ABSTRACT
This chapter reports on research conducted on two courses in a fully online distance Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) professional development program with participants from around the world. The framework used to conceptualize online learning environments is Garrison et al. community of inquiry model. In this model, a meaningful educational experience is achieved at the intersection of the three key elements: teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence. Teaching presence represents what the instructor does, which includes the course organization and design as the subject matter expert, as well as the behaviour on the discussion board to promote interaction among course participants. Social presence describes how the participants connect with one another on a social and emotional level within a community of inquiry. Cognitive presence measures the levels of critical inquiry by participants and their social construction of new knowledge through interaction with each other and the course content.
