*3.3.2 Relationship between CoI and professional learning communities: Designing POT in PCoI*

The CoI emphasizes the importance of faculty development as a pivotal aspect for positive teaching outcomes. Where teacher quality is considered important, so the professional learning community (PLC) can be defined as the entirety of the organization where the CoI is located. Multiple definitions exist of PLC. However, in this chapter, we use a definition provided by Hilliard [30], namely, that "a professional learning community [is] made up of a leadership team and faculty members as a collaborative group who seek to improve the learning experiences for students through a shared vision" (p. 71). To achieve this goal, the quality of instruction and learning should be founded on the use of twenty-first-century approaches to assist with assessment, learning, and showcasing students' outcomes. A contextualized implementation of CoI indicated that female students lacked social presence in online learning communities of practice [25]. One key aspect here is the communication environment, which can be enhanced through the inclusion of social media [31]. Using an interpretive and qualitative approach, Bedford identified the benefits of adopting a virtual PLC, including relationship building, faculty and students engagement, and fostering shared learning. The design of a POT reflective platform within a PCoI requires effective, respectful, and professional conversation within a safe environment. Reports of POT within the online environment and its advances within a cross-institutional context are trending upward in the literature [27]. Here,

our adoption of the technology (Flipgrid) to facilitate this blended learning style for the students' benefit was also of interest. Chaturvedi et al. [32] ably illustrated this positioning, drawing on Kolb's Learning Theory, Mezirows' transformative learning theory, Jean Piaget, and John Dewey to demonstrate successful blending of learning within a phygital environment at their business school in India. In a recent study, Kleftodimos and Triantafillidou explored a creative approach to support students' participation and communication during online learning [5]. Their findings indicate that FlipGrid is a useful platform for online discussions and elaborations enhanced by video and the available library to include all supportive documents [5].

Full institutional support for faculty and students was enabled for this study through the earlier transformations to the Digi-campus, continuous ongoing professional development and availability of electronic portfolios. One aspect of this POT in PCoI process relates to the need for a rigorous process of inquiry to meet high expectations in lesson observation and authentic practice.
