The Design of Digital Learning Environments: Online and Blended Applications of the Community of Inquiry

The Design of Digital Learning Environments provides comprehensive guidelines for creating and delivering high-quality online and blended learning experiences in higher education. With increasing numbers of students engaged in partially or fully digital education, graduate students preparing for design, development, or faculty roles need fresh, practical applications of cutting-edge research and theory. This textbook uses the Community of Inquiry framework, an influential and invaluable pedagogical model focused on deep learning, to aid educators in forging meaningful, collaborative connections with students engaged in digitally supported multi-modal learning in colleges and universities, MOOCs, and lifelong learning initiatives. Across five parts, the book covers the basic structure, concepts, terminology, and history of the Community of Inquiry; principles for designing and delivering digital courses; design for specific course conditions; applications of learning activities guided by the framework; and current limitations and directions for further research.

Martha F. Cleveland-Innes is Professor in Graduate Education Programs at Athabasca University, Canada. She is an award-winning researcher and author in the field of distance and blended higher education.

Stefan Stenbom is Associate Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. He is one of the leading scholars in the third generation of Community of Inquiry researchers.

D. Randy Garrison is Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary, Canada. He has published extensively on teaching and learning in distance, higher, and adult education contexts.