K-12 Community of Inquiry: A Case Study of K-12 Online Social Studies Teacher Practice in a Virtual School

Teaching practices, rationales, and roles of experienced online social studies teachers at one fully online high school in the southeastern United States were examined using the descriptive case study method. Three male teachers and one female social studies teacher, all with three or more years of experience in the online classroom, were studied using interviews, observations, and document analysis. The resultant data was then coded according to open and theoretical coding methods. Results demonstrated the teaching practices, rationales, and roles of experienced online social studies teachers. Results led to an adaptation of the Community of Inquiry framework to the K-12 setting entitled the K-12 Community of Inquiry framework. In addition, the author presents an Expanded Online Learner Support Roles (EOLSR) framework that addresses seventeen roles of K-12 online teachers. Further research is needed to identify practices of K-12 fully online teachers for all subject areas and to verify the applicability of the K-12 Community of Inquiry framework and the EOLSR framework