ABSTRACT
The Community of Inquiry framework has its genesis in a rich philosophical and theoretical history where inquiry is based on the generalized scientific method and a process of critical reflection and discourse have been seen. This transaction is socially situated and dependent upon a purposeful community of learners committed to collaboratively exploring problems, constructing meaning, and validating understanding. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework provides an ordered and methodological approach to thinking and learning collaboratively through the concurrent consideration of three overlapping elements namely cognitive, social, and teaching presence. In short, the Col framework recognizes the inherent unity and symmetry of the personal and shared worlds of thinking and learning. From a more immediate concern, a community of inquiry is a framework and approach that is highly relevant to a connected knowledge society. A decade and a half of research has shown the CoI framework to be a powerful tool to explore and understand thinking in collaborative learning environments.
