Best Practices Guide: Converting to Blended Learning

Best Practices Guide: Converting to Blended Learning

Blended learning “is the thoughtful fusion of face-to-face and online learning experiences” (Garrison and Vaughan, 2008). 

Dziuban, Hartman, and Moskal (2004, p.3) describe blended learning as a “pedagogical approach that combines the effectiveness and socialization opportunities of the
classroom with the technologically enhanced active learning possibilities of the online
environment.”

Designing a blended learning course is a process - the content from face-to-face courses cannot simply be transferred online. For the blended course to be successful the designer must take into account the differences between face-to-face instruction (which the student will be participating in on a reduced level) and online instruction. The end goal of any instructional designer should be to provide a stimulating and informative learning environment in which students can master the subject matter. There must be a balance of individual work and discussion with others. The learning environment must be supportive, open and respectful. The facilitator needs to be well trained and clearly involved in the process of design.

In this guideline, I have set out what I feel are the important best practices guidelines for developing a blended learning course.

The Learning Platform

Focus on ease of use and interactive presentation.

1. Know the software that you are going to work with.
2. Allocate enough time to design the course. Simmons College has a course redesign schedule that suggests you will need eight months to successfully redesign your course.
3. In the Blended Learning Toolkit, the following worksheet is designed to help solidify your thoughts and goals:

1.  Which module would you like to develop first? Choose a module that will be easy to develop or select to work on a more complex module while you have specific time designated to the creation of your first online course materials (e.g., the first module, one in the middle of the course, a complex module toward the end of the course that involves a project). 
2.  What are the objectives, based on Bloom’s taxonomy, for this module? What should students know or be able to do upon completion of this module? 
3.  What activities will students complete in this module? Will any require special instructions/tutorials?
   

The Learning Environment

Focus on outcomes. What do you want the students to be able to do in the end?

1. Decide on the type of learning environment - is the course going to be asynchronous or synchronous? “Asynchronous, instructor-mediated discussions support student interactivity and enhance individual performance and satisfaction” (Everhart 2000; Hiltz and Wellman 1997)
2. Provide a detailed syllabus clearly defining expectations for the course. Guidelines for minimum participation should be clearly established.
3. Provide specific guidelines for each assignment
4. Create a discussion area to promote an open, supportive and inspirational online environment. Focus on interaction between the students and between the students and the instructor. Create activities that encourage students to engage with each other. “Research indicates that exchanges between students are as important, if not more important, to online learning environments as learner-instructor exchanges” (Ritchie and Newby 1989; Wegegrif 1998)
5. Make an FAQ area where students can search for answers to issues that they are experiencing before having to email you for help.
6. Personalize communication with students (include their name in the correspondence).
7. Use problem based learning to challenge students in a group scenario to work to find a solution to the problem. Asynchronous and synchronous discussion boards will facilitate communication. This type of learning will take longer online than in the classroom. “Although PBL scenarios may be challenging in an online environment, they can be an effective strategy for promoting student interactivity, enhancing students’ problem-solving skills, and providing students with a meaningful learning experience.” (Durrington, 2006)
8. Ensure the learning material is interactive and well presented.
   “Students demonstrate more positive attitudes and higher levels of performance when online classes are highly interactive, but many faculty about to embark in online teaching are not aware of the techniques available to increase the level of interactivity in online courses.” (Durrington, 2006)
9. Create assignments that start online and then carry over into the classroom - this will ensure that there is adequate ‘cross-over’ between the types of learning you are expecting your students to engage in. Make sure that the students don’t perceive your course as in ‘two parts’ but rather as one course that takes place in two formats. These formats must synchronize together to form a whole course.
10. Some parts of your course may not be currently working in a face-to-face scenario, so you should take this opportunity to reformat them for online learning. It may be that they are more suited to this platform.

The Learners

Focus on engagement. How will you keep the learners motivated and inspired?

1. Make sure that you understand how the students are learning - provide for all types of learners. 
2. Keep in constant communication with your learners. You need to communicate with all your learners especially on an online course to make sure that they have understood the material and are engaged in the learning process. 
3. Watch the discussion boards and be part of the discussion. Have a presence in the learning environment.
4. It is much more difficult in an online learning environment to monitor student progress. Make sure that you are in a position to notice when a student is not submitting their assignments or taking part in the discussions.
5. You need activities in your program that will engage the students - not lots of lecture and only questions at the end because your students will not be engaged, they will be bored.
   “Online instruction that provides opportunities in which students build interactive relationships among themselves and with the instructor also helps bridge the physical and psychological gap that occurs in online courses” (Chute, Thompson, and Hancock 1999) Emphasis should be on activities, in order to engage. Content is critical. The activities are what make the content interesting and ‘come alive.’
   “Students demonstrate more positive attitudes and higher levels of performance in online classes when they experience high levels of interaction” (McCroskey and Anderson 1976; Ritchie and Newby 1989)
6. Make sure that your students fully understand the concept of a blended learning course. Explain the rationale for the course and how the pieces fit together.

The Facilitator

Focus on training and involvement.

1. Training for the facilitator on the lesson plan and the software is vital. 
2. Get the facilitator involved early on in the process (when you are creating the objectives). During development, the SME or facilitator will be able to help with making the lesson more interesting - they must be part of the design.
3. Try to limit the number of instructors and facilitators so that you don’t have too many. Invest a lot of time and energy into the facilitator - they are the ones that will be steering the course and they will be the ones who will make it a success.
4. Facilitators that have already conducted a blended learning course will bring more experience and knowledge to the table that one that hasn’t - it may be worth your while to find one with some experience in blended learning.

In Conclusion

Inspire, motivate and cultivate success.

In this blended learning best practices guide I have attempted to show the various aspects of the process that are involved when converting from a face-to-face learning environment to a blended learning one. It is important that the facilitators and designers are aware that this isn’t just simply ‘less class time’ but take this as an opportunity to develop and engaging, interactive, stimulating course that is designed to enable success for the students. It is important to focus on the learning outcomes. Technology should be viewed as a tool in this process and should almost be the ‘invisible guardian’ enabling students to participate in their learning and structure their own learning environment. Students and facilitators will require additional training in the learning environment to familiarize themselves with the new demands generated by the change. If this course conversion is successful, your students will be engaged and inspired by the learner-centered approach of Project Based Learning assignments, discussion boards and group assignments. They will seamlessly move from one learning environment to the other, as the course material carries from one environment to the other, creating cross-over and a cohesion to the course.

Good luck with your conversion!

References

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17. Blended Learning Toolkit: Design and Delivery Principles http://blended.online.ucf.edu/effective-practices/design-delivery-principles/
18.  Simmons College Blended Learning Course Redesign Schedule, http://at.simmons.edu/blendedlearning/implement/documents/pdfs/Blended%20Course%20Redesign%20Schedule.pdf
19. Blended Learning Course Design, based on a Magna Online Seminar titled “10 Ways to Improve Blended Learning Course Design” presented by Ike Shibley, PhD. Edited by Bonnie Snyder, D. Ed, CCPS. http://www.magnapubs.com/files/whitepapers/sample-blended-learning.pdf
20. Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2007). Blended learning in higher education: Framework, principles, and guidelines. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.