The Community of Inquiry

The Community of Inquiry, or other similar frameworks, have likely assisted you as you developed your educational experiences. While Inclusive Design or UDL is the overarching framework for design and development in its entirety, employing the aspects of Community of Inquiry’s Cognitive Presence and its focus on cognitive development plots the actual course.

Inclusive Design or UDL guides your approach and thinking, while the four phases embedded in CoI and its Cognitive Presence act as more of a step-by-step action plan when organizing and building content.

And while learners working with course resources to prepare or reinforce in-class material has traditionally been an independent and mainly cognitive experience (blue area above), recent enhancements can inject the Affective (formerly Social) and Teaching presences into the learner’s experience – all of which combines to form the sweet spot of “Educational Experience”.