Creating a 'Community of Inquiry': A Framework for Optimizing the Virtual Education Experience.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: Medical educators must learn to implement technologic advances to create meaningful learning experiences, implementing media tools that are effective in meeting evolving academic needs and fostering interpersonal engagement. The increasing time constraints in a department of more than 1,600 faculty interspersed throughout a large metropolitan complex served as the catalyst for utilizing technology to create a framework for providing virtual faculty development. Objective: To use a Community of Inquiry (CoI) as a framework to guide the development of an interactive, virtual writing retreat. Methods: We used the three elements of CoI--social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence--to transform the curriculum and delivery method of an existing writing workshop into an interactive virtual experience. To enhance virtual teaching and learning, we created a positive climate allowing learners to project themselves into the community through discourse (social), leveraged technologies to enable construction of knowledge by individual learners (cognitive), and revamped the existing curriculum for optimal virtual learning outcomes (teaching). We evaluated its educational effectiveness via surveys based on the CoI framework. Results: The highly interactive, four-hour, virtual writing retreat was well received and serves as a model for implementing the CoI framework in other disciplines. Forty multidisciplinary faculty attended the retreat; 90% completed the entire session. In the post-session survey (50% response rate), participants rated the learning activities highly. Conclusion: Our conceptual model and practical recommendations are offered to other medical educators and faculty developers for designing a tailored CoI with effective virtual synchronous learning.

Twelve Tips for Creating and Supporting a Meaningful Asynchronous Learning as Parts of Virtual Transition of a Curriculum.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. With increasing use of online learning, the focus is rapidly shifting from in-person learning to virtual asynchronous learning (ASL). The flexibility offered by ASL coupled with advancements in technologies have enabled increased engagement of learners. However, ASL has inherent challenges associated with it, especially for educators. Successful curricula designed for virtual learning should deliver high-quality education, leverage existing technologies, and incorporate evidence-informed educational practices. Contrariwise, if the discourse becomes diluted due to lack of clear goals and objectives, it can lead to identity challenges in educators and dissatisfaction among learners. In this contemporary review, we offer practical tips for educators to guide development and/or implementation of curricula in asynchronous platforms using a Community of Inquiry framework. The guide also elaborates on practical use of various technologies to conform with one's teaching identity as identified by Pratt's teaching perspectives.

Twelve Tips for Creating an All-Day Writing Retreat for Health Profession Educators: An Immersive, Product-Oriented Learning Experience.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Health profession educators are keenly aware of the challenges associated with meeting institutional expectations to disseminate their scholarship in forms of publications. In the past, we addressed some of these challenges and described an interactive workshop that we developed from didactic presentations, using educational, psychological, and rhetorical theories. Because we received very positive reviews from workshop participants, we decided to take the next step and develop an all-day writing retreat. In developing this retreat, we spent considerable time preparing in advance; implemented various theories for engaging students and other audiences; and learned lessons along the way. We now offer our insights as tips to help other educators develop a writing retreat.