Using Film and Online Group Blogs to Cultivate a Community of Inquiry: A Case Studied at a University of Technology in South Africa

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/0256-8853/2103

Keywords:

blended learning, community of inquiry, film, online group blogs, social entrepreneurship

Abstract

Despite the integration of technology in higher education, there is currently a paucity of research in the field of social entrepreneurship education in South Africa regarding the use of asynchronous communication supported by teaching resources in cultivating critical learning capacities through autonomous learning. Informed by the community of inquiry framework of Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2007), this study examined the cognitive, social and teaching presences among pre-service educators in online group blogs in relation to the film Who cares? which was used as a primary teaching resource in a social entrepreneurship module. In this study, the participants’ posts and comments were collected, coded and analysed using ATLAS.ti. The results revealed that, after viewing the film, the participating pre-service educators established high cognitive, social and teaching presences, respectively. The results of the study further illustrated that online group blogs in combination with film could provide pedagogical spaces for students to establish a community of inquiry in which pre-service educators’ critical learning capacities were enhanced through autonomous learning.

References

Alberti, F., Sciascia, S., & Poli, A. (2004, July 4–7). Entrepreneurship education: Notes on an ongoing debate. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual IntEnt Conference, University of Napoli Federico II, Napoli.

Anderson, T., Rourke, L., Garrison, D., & Archer, W. (2001). Assessing teaching presence in a computer conferencing context. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5(2),1-17. Retrieved from http://auspace.athabascau.ca/bitstream/2149/725/1/assessing_teaching_presence.pdf

Angelaina, S., & Jimoyiannis, A. (2012). Educational blogging: Developing and investigating a students’ community of inquiry. In Jimoyiannis, A. (Ed.), Research on e-learning and ICT in education (pp. 169–182). New York, NY: Springer.

Armellini, A., & De Stefani, M. (2015). Social presence in the 21st century: An adjustment to the Community of Inquiry framework. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(6), 1202-1216

Balfour, R. J., Van der Walt, J. L., Spamer, E. J., & Tshivhase, A. C. (2015). Blended learning, and open and distance learning: Implications for best practice in higher education. Progressio, 37(1), 1–18.

Champoux, J. E. (1999). Film as a teaching resource. Journal of Management Inquiry, 8(2), 206–217.

Deng, L., & Yuen, A. (2011). Towards a framework for educational affordances of blogs. Computers & Education, 56(2), 441–451. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.09.005

Deng, L., & Yuen, A. H. K. (2009). Blogs in higher education: Implementation and issues. TechTrends, 53(3), 95–98.

Dewey, J. (1922). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think (rev. ed.). Boston, MA: DC Heath.

Dewey, J. (1959). My pedagogic creed. In J. Dewey (ed.), Dewey on education (pp. 19–32). New York, NY: Teachers College, Columbia University. (Original work published 1897)

Frederick, H. (2007). Blended learning in entrepreneurship education in the Asia-Pacific: A grounded theory approach to entrepreneurship pedagogy. In R. Chapman (Ed.), Managing our intellectual and social capital: Proceedings of the 21st ANZAM Conference, Sydney (pp. 1–16). Canning Bridge: Promaco Conventions.

Garrison, D., & Akyol, Z. (2009). Role of instructional technology in the transformation of higher education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(1), 19–30. doi:org/10.1007/s12528-009- 9014-7

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. Internet and Higher Education, 2(2/3), 87–105.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 7–23.

Littlewood, D. C., & Holt, D. (2015). Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: Exploring the influence of environment. Business and Society. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0007650315613293

Makri, K., & Kynigos, C. (2007). The role of blogs in studying the discourse and social practices of Mathematics teachers. Educational Technology & Society, 10(1), 73–84.

Mullen, A. (2015). Reflections on teaching with films in British secondary education. Journal of Research Initiatives, 1(3), 1-7.

O’Donnell, M. (2005, May 19–21). Blogging as pedagogic practice: Artefact and ecology. Paper presented at the Blog Talk Downunder Conference, Sydney. Retrieved from http://incsub.org/blogtalk/?page_id=66

Pifarré, M., Guijosa, A., & Argelagós, E. (2014). Using a blog to create and support a community of inquiry in secondary education. E-Learning and Digital Media, 11(1), 72–87.

Swan, K., Garrison, D. R., & Richardson, J. C. (2009). A constructivist approach to online learning: The community of inquiry framework. In C. R. Payne (Ed.), Information technology and constructivism in higher education: Progressive learning frameworks (pp. 43–57). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Swimelar, S. (2013). Visualizing International Relations: Assessing Student Learning Through Film. International Studies Perspectives, 14(1), 14-38.

Tracey, P., & Phillips, N. (2007). The distinctive challenge of educating social entrepreneurs: A postscript and rejoinder to the special issue on entrepreneurship education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 6(2), 264–271.

Tu, C. H. (2000). On-line learning migration: From social learning theory to social presence theory in CMC environment. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 23(1), 27–37.

Williams, J., & Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Education Technology, 20(20), 232–247.

Downloads

Published

2017-08-16

How to Cite

Waghid, Zayd. 2016. “Using Film and Online Group Blogs to Cultivate a Community of Inquiry: A Case Studied at a University of Technology in South Africa”. Progressio 38 (2):106-31. https://doi.org/10.25159/0256-8853/2103.

Issue

Section

Articles
Received 2017-02-01
Accepted 2017-05-11
Published 2017-08-16