Abstract:

This study approaches and analyzes issues relating to the processes of communication in a community of inquiry (CoI). The investigation analyzes the internal structure of interventions in two different kind of educational communication: forum (asynchronous tool) and chat (synchronous tool).

These communications were developed in a semester course “Information and Communication Technologies Applied to Education,” taken in students’ last year of university study.

We use a mixed methodology that includes content analysis of the virtual communications by crossing two categorization systems:
(1) type of communication according to the model adopted from Garrison, Anderson and Archer (social, cognitive and teaching presence) and
(2) phases in the evolution of the communication (initiation, proposal, development, opinion/closing and good-byes).

The main aims of this study are to investigate if the content of the communications vary in each phase, and try to distinguish different content in the communication depending on whether synchronous or asynchronous tools are used. The results suggest differences in the quantity and content of the communication in each phase and an evolution from social to cognitive elements, ending with social elements.