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"This interactive web-site is designed to collect published research about the CoI and discuss these publications with interested researchers and practitioners.  We hope to create a community of inquiry about the Community of Inquiry framework!"

So my Sunday morning session at EduCon was entitled Beyond Googling: Building the Conditions for Structured Inquiry. The slide-deck is at the bottom of post. It was an evolution of a workshop I've done before, but my whole goal was to really think about the session on both the real and the meta-session level.

"The Online Research and Media Skills (ORMS) model takes a closer look at ways to effectively integrate skills and strategies needed to support all literacies when working with Internet and Communication Technologies (ICT) in classrooms. This class will focus on the planning, implementation and assessment of an inquiry-based lesson. The lesson will involve objectives deemed appropriate by Common Core Standards, but accelerated through the use of ICTs. Participants will leave with effective ways to embed literacy and research skills in the technologically equipped classroom. "

The authors lay out four "pillars" of practice, conveniently chosen to form FLIP as an acronym: Flexible environment (Students are allowed a variety of modes of learning and means of assessment) Learning culture (Student-centered communities of inquiry rather than instructor-centered lecture) Intentional content (Basically this means placing content in the most appropriate context - direct instruction prior to class for individual use, video that's accessible to all students, etc.) Professional educator (Being a reflective, accessible instructor who collaborates with other educators and takes responsibility for perfecting one's craft)

"I was inspired to launch Comics in Education after the 2014 Reading for the Love of It conference at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto. I received so many wonderful inquiries from teachers that I wanted to create a forum where K-12 educators could find what they needed and be inspired to share the great things they were doing with their students to further explore visual narrative in the classroom. "

"Teachers who have begun to challenge these assumptions engage in alternative practices that begin to help us articulate the commitments of connected teaching. These commitments and practices include: COLLABORATION: Connected teachers work collaboratively. CURIOSITY: Connected teachers bring an inquiry mindset to classroom practice. COURAGE: Connected teachers give up some of their control over the learning experience. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: Connected teachers engage their students in public life. CARE: Connected teachers share their interests and learning with their students."

Perhaps even more surprising, "From 2000 to 2011, the amount of overall class coverage declined by [about] 44%, whereas the averages on MAT exams increased by 13% over the same period." (p. 332) "Our data suggest that a more efficient use of time is mastering fewer topics deeply while fostering the development of critical thinking skills that enable the student to apply known information (with greater confidence) to new topics." (p. 333) In this case then, the claim that less teaching resulted in more learning stands. "We define our use of the term 'less teaching' as moving the burden of active effort from the teacher to the student." (p. 333)