TECHNOLOGY AND COGNITION MERGE WITH CHALLENGE-BASED LEARNING CYCLES ONLINE

Teaching and learning in Web-based courses has become a global phenomenon. Educators are grappling with merging cognition and technology to offer students quality, relevant online courses. The development of social presence in the online environment is of paramount importance and requires individuals to engage in meaningful interactions about, and with, the course content. It is the richness of examining various perspectives and dialogue that stimulates critical thinking, reflection, analysis and synthesis of theory that further enables students to apply the newly learned theory to practice. The purpose of this paper is to present an adapted version of the Challenge-Based Learning TM (CBL) method (Bransford, 2012) and its utility in an online emergency preparedness and disaster planning course. The six key sections of the CBL cycle will be discussed and examples of their practical application in an online environment will be presented. CBL Cycles in this course are learner-centered and maximize the use of learner-generated content thus enhancing the value of active participation and engagement, which is at the very core of successful online education. Student and faculty perspectives related to the CBL method of learning will be discussed and lessons learned from the use of this adapted teaching pedagogy within the online environment will be shared.