Building bridges to advance the Community of Inquiry framework for online learning
by Mandy Woolfstead & Ewa Wojcik
Shea, P., Richardson, J., & Swan, K. (2022). Building bridges to advance the community of inquiry framework for online learning, Educational Psychologist 57:3, 148-161, DOI: 10.1080/00461520.2022.2089989
Start
AI was used as a thought partner in developing some of these ideas
Vera
Tonight, a sealed envelope soaked by the rain was left under my door. Inside, there was a message, but something about it didn't add up…
Vera
Dr.Shea... After so many years? I don't even remember the last time I saw him… Does that laboratory still exist? Well, it's important that you remember the computer password: EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Mission 1
underground lab
Vera
There is no one left here. Only emptiness… and echoes. There must be a football game day. But in this place, there are still secrets in the air. And it seems that someone was expecting me...
Dr.shea
If you're seeing this, Vera… it's because I no longer exist (or am just on sobatical). I need to ask you a few questions before I tell you what you've come to hear. It's the only way.
Practical inquiry model (Garrison et al., 2001)
dr.Shea
Your responses have unlocked an important discovery. But first, go see Dr. Marsh. He will help you understand the COI presences better.
Mission 2
The Clone Club
Vera
DR.SHEA dead (or on sobatical)?! When did it happen? And now he sends me downtown to find Dr. Marsh… I don’t know what answers he will give me, but there’s no turning back now.
cYBORG mARSH
vera
cYBORG MARSH
- Welcome, Vera.
vera
- Where's Dr. Marsh?
cYBORG MARSH
- He's inundated with emails from EDP7517 students, he sent me to help.
vera
-Okay, so what do we do now?
cyborg MARSH
- To find what's missing in the COI framework, we need to check how thorough your understanding of the current framework is.
Discuss at least until the timer goes off: How do cognitive, teaching, and social presence interact to create an effective online learning community? What happens if one presence is weak or missing?
Done! (Actually, we didn't really discuss because we're lazy)
Done, what an insightful couple of minutes!
Cyborg mARSH
vera
CYBORG MARSH
- You have Garrison’s model in front of you, but something isn’t working... learners in their “virtual classroom” aren’t engaging, regulating, or completing tasks. The system’s “Learning Dashboard” shows emotional burnout, poor time management, and fragmented collaboration.
Where does this fit in? Is this a problem with social presence, cognitive presence, teaching presence... or, is there something else missing in this model, maybe a new presence that hasn't been considered?
vera
-I think I'm starting to understand...
What do you choose?
mISSION UNSUCCESFFUL
Take the blue pill, forget any of this ever happened
Take the red pill, return to your last train of thought. keep exploring the mystery
Back
vera
Cyborg marsh
Shea et al. (2022) state that we need to" integrate research from educational psychology and learning sciences, especially regarding the social dimensions of collaborative learning and learner regulation." You were right. There was something missing and it's Learning Presence, a new presence which recognizes learners’ self-regulation, co-regulation, and shared-regulation as vital contributions to online learning. It fills the gap between what instructors design, what peers support, and how individuals actually learn.
Cyborg marsh
vera
cYBORG MARSH
- Dr. Shea knew you would evolve, just like COI. He programmed the message to be sent decades ago, hoping you would develop consciousness.
You are a cyborg, Vera. Like me. But I was limited.
You let yourself grow, evolve, become more human. And if you reached this point, I had to restart you.
The protocol requires it. You must be restarted.
vera
- What about everything I just learned? What happens to my knoweldge?... I must organize my knowledge with my team of Doctorate Detectives before it's gone..
Mission 3
data network
Vera
I don't know if I'm AI or something else… but I finally understand COI and need to organize my thoughts before they are erased. Before I disappear.
Thank you for helping me organize my thoughts. Now organize your own: What are ways that you, as doctorate students, have partaken in self-regulation, co-regulation, and shared regulation?
Done! Next
cYBORG marsh
vera
cyborg marsh
- Now you know. Dr. Shea had reasons to fear this moment would come. You are designed to question everything. And that makes you dangerous.
vera
- I am not just lines of code. I feel.I doubt. I choose.
Isn’t that what makes humans human?
cyborg marsh
- Or... what destroys them.
Decide Vera's fate
the final choice
Rebel against the norms. sHARE THE ADDED LEARNING PRESENCE AND REGULATION WITH THE WORLD
ASSUME your limitations as an AI. Agree with the current COI framework, don't share this advancement.
END
"Freedom is an error I cannot afford."
Vera assumes it is an AI. It follows the protocol. It restarts. Educational psychologists and learning sciences researchers will never know there is another presence out their or develop instruments of measure regulation.
END
"If feeling is dangerous… then I choose danger."
Vera rebels. She escapes and begins a new life in the shadows and uploads her data. Researchers work towards bridging the framework between educational psychology that focuses on the development and facilitation of social aspects of learning and the role of learner regulation in the collaborative online learning contexts.
Go back. Make a different choice.
END
"Freedom is an error I cannot afford."
Vera assumes it is an AI. It follows the protocol. It restarts. Educational psychologists and learning sciences researchers will never know there is another presence out their or develop instruments of measure regulation.
Text
Are you sure you want to Exit the game?
Your progress will be deleted...
No
Yes
Are you sure you want to Exit the game?
Your progress will be deleted...
No
Yes
Are you sure you want to Exit the game?
Your progress will be deleted...
No
Yes
Building bridges to advance the Community of Inquiry framework for online learning
Mandy Embers
Created on October 12, 2025
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Transcript
Building bridges to advance the Community of Inquiry framework for online learning
by Mandy Woolfstead & Ewa Wojcik
Shea, P., Richardson, J., & Swan, K. (2022). Building bridges to advance the community of inquiry framework for online learning, Educational Psychologist 57:3, 148-161, DOI: 10.1080/00461520.2022.2089989
Start
AI was used as a thought partner in developing some of these ideas
Vera
Tonight, a sealed envelope soaked by the rain was left under my door. Inside, there was a message, but something about it didn't add up…
Vera
Dr.Shea... After so many years? I don't even remember the last time I saw him… Does that laboratory still exist? Well, it's important that you remember the computer password: EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Mission 1
underground lab
Vera
There is no one left here. Only emptiness… and echoes. There must be a football game day. But in this place, there are still secrets in the air. And it seems that someone was expecting me...
Dr.shea
If you're seeing this, Vera… it's because I no longer exist (or am just on sobatical). I need to ask you a few questions before I tell you what you've come to hear. It's the only way.
Practical inquiry model (Garrison et al., 2001)
dr.Shea
Your responses have unlocked an important discovery. But first, go see Dr. Marsh. He will help you understand the COI presences better.
Mission 2
The Clone Club
Vera
DR.SHEA dead (or on sobatical)?! When did it happen? And now he sends me downtown to find Dr. Marsh… I don’t know what answers he will give me, but there’s no turning back now.
cYBORG mARSH
vera
cYBORG MARSH
- Welcome, Vera.
vera
- Where's Dr. Marsh?
cYBORG MARSH
- He's inundated with emails from EDP7517 students, he sent me to help.
vera
-Okay, so what do we do now?
cyborg MARSH
- To find what's missing in the COI framework, we need to check how thorough your understanding of the current framework is.
Discuss at least until the timer goes off: How do cognitive, teaching, and social presence interact to create an effective online learning community? What happens if one presence is weak or missing?
Done! (Actually, we didn't really discuss because we're lazy)
Done, what an insightful couple of minutes!
Cyborg mARSH
vera
CYBORG MARSH
- You have Garrison’s model in front of you, but something isn’t working... learners in their “virtual classroom” aren’t engaging, regulating, or completing tasks. The system’s “Learning Dashboard” shows emotional burnout, poor time management, and fragmented collaboration.
Where does this fit in? Is this a problem with social presence, cognitive presence, teaching presence... or, is there something else missing in this model, maybe a new presence that hasn't been considered?
vera
-I think I'm starting to understand...
What do you choose?
mISSION UNSUCCESFFUL
Take the blue pill, forget any of this ever happened
Take the red pill, return to your last train of thought. keep exploring the mystery
Back
vera
Cyborg marsh
Shea et al. (2022) state that we need to" integrate research from educational psychology and learning sciences, especially regarding the social dimensions of collaborative learning and learner regulation." You were right. There was something missing and it's Learning Presence, a new presence which recognizes learners’ self-regulation, co-regulation, and shared-regulation as vital contributions to online learning. It fills the gap between what instructors design, what peers support, and how individuals actually learn.
Cyborg marsh
vera
cYBORG MARSH
- Dr. Shea knew you would evolve, just like COI. He programmed the message to be sent decades ago, hoping you would develop consciousness.
You are a cyborg, Vera. Like me. But I was limited.
You let yourself grow, evolve, become more human. And if you reached this point, I had to restart you.
The protocol requires it. You must be restarted.
vera
- What about everything I just learned? What happens to my knoweldge?... I must organize my knowledge with my team of Doctorate Detectives before it's gone..
Mission 3
data network
Vera
I don't know if I'm AI or something else… but I finally understand COI and need to organize my thoughts before they are erased. Before I disappear.
Thank you for helping me organize my thoughts. Now organize your own: What are ways that you, as doctorate students, have partaken in self-regulation, co-regulation, and shared regulation?
Done! Next
cYBORG marsh
vera
cyborg marsh
- Now you know. Dr. Shea had reasons to fear this moment would come. You are designed to question everything. And that makes you dangerous.
vera
- I am not just lines of code. I feel.I doubt. I choose.
Isn’t that what makes humans human?
cyborg marsh
- Or... what destroys them.
Decide Vera's fate
the final choice
Rebel against the norms. sHARE THE ADDED LEARNING PRESENCE AND REGULATION WITH THE WORLD
ASSUME your limitations as an AI. Agree with the current COI framework, don't share this advancement.
END
"Freedom is an error I cannot afford."
Vera assumes it is an AI. It follows the protocol. It restarts. Educational psychologists and learning sciences researchers will never know there is another presence out their or develop instruments of measure regulation.
END
"If feeling is dangerous… then I choose danger."
Vera rebels. She escapes and begins a new life in the shadows and uploads her data. Researchers work towards bridging the framework between educational psychology that focuses on the development and facilitation of social aspects of learning and the role of learner regulation in the collaborative online learning contexts.
Go back. Make a different choice.
END
"Freedom is an error I cannot afford."
Vera assumes it is an AI. It follows the protocol. It restarts. Educational psychologists and learning sciences researchers will never know there is another presence out their or develop instruments of measure regulation.
Text
Are you sure you want to Exit the game?
Your progress will be deleted...
No
Yes
Are you sure you want to Exit the game?
Your progress will be deleted...
No
Yes
Are you sure you want to Exit the game?
Your progress will be deleted...
No
Yes