Blended Online Instruction What is the Blend in Blended Online Learning

The Ohio State University David Stein,Ph.D

Our Time Together Today Begin to develop a Community of Practice Generate issues Share resources Share Best Practices Develop ways to continue the dialogue

Our Community When did you first become engaged in Blended Learning as student or instructor? Year and Activity?

What is E Learning? E-Learning is…..

Community of Practice We define community of practice as a persistent network of practitioners who share and develop a common learning agenda including norms for practice, values, and modes of problem solving based on lessons learned from the workplace (Barab, MaKinster, & Scheckler, 2004).

Community of Practice In a community of practice, tacit knowledge is made explicit, and practice can be transformed through the critical and reflective thought about practice (Stuckey & Barab, 2010).

Community of Practice A goal for this community of practice is to become an electronic knowledge building community for blended learning; a space for sharing experiences, offer guidance, discuss issues, and create new understandings about our practice.

Our Agenda Defining Blended Learning Characteristics Why Blend Results of Blending

Defining Blended Learning Blending is a transitory term Seat Time Online learning Consortium “Online course activity replaces at least 30 percent of required face-to-face meetings. When the technologies used for education and communication outside the classroom are used to supplant some of the classroom work, reducing the time actually spent in the classroom, the result is a blended or hybrid course.“

Defining Blended Learning As a proportion of on online Content face to face– 0% online content web-enhance – 1-29% online content blended – 30-79% online content complete online- 80-100% Mix of pedagogy, methods outcomes, resources, i.e. correspondence with tutors onsite, video lectures with asynchronous discussions, at home work with practice in class Web enhanced- online quizes, discussions, lecture notes- as a supplement to ongoing physical presence instruction

Blended vs. Hybrid Blended - Courses in which a significant amount of the activities are implemented in a face-to-face classroom setting. Some materials available online. No online instruction time is substituted for f2f time. Hybrid - Courses in which a significant amount of the learning activities have been moved online, and time traditionally spent in the classroom is reduced but not eliminated ( Lindeman 2oo5 quoting Garnham & Kaleta, 2002)

Flipped and Hyper-Flex Flipped Classroom- independent study and in class session A flipped classroom learners receive content at home, and practice working through it at school. Flipped Hyper-flex classroom – multiple formats for learners. May or may not have required face to face components.

What is in the mix Space- From the physical to the virtual Time- from real time to distributed time Fidelity – from all senses to text only Connections- from high touch to low touch Collaboration- from self paced to interdependent learning Communication from one to many to many to many Feedback – from immediate to delayed

Why Blended Learning Enabling- access and convenience Enhancing- incremental change to the way we teach Transforming radical transformation- ways of intellectual activity not possible without the technology. Flexibility to meet different learning styles Efficient use of learner and instructor time Introduces variation in exploring and mastering content Administrative concerns- use of space Oliver and Trigwell introduce idea of variation theory- for learning to occur learners need to experience different ways of thinking about the content presented. This permits a more critical view of content Blends might help learners see new patterns experience the variation not possible in a traditional classroom. Although the classroom could use different designs

Blended Learning Blended Learning Developing a learning ecology: Blended is a transitory term. Combining instructional modalities Usually incorporates varying proportions of online and co present (face to face) spaces (does this really mean physical presence) Use of time, place and space to create variations in how content is acquired and mastered.

Time to Ask Questions an immersive environment blending course outcomes, with different spaces and places for interaction.

A case Study The Situation: A required course in contemporary issues in the education of adults for working adult graduate and upper division undergraduate student 90+% work and are not geographically present on campus. Problem: How to encourage high levels of interaction in a course scheduled for three hours one evening per week during the cold winter months.

Case Continued- The Design Three in-classroom sessions Introduce the class Midpoint review Concluding session Learners Select own Learning Places web-conferencing rooms chat rooms coffee shops/library/other community spaces Optional instructor led web conferences

Case Continued- Design Session notes and assignments posted on LMS Learners meet in discussion groups ( with guidance) to address issue for the week and create a group response ( small group) Group responses are posted in the whole class discussion board Whole class engages in a discussion focused on the different perspectives ( large group)

Activity Generate a list of 5 issues/problems/best practices that are important to you in relation to blended learning Write them on your paper using a few descriptive terms

Blended Learning Outcomes Learners are more satisfied with Blended learning as compared to other modalities Key to success is in the design including the instructor’s involvement and support Overall, learners in blended courses outperformed learners in face to face and completely online