elements, instructors can design online courses that are interactive, collaborative, and intellectually stimulating, leading to enhanced learning outcomes for the learners.

References

Chen, L. L. (2015, June). Pedagogically effective online instructional design model. In EdMedia+ Innovate Learning (pp. 1551-1554). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Richardson, J. C., Arbaugh, J. B., Hrastinski, S., Ice, P., Swan, K., & D. Randy Garrison. (2012). Using the Community of Inquiry Framework to Inform Effective Instructional Design. The Name Generation of Distance Education, 97–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1785-9_7