135 Research Article 2022 40(4): 135-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Published by the UFS http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie © Creative Commons With Attribution (CC-BY) Early childhood student- teachers’ experiences of blended learning using Community of Inquiry as theoretical framework Abstract Amongst the contemporary needs of societies in the fourth industrial revolution, are student-teachers who are adaptable, ethical, and literate in developing technology-mediated environments. Cultivating such teachers requires engaging them experientially in blended learning practices. We explored 155 student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning, at a South African institution for higher education, by using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) as theoretical framework. We created cognitive, social, and teaching presences within the initial teacher education module on their learning management system, Blackboard LearnTM. Utilising explanatory mixed-method as research approach enabled us to compare student-teachers’ experiences of the three presences using a Likert-type questionnaire and reflective feedback. Student- teachers’ online engagement reflected a good cognitive and teaching presence; whilst their social presence was maintained using disparate social media applications and consequently side- stepping this higher education institution’s learning management system. Social constructivists endorse socially situated knowledge, collaborative validation of understanding, and one’s own construction of meaning. Supposing that student-teachers education social studies for democratic citizenship education necessitate social presence as it precedes cognitive and teaching presences. The implication for higher education institutions is to create a sustainable online social presence within their learning management systems for prospective teacher citizens to be better prepared for technology-mediated milieus. Keywords: blended learning, community of inquiry, democratic education, early childhood education, initial teacher education, learning management systems, social studies, technology- mediated environment 1. Introduction and rationale The present-day pandemic, Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), revolutionised education, especially for initial teacher education (ITE) in South Africa, which predominantly uses face-to-face as the mode of delivery. Educators across sectors had to substitute ‘traditional pedagogies’ in a physical space for cyber environments. The events of 2020 AUTHOR: Dr Hannelie Du Preez1 Dr Joyce West1 AFFILIATION: 1University of Pretoria, South Africa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/ pie.v40i4.6186 e-ISSN 2519-593X Perspectives in Education 2022 40(4): 135-151 PUBLISHED: 23 December 2022 RECEIVED: 8 April 2022 ACCEPTED: 20 September 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=11341 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/530481521735906534/Overcoming-Poverty-and-Inequality-in-South-Africa-An-Assessment-of-Drivers-Constraints-and-Opportunities http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/530481521735906534/Overcoming-Poverty-and-Inequality-in-South-Africa-An-Assessment-of-Drivers-Constraints-and-Opportunities http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/530481521735906534/Overcoming-Poverty-and-Inequality-in-South-Africa-An-Assessment-of-Drivers-Constraints-and-Opportunities https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1194-427X https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3916-9754 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1362022 40(4): 136-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Perspectives in Education 2022: 40(4) transfigured educators’ perceptions of the utility of information and communication technology (ICTs) and learning management systems (LMS) to utilise virtual pedagogies to deliver the intended curricula. Twenty-twenty is a watershed year in teaching where technology-mediated milieus had to be fashioned post-haste to sustain cognitive, social, and teaching presences across all education institutions. The ‘new normal’ demanded, from all educators, to draw on their knowledge, resources, skills, and dispositions to implement a cyber-physical environment that is conducive to effective teaching and learning (Mpofu, 2020). Rapid changes to technology, education, and societal patterns insist humankind’s efforts for immediate interconnectedness across time and space (Rizvi & Lingard, 2000), for example global citizenship, fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Advancements in technology progressively transform societies and education to provide access to knowledge systems and tools across virtual, spatial, time, and social boundaries (Du Preez & Van Niekerk, 2018). Education facilitates cultivating child citizens by developing, utilising, disseminating, and integrating knowledge systems into their daily lives. Thus, society depends on educational institutions to equip child and teacher citizens to function in an ever-changing world and keep pace with the generational transitions (e.g., Generations X, Y & Z) so children do not become estranged from teachers due to technological advancements (Deca, 2016; Du Preez & Van Niekerk, 2018). Merging face-to-face interactions with collaborative-online learning environments at higher educational institutions (HEI) create and enlarges the scope for lifelong learning (King & Fricker, 2002). It offers an opportunity for student-teachers to demonstrate mobility and flexibility in their learning and to exercise coping strategies and resilience amidst ever- changing circumstances (King & Fricker, 2002). Virtual pedagogies allow student-teachers to assign new meaning to their teacher identity, promote intergenerational dialogues, and shape their social conscience across contexts (Deca, 2016). We argue that first-hand experiences of blended learning environments proactively prepare student-teachers in an unpredictable world for the professional teaching context. We know that scholars contest the value of virtual pedagogies, especially in early childhood education. However, when virtual-mediated milieus are used as a ‘tool’, teachers and children’s continuous development improves (Dockett & Fleer, 2009). We choose not to exclude virtual pedagogies in ITE. It is irresponsible to pretend technology does not impact student-teachers or that they are oblivious of its existence. A virtual pedagogy can thus support HEIs to attain their goal of developing well-rounded graduates who are: knowledgeable; skilled across learning environments; conscientious; innovative; and adept at teaching within technology- mediated milieus. Awareness of these demands on HEIs incites reflective questions, such as: How ‘ready’ is South African educators to adopt a ‘cybernated’ mode of delivery? How can South African HEIs prepare student-teachers for technology-mediated milieus in the wake of 4IR and COVID-19? Our research question is: What is early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning as a mode of delivery using Community of Inquiry (CoI) as a theoretical framework within a social study for democratic education module? http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1372022 40(4): 137-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Du Preez & West Early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning 2. Literature Review 2.1 Social Studies for Democratic Citizenship Education Social studies are a school subject that encompasses knowledge systems, tools, and environments that shape and connect citizens to their past, present, and future (Du Preez & Van Niekerk, 2018). Considering the complex socio-political history of South Africa, the government has raised their efforts to promote citizenship and ensure that the socio-economic and political imbalances of the past are addressed in its national school system (Department of Education, 2011). Curriculum developers constructed credibility and quality education outcomes utilising high knowledge and high skills levels that are grounded within the principles of social transformation; active and critical learning; human rights; social justice; and valuing indigenous knowledge systems (Department of Education, 2011). In this national curriculum for the foundation phase, a study area Life Skills is dedicated to social studies for democratic citizenship education. The onus rests on HEIs for offering ITE that equips student-teachers with adept knowledge, skills, and values to interpret the intended curriculum, appropriate early childhood pedagogies, and construct learning environments that truthfully represent social studies for democratic citizenship education (Du Preez & Van Niekerk, 2018). As insightfully described by well-known Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Kofi Annan, in his address to the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth in Lisbon on 8 August 1998, No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society cut off from its youth severs its lifeline. 2.2 Blended learning and learning management systems Blended learning is a pedagogical approach that merges face-to-face and online learning opportunities using diverse educational ICT tools in a well-organised learning management system, offering engaged, flexible, and enjoyable learning (Dziuban, Hartman & Moskal, 2004). Blended learning offers flexibility because this mode of delivery benefits from both face-to-face/physical learning environments and technology-mediated/virtual milieus to serve its intended audience by offering content, resources, and competencies (Manwaring et al., 2017; Spring, Graham & Ikahihifo, 2018). The success or failure of blended learning hinges on the attainment of learning outcomes and personal learning satisfaction when face-to-face and online environments are fused (Hew & Cheung, 2014). Blended learning is transformative by mobilising education communities to use comprehensive and cohesive software, also known as a learning management system (LMS), instructional management system (IMS), course management system (CMS), learning content management system (LCMS), virtual learning environment (VLE), virtual learning system (VLS), learning portal, or e-learning platform (Wright et al., 2014). Educational institutions utilise such LMS software to enable educators to centralise topics/courses/modules to be accessed by learners/students, thereby enabling educators to plan, implement, facilitate, diversify, assess, and monitor teaching, learning and socialisation. LMS are used worldwide across most HEIs. Some examples of these LMS are Blackboard Learn™, Desire2Learn™, Instructure Canvas™, Moodle™, Pearson LearningStudio and Sakai.3™ (Adzharuddin & Ling, 2013; Wright et al., 2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1382022 40(4): 138-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Perspectives in Education 2022: 40(4) For this inquiry, we used the HEI’s software licence for Blackboard Learn™ to centralise content, assessment, collaboration, and the management of information behind a ‘virtual wall’ that provides a measure of authentication, security, and privacy to prepare the intended curriculum. Some of the features and functionalities that this LMS software offers are as follows (see Table 1). Table 1: Social Studies for Democratic Citizenship Education constructed in LMS Instructional Design Integrated with the CoI Framework In the Blackboard Learn™ environment we provided student-teachers with: S ha re d G oa l • Outcomes for the module and how it aligns with the general degree using an online topic and a printable study guide. • A personalised module page to welcome student-teachers. • Weekly themes are in the navigation panel. These pages are accessible in fewer than three clicks. • Subject-specific content and resources for each theme, based on the structure of a lesson plan or learning experience. • Online mashups for accessing link videos, images and presentations. • Questionnaire to provide feedback about the social studies for democratic citizenship education module and the seminar. • Weekly Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and any additional documents, using an online group file. In the Blackboard Learn™ environment we as educational researchers have access to (the): M an ag em en t a nd In fo rm at io n • Class lists or rosters that contain information about enrolled students, that are linked with the HEIs administration platform. • Attendance registers to record attendance and absenteeism. This is graded and captured in MyGrades and the general grade centre. • Grade centre to access, evaluate, and monitor the progress of learning. • Activity reports from the retention and performance dashboard to identify and support enrolled student-teachers who are at risk. • Immediate and urgent announcements that are directly linked to student-teachers email. In the Blackboard Learn™ environment we provided student-teachers with (the): C ol la bo ra tio n • Calendar reminding student-teachers about new content and assessment deadlines. • Online discussion board to post ideas on social studies for democratic citizenship education as a thread. • Personalised emails and/or messages between lecturer and student-teachers about content, assessment, and the colloquium groups. • Self-enrolment option into an online group where they can collaborate on group assignments using tools such as blogs, emails, files, journals, messages, and wikis. • Colloquium groups participating in the seminar were allocated an additional group. http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1392022 40(4): 139-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Du Preez & West Early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning Instructional Design Integrated with the CoI Framework In the Blackboard Learn™ environment we provided student-teachers with: A ss es sm en t • A graded discussion board on a provided topic for all to engage in. • Group assignments and a public online rubric that lists the evaluation criteria. • Restrict plagiarism through Turnitin and empower them to take responsibility for citing all textual and visual content. Inspect their own originality of the assignment on a particular given social study for democratic citizenship education topic. • Weekly computer-aided assessment (graded test) on social studies for democratic citizenship education topic. The student-teachers obtained three opportunities to improve their mark. Adapted from: Department for Education Innovation (n.d.) The community of inquiry (CoI) guided us, as the researchers, in designing the look-feel of the LMS. The specific areas and activities in Table 1 were not assigned to only cognitive, social, or teaching presences. Instead, all the presences are interdependent, interwoven, and relevant for online experiences (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2010). 2.3 Community of Inquiry (CoI) as theoretical framework The CoI framework developed by Garrison et al. (2010) was originally intended as theoretical premises for computer conferencing but has since gained popularity among educationalists and researchers. CoI offers structure when selecting ICT tools for creating quality educational experiences based on three ‘presences’: cognitive, social and teaching (Garrison et al., 2010). CoI establishes a ‘collaborative-constructivist online learning experience’ (Bryans- Bongey, 2016: 38), suggesting that student-teachers enrolled for social studies become a community of practice because learning is co-constructed. The BlackBoard Learning® is set-up to cater for peer learning where the individual’s understanding of abstract concepts, theories and applications is collaboratively validated by the group and lecturer. CoI is also a research-based approach with scientific methods, which enables researchers to practice rigorous and reflective processes for data construction. We have operationalised the CoI’s three presences by following the descriptive categories and indicators that apply to a blended learning environment. See Table 2. Table 2: CoI Presences, Categories, and Indicators Presences’ definition Descriptive categories Data set indicators Cognitive presence is the ability to confirm understanding through collaboration and reflection in a community of inquiry. • Triggering event • Exploration • Integration • Resolution • Knowledge building • Active collaboration • Interactive learning • Sense of puzzlement • Information exchange • Connecting ideas • Apply new ideas http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1402022 40(4): 140-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Perspectives in Education 2022: 40(4) Presences’ definition Descriptive categories Data set indicators Social presence is the ability to project oneself and establish personal and purposeful relationships. • Affective indicators • Open communication • Group cohesion • Interaction • Expressing emotions • Risk-free expression • Encouraging collaboration Teaching presence is the ability to properly design and facilitate content in an engaging and satisfactory way to maintain a sense of community. • Design and organisation • Curriculum and assessment • Facilitating discourse • Direct instruction • Goal-directed • Learning platform (e.g., Learning Management System) • Setting curriculum and methods • Sharing personal meaning • Focusing discussion Adapted from: Garrison et al. (2006) and Garrison (2007) 3. Methodology Research designs enable researchers to transform a research question into a framework of methods and strategies to scientifically, systematically, and theoretically investigate a phenomenon (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017). We used an explanatory mixed-method research approach, since it aims to explain the qualitative data by building on quantitative results. Furthermore, the qualitative data help one to reflect and explain significant and insignificant quantitative results (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017). The cornerstones of mixed-methods research are theory, mixing, timing, and weighting. The application thereof are contextualised using a description and each of the concepts in brackets. The CoI (theory) shaped the research activities, analysis, and interpretation. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected sequentially (mixing), lending to a multiphase investigation. Quantitative data were collected prior to the quantitative data (timing) which both occurred towards the end of the second-year module to retrieve diverse perspectives and retrospective views. The quantitative and qualitative data sets were equally considered (weighting). By first collecting and quantitatively analysing the questionnaire’s data, based on the three CoI presences as constructs, helped us to identify statistically significant differences and deviating results (Creswell & Plank Clark, 2017). The in-depth reflective qualitative feedback, which was sequentially generated, enabled us to verify identified consistencies and inconsistencies detected in the quantitative results. The entire process of the explanatory mixed-method research approach can be tabulated as follow (see Table 3). http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1412022 40(4): 141-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Du Preez & West Early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning Table 3: CoI framework integrated within the data collection Quantitative Items Qualitative prompts Data strategy Questionnaire based on the three presences of the CoI framework Group reflections written as a narrative report Output format Numeric (Five-point Likert scale) 1 = Strongly disagree; 5=Strongly agree Textual Data collection and generation guidelines Self-reporting on nine items in the questionnaire. Adapted to quantify the three presences as latent constructs that are consistent with the CoI framework The guidelines for their reflective narratives are informed by the areas and bulleted information as tabulated in table 3. Sentence starters Blackboard Learn™… How did Blackboard Learn™ together with weekly sessions… Cognitive presence • together with weekly contact sessions informed my learning. • occasioned weekly opportunities to engage in assessed learning. • and weekly assessment stimulated my thinking and reasoning. • served as a platform to monitor my learning and progress. • direct our learning/thinking/ reasoning/understanding about social studies for democratic citizenship education in the early years? Social presence • assisted me in socialising with members of my group and our class. • guided my preparation for discussions in our weekly contact sessions. • enabled me to collaborate on group assignments. • facilitate our participation/ communication/ interaction/ collaboration about social studies for democratic citizenship education in the early years? Teaching presence • strengthened the design of the project on democratic citizenship. • prepared me for the project on democratic citizenship. • provide structured guidance/ feedback/direction about social studies for democratic citizenship education in the early years? Data analysis software SPSS (Nie, Bent & Hadlai-Hull, 2017) ATLAS.ti version 8 (Muhr, 2016) Data analysis • Overall functioning and reliability of the CoI inspired questionnaire. • Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with a Principal component analysis (PCA) • Reliability statistics • Pearson’s correlation coefficients • A repeated ANOVA with post hoc tests • Custom tables • Box plot • The CoI has a built-in data generation and data analysis strategy (Garrison et al., 2006; 2010). Enables you to explore the qualitative experiences for the existence or absence of the three presences. • The guidelines for their reflective narratives are informed by the areas and bulleted information as tabulated in Table 3. http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1422022 40(4): 142-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Perspectives in Education 2022: 40(4) 3.1 Context and research site The study was conducted at one of South Africa’s metropolitan HEI’s that offers ITE degree programmes to student-teachers on campus and experientially in a technology-mediated milieu. The early childhood student-teachers are introduced to a 14-week credit-bearing social studies module that focuses on democratic citizenship education. Prior to this module, the participants at this HEI enrolled for the social studies for democratic education module had only experienced limited blended learning and online teaching. For example, they predominantly used the functions offered in the “management and information” area as described in Table 1. Their blended learning experiences therefore included accessing the learning material online and navigating the LMS. 3.2 Participant sample A purposive sampling technique was utilised for selecting the research site and student- teachers as sample. The enrolled student-teachers were on average 20 years of age and predominantly female. The latter characteristic is a common phenomenon in South Africa where early childhood education teachers are mainly female (Petersen, 2014). The setting, actors, events, and process techniques by (Creswell & Plank Clark, 2017) are contextualised as follows. The setting offers the teaching of social studies for democracy education in the early years, whilst the actors are students-teachers all in their second year. The event of investigation requires a physical and virtual research site, and the process indicates the evolving nature of student-teachers experience in a CoI inspired blended learning environment. The quantitative sample consisted of 127 voluntary female respondents who completed a questionnaire via Blackboard Learn™, after completing the module. The qualitative sample consisted of 155 voluntary female participants who self-enrolled into collaborative groups via Blackboard Learn™ to participate in the activity. Their enrolments resulted in 22 groups who completed a critical reflection activity after completing the module. All aspects related to ethical standards and scientific integrity were adhered to by offering full disclosure regarding the research design, regulation, procedures and processes; ensuring non-maleficence; obtaining informed consent; protecting participants’ anonymity; confidentiality; and proper storing of data. 4. Quantitative results and discussion Administering the CoI inspired questionnaire to the respondents enabled us to understand how they experienced blended learning. Before we elaborate on the latter, we will first discuss the overall functioning and reliability of the CoI inspired questionnaire before concluding the interpretations using descriptive statistics in the form of custom tables. Before data analysis was conducted, tests of normality were run to investigate the sample distribution. In these results, the null hypothesis states that the data follow a normal distribution. Because the p-value is 0.001, which is smaller than the significance level of 0.05, the decision was to reject the null hypothesis. We can not conclude that the data follow a normal distribution resulting in the use of non-parametric tests. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (see Table 4) enables us to reduce the existing set of variables into more meaningful and smaller clusters. The reliability analysis enabled us to explore the internal consistency of the questionnaire. A Spearman correlation followed, as well http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1432022 40(4): 143-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Du Preez & West Early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning as a Related-Samples Friedman’s Two-Way Analysis of Variance by Ranks, and a Pairwise Comparisons to further delve into the three CoI presences. To determine the underlying structure of the measured variables (IV = three CoI presences; DV = respondents’ experiences), an EFA was conducted. A principal component analysis (PCA) was calculated on the nine items with Varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization (converged in five iterations). The Varimax rotation is an orthogonal method, making it easier to interpret and the entire factor model is statistically simpler. Using this technique results in high factor loadings for a smaller number of variables and low factor loadings for the rest (Field, 2018). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure verified the sampling adequacy for the analysis, KMO=0.710, which is well above the minimum requirement of 0.500 (Field, 2018). Table 4: Exploratory Factor Analysis Rotated Component Matrixa BLackBoard Learn®… Component 1 2 3 together with weekly contact sessions informed my learning .778 .160 .070 occasioned weekly opportunities to engaged in assessed learning .727 .034 .100 and weekly assessments stimulated my thinking and reasoning .675 .013 .442 served as a platform to monitor my learning and progress .613 .466 .-118 assisted me in socialising with members in our weekly contact sessions .172 .773 .109 guided my preparation for discussion in our weekly contact sessions 0.20 .731 .197 enabled me to collaborate in group assignments .107 .707 .058 strengthend the design of the SoTL seminoar on democratic citizenship .133 .145 .900 prepared me for the SoTL seminar on democratic citizenship .095 .163 .887 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization a. Rotation converged in 5 iterations From the PCA in Table 4, it is evident that three factors displayed eigenvalues over Kaiser’s criterion of 1. All three of the factors which emerged aligned with the CoI theoretical framework. The PCA also explained 64.76% of the variance within the data. The reliability statistics of the scale based on the CoI framework are tabulated in Table 5 below: Table 5: Reliability Statistics of the Developed Scale Items Factor Cronbach’s Alpha N of Items 1,3,4,7 Cognitive Presence 0.694 4 2,5,6 Social Presence 0.644 3 8,9 Teaching Presence 0.834 3 The analysis of the nine-item questionnaire measured ‘adequate to moderate’ with a >.65 value, measuring the latent constructs cognitive and teaching presence and a ‘good to robust’ measurement with a >.82 for the underlying construct teaching presence (Taber, 2018). Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to determine whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the cognitive, social, and teaching presences’ as latent constructs. The correlation between cognitive and social presence showed slightly http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1442022 40(4): 144-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Perspectives in Education 2022: 40(4) stronger evidence of a relationship (0.414) in comparison to the cognitive and teaching presence (0.379), and then teaching and social presence (0.275). Although a positive correlation between the constructs were found, the cognitive and teaching presence construct showed a low strength in their relationship wereas the teaching and social presence showed a neglatable low relationship (Fields, 2018). A Related-Samples Friedman’s Two-Way Analysis of Variance by Ranks were performed to compare the effect of the three COI presences (IV) of the student-teachers’ experiences (DV). The Pairwise Comparisons analysis shows the difference between the three presences as test related groups. The results indicated strong evidence of differences in the mean of all three factors (p-value = <0.000). It was evident that there are significant differences between the cognitive presence (p-value < 0.000) and the social presence (p-value < 0.000). There is also a significant difference between social presence (p-value < 0.001) and the teaching presence (p-value < 0.000). The findings signal that the teaching presence (4.36) and the cognitive presence (4.32) manifested more in the LMS than in student-teachers’ social presences (3.13). We decided to also perform custom tables (see Table 6) and a box plot (figure 1) as descriptive tools. Table 6: Custom Tables BLackBoard Learn®… S tr on gl y D is ag re e / S om w ha t D is ag re e N ei th er D is ag re e / n or A gr ee S tr on gl y A gr ee / S om w ha t A gr ee M ea n S D C og ni tiv e P re se nc e together with weekly contact sessions informed my learning Count Row N % 5 3.9% 0 0.0% 122 96.1% 4.47 0.733 occasioned weekly opportunities to engaged in assessed learning Count Row N % 5 3.9% 4 3.1% 118 93% 4.42 0.739 and weekly assessments stimulated my thinking and reasoning Count Row N % 4 3.2% 4 3.1% 119 93.7% 4.49 0.744 S oc ia l P re se nc e served as a platform to monitor my learning and progress Count Row N % 15 11.8% 19 15.0% 93 93.2% 3.91 1.031 assisted me in socialising with members in our weekly contact sessions Count Row N % 71 55.9% 23 18.1% 33 26.0% 2.56 1.219 guided my preparation for discussion in our weekly contact sessions Count Row N % 58 45.7% 31 24.4% 38 29.9% 2.80 1.293 enabled me to collaborate in group assignments Count Row N % 9 7.1% 19 15.0% 99 78.0% 4.04 0.929 Te ac hi ng P re se nc e strengthend the design of the SoTL seminoar on democratic citizenship Count Row N % 2 1.6% 11 8.7% 114 89.7% 4.36 0.709 prepared me for the SoTL seminar on democratic citizenship Count Row N % 4 3.2% 9 7.1% 114 89.7% 4.36 0.783 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1452022 40(4): 145-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Du Preez & West Early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning Derived from Table 6, the respondents generally reported that they found the contact mode (i.e., face to face) of delivery and the online environment conducive to learning. The student- teachers rated their own experiences more favourably towards the cognitive and teaching presences as opposed to their social presence in Blackboard Learn™. The self-reported responses calculated a mean score of 3.93 out of a possible score of 5.00, indicating a high endorsement of the blended learning environment. Reliability analysis was calculated for the CoI questionnaire’s nine items and Cronbach’s alpha showed good reliability (α = 0.766) (Field, 2018). All the items appeared to be worthy of retention. Of the three presences, the respondents experienced the teaching presence as most prominent (M=4.36, SD=.692), followed by the modules’ cognitive presence (M=4.32, SD=.593) and showing a lower score with the social presence (M=3.13, SD=.885). Using a box plot, we depicted the differences in presences (see Figure 1). Cognitive Presence Social Presence Teaching Presence Fig. 1: Box Plot of the Performance of the Three Presences within the Questionnaire From the quantitative findings, we then explored the qualitative reflections to explore if the social presence is lower on the LMS and why. 5. Qualitative results and discussion From the student-teachers’ group reflections, it is evident that the CoI as a framework provided a comprehensive perspective on the learning that took place during the social studies for democratic citizenship education module. The social, cognitive, and teaching presences contributed in varying degrees to the socio-constructivist learning experience of the student- teachers. All three presences were identifiable in the data, which provided information relating to instructional design and how to improve student-teachers’ experiences with virtual pedagogies and blended modes of delivery. Four themes directly related to the CoI framework were deductively identified and substantiated with textual quotations from the participants. To increase the findings’ transparency, trustworthiness, and credibility, we numbered every quotation submitted by every group in ATLAS.ti, which is shown in brackets. http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1462022 40(4): 146-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Perspectives in Education 2022: 40(4) 5.1 Teaching presence depends on proper design and organisation of module content Teaching presence refers to the lecturer’s ability to facilitate discourse, design whilst organising, and teach student-teachers (Garrison et al., 2010). There are 86 quotations that reflect that the student-teachers experienced the blended learning module as ‘…convenient as it can be accessed from home or any place that has an internet connection’ (30). The student-teachers elaborated on how the LMS helped them ‘keep up to date’ (29; 38), ‘…encourage[d] more interactions in class between the student-teachers and lecturers’ (29), ‘…stay on track with the content we learn throughout the week’ (41) and to ‘…understand the work faster’ (81). The design and organisation came to the fore as a prominent theme as the participants consistently described how the features, layout, and structure assisted their learning. For example, one explained that ‘the content that was divided in weeks was very well planned because we had to process the new information’ (44). Another student-teacher stated that the use of the LMS ‘…is a good way of combining technology with the classroom and we have developed the necessary technological skills which we can one day practice in our own classrooms’ (120); which shows how the use of blended learning in the LMS for the social studies for democratic citizenship education module benefitted the student-teachers. Considering the LMS, data furthermore showed that Blackboard Learn™, promotes access, creates a sense of interconnectedness, and offers various collaboration and multimedia features that are not only engaging and content-rich but also visually appealing. These included discussion boards, announcements, gradebook, and multimedia integration such as videos and images (see Table 1). 5.2 Social presence relies on accessibility to, and confidence in, using the learning management system Social presence refers to an interactive and collaborative learning community where social- emotional relationships are formed during online teaching and learning (Bryans-Bongey, 2016). Affective interactions, open communication, and group cohesion are descriptive categories in the data of social presence as indicated by Garrison et al. (2010) and in Table 2. In line with Bryans-Bongey (2016: 39), our data showed that social presence ‘drives the climate’ of the module. Most of the coded quotations (127) highlighted the student-teachers’ experiences relating to group cohesion, communication with others, and how they collaboratively participated in the cognitive presence categories (exploration, integration and resolution) in Table 2 (Garrison, 2007; Garrison et al., 2010). The student-teachers said that ‘there is good communication in the group’ (3), ‘we made sure everyone was heard… Everybody’s ideas were considered’ (79), and the ‘group work has developed our communication and social skills’ (215). Although the social studies for democratic citizenship education module succeeded in establishing a social presence, the student-teachers did not display their engagement within the LMS environment. The student-teachers preferred to use other platforms for communication and interaction, such as email, face-to-face meetings, and especially the WhatsApp™ application (92 quotations). One student teacher elaborated: We also created a WhatsApp group allocated just for the module. In this group we assigned roles and divided the topic into subsections where we then allocated them to smaller groups of members to complete. This WhatsApp group helps us communicate http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1472022 40(4): 147-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Du Preez & West Early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning and develop socially and helps us clear any miscommunication. This is the form of blended learning that we adopted (145). Student-teachers preferred not to use Blackboard Learn® for communication, but rather used WhatsApp™ as they felt it allowed them ‘to communicate more easily’ (485; 269). One participant explained why: ‘We didn’t use much of the discussion board on ClickUP because it took a lot of time to log in and work on it’ (270). According to Lowenthal and Dennen (2017), establishing one’s social presence and teacher identity in online learning environments is difficult due to limited communication channels and transactional distance. Thus, establishing a social presence in an online environment depends on accessibility, user-friendly nature, convenience, and confidence which aligns with our quantitative findings in Figure 1 that showed a lower score in social presence. 5.3 Cognitive presence requires social presence Cognitive presence refers to how student-teachers interact and engage with the content (Bryans-Bongey, 2016). It is associated with a triggering event, exploration, integration, and resolution, see Table 1, during online teaching and learning (Garrison et al., 2006). Cognitive and social processes are also related to creating a socio-constructivist learning experience (Bryans-Bongey, 2016; Lowenthal & Dennen, 2017). The data showed that owing to the CoI framework’s espoused socio-constructivist approach, building a cognitive presence in an online environment demands a social presence. To establish a socio-constructivist learning experience, student-teachers should develop cognitively by socially constructing knowledge and understanding through partaking in continuous and active collaboration, knowledge building, integration, and resolution. The interwoven nature of cognitive and social presences in the social studies for democratic citizenship education module was evident in student- teachers stating: ‘we have gained new knowledge that we did not have before’ (51), ‘this module positively affected everyone in our group’s cognitive growth’ (50) and ‘we thus came to the conclusion that this module has taught us a lot and that it has contributed to immense cognitive growth of our group’ (102). According to Garrison et al. (2010), using pronouns that indicate collaboration and identifying with the group, such as ‘we’ and ‘our’, in student- teachers’ discourse is an indicator of group cohesion and indicative of cognitive engagement because of a socio-constructivist learning experience. In essence, we understood that student-teachers use various platforms and applications for learning and that the cognitive presence within a module largely depends on their social presence. This was also evident in our quantitative data, where a correlation between cognitive and social presence showed slightly stronger evidence of a relationship (0.414), as compared to the cognitive and teaching presence (0.379), and then teaching and social presence (0.275). The next theme was identified owing to the student-teachers’ vociferous beliefs regarding the blended learning design of the module and how it has contributed to a deeper and more meaningful understanding of what social studies for democratic citizenship education entails. 5.4 Blended learning using CoI framework promotes deeper understanding Student-teachers held strong beliefs regarding the role blended learning played in developing a deeper understanding of social studies for democratic citizenship education. The participants explained that the CoI-inspired blended learning design, ‘has helped us expand our understanding’ (411) as well as gain ‘knowledge on the subject’ (411) and ‘gave us the http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1482022 40(4): 148-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Perspectives in Education 2022: 40(4) opportunity to work together as a group’ (460). Another participant explained that blended learning ‘helped us understand all the work on a much deeper level’ (375). Manwaring et al. (2017) and Spring et al. (2018)’s argument that blended learning allows for flexibility in learning because it is influenced by the availability of technologically mediated resources, which is confirmed in our data sets. For example, one student-teacher described the benefits of blended learning in relation to the research they had to do online: Blended learning proved to be invaluable in the research phase of this assignment, allowing us to draw from a wide range of resources, and conduct in-depth research using the provided study material, reference books, and academic journals, as well as online publications and media (409). Another student-teacher agreed: We have reaped the benefits of blended learning during this module in that we have had the opportunity to access an incredible variety of sources and have benefitted from being able to choose not only how we obtain information, but also the formats in which it is presented (435). It is clear from the data that designing the blended learning environment using the CoI framework benefitted the student-teachers by promoting a deeper understanding of the content. However, access to the Blackboard Learn™ was described as problematic and inconvenient. In addition, some student-teachers reported they have little confidence in using the LMS and it is very time-consuming. 6. Limitations Since we only conducted an EFA on the CoI inspired questionnaire and not Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), we are unable to confirm the latent constructs we explored. However, by conducting an EFA, we did show how the factors are meaningfully correlated, but unfortunately, the construct validity of the questionnaire is not as convincing without a CFA. A CFA was not necessary for this study as the focus of the study was not on the development of a questionnaire but rather on exploring the quantitative data results using our qualitative data as a supporting data generation technique. We cannot generalise the findings since it was conducted at only one HEI in one country with only one group of second-year student- teachers. Lastly, even though Blackboard LearnTM offers possibilities to utilise applications to promote social involvement, this option was limited due licences and the integration thereof in a HEI-controlled environment. 7. Conclusion Student-teachers should experience, exercise, and become competent in technology- mediated milieus in the 4IR world to succeed in their future profession as teachers and be torchbearers amid unforeseen global crises like COVID-19. More than ever before, HEIs should realise that technology-mediated milieus are not beyond the station and skills of early childhood student-teachers and should become an essential skill that should be included in ITE. With this study, we argued that using CoI and being exposed to blended learning, student-teachers can be equipped with skills that can be applied in the 21st century classroom to serve the needs of future children in any real-world situation. http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 1492022 40(4): 149-151 http://dx.doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186 Du Preez & West Early childhood student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning From the explanatory mixed-method research approach, we realised that to achieve interactive and continuous social presence in technology-mediated milieus is more complex and difficult to fashion than cognitive and teaching presences. Interaction between student- teachers is unfavourably affected by transactional distance and the limited possibilities the current LMS platform offered during the study. The student-teachers intentionally created text-based communication platforms outside those hosted within the LMS environment that was provisioned for convenience, confidence, and anonymity. We are concerned that student-teachers posture an almost superficial social presence in the LMS, which opposes the fundamentals of socio-constructivism and the benefits of social interaction for learning. Therefore, we advise instructional designers using blended learning modalities in LMS to take the same precautions as face-to-face module designers, to address student-teachers’ real social needs. Constructing and maintaining a social presence in a technology-mediated learning environment is complex and multi-faceted and has a metamorphic trait that depends on whether the milieu is interpreted as conducive and beneficial. In creating a milieu that is beneficial, we thus advise that module developers, instructional designers, lecturers, and even policymakers consider the necessity of digital, virtual, and gamified learning opportunities in developing a more authentic social presence within a technology-mediated learning environment. Further research is needed on the conceptual and contextual nature of an online social presence; and the strategies and tools needed to empower student-teachers to share versions of themselves that interlace with the content and teaching presences. 8. Recommendations We recommend that HEIs embed pedagogical tools in their LMS which stimulates socio- constructivism offer and feedback. Some of these tools are: EduBadges, FeedbackFruits, H5P, Kahoot!, Mentimeter, Miro, Nearpod, Wooclap. 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