Blended Learning

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Blended Learning

• At the University of Calgary
• Dr. Randy Garrison, Professor
• Dr. Norm Vaughan, Instructor
  

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Institutional Learning Plan

• That inquiry-based learning approaches be at the
  centre of the undergraduate learning experience.
• All students must have the opportunity to
  participate in communities of inquiry
• Learning technologies (i.e., eLearning) offer
  opportunities to enhance the campus experience
  and extend learning through the innovative use of
  on-line resources, asynchronous collaborative
  learning opportunities, and electronic
  communication.

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Learning Technology

• The University community must consider how to
  redesign courses whereby the integration of
  communication technologies supports inquiry and
  enriches the teaching and learning enterprise.

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Inquiry

• Is problem or question driven
• Typically has a small-group feature
• Includes critical discourse
• Is frequently multi-disciplinary
• Incorporates research methods such as information
  gathering and synthesis of ideas

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Blended Learning

• Thoughtful integration of face-to-face and online
  learning.
• An opportunity to enhance the classroom
  experience and extend learning through the
  innovative use of Internet information and
  communications technology.
• Not an add-on redesign approaches (e.g.,
  replace lectures, add online activities)

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Query

• How many are comfortable reducing lecture time?
• Is there a place for the lecture in blended
  learning?

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Why Blended Learning?

• New approaches to teaching (change culture)
• Enhance student learning
• Maximize institutional resources
• Access convenience

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Strategic Challenges

• Awareness and understanding of inquiry and
  blended learning
• Student orientation (resistance)
• Commitment to fundamental redesign
• Strategic plan covering all four undergraduate
  years
• Teaching-research imbalance

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History of BL at U of C

• Institutional Learning Plan
• Blended Learning Position Paper
• Link to inquiry based learning
• Raising Awareness
• Steve Sorg, UCF (2002)
• Carol Twigg, NCAT (2004)
• Curtis Bonk, Indiana University (2005)
• Grant program

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IBL Program

• Faculty apply for course redesign grants (10,000
  with one 30,000 grant for a major course
  redesign)
• Proposal reviews and selections are made by the
  Inquiry Learning Action Group
• Teaching Learning Centre provides course
  redesign consultation and support (define course
  goals and expectations, redesign learning
  activities and assessment assignments, adapt and
  develop online tools, evaluate implementation,
  and disseminate results)

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Innovation Redesign

• Preference will be for applications that
  demonstrate true innovation in teaching and
  learning through inquiry and blended learning
  approaches
• Enhance the quality of teaching and learning
  (e.g., increased discourse collaboration)

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Inquiry Through BL Program

• Program planning began in 2002 virtual
  participation in the University of Central
  Floridas - Interactive Distributed Learning for
  Technology Mediated Course Delivery (IDL6543)
• Development of the Inquiry through Blended
  Learning (ITBL) Program in 2004

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Inquiry Through Blended Learning

• Support Program
• Orientation course redesign guide and initial
  meeting with representatives from the Teaching
  Learning Centre, Information Technologies and the
  Library
• Faculty community of inquiry blending of face
  to face luncheon meetings with online learning
  activities to support project development
• Project team meetings Teaching Learning
  Centre consultant with faculty, graduate students
  and staff involved in each specific project

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Scenario One - Economics

• Introductory Micro and Macroeconomics
• Goal to increase
• student engagement with course material outside
  of class time
• opportunities to apply theory to practical
  problems
• access and quality of tutorial resources
• Solution
• Replacement of scheduled classroom tutorials with
  interactive online tutorials and assignments
  (Blackboard with links to Aplia.com)

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Scenario Two Communication Culture

• International Development Studies
• Goal to increase
• Student peer interaction and critical dialogue
  during class time
• Solution
• Lectures replaced by Macromedia Breeze
  presentations (narrated PowerPoint with embedded
  videos and self-assessments) accessed outside of
  class time within the Blackboard learning
  management system
• Class time used exclusively for group work (60
  students - 20 meet on Monday, 20 meet on
  Wednesday and 20 on Friday)

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Scenario Three Nursing

• Child and Youth Health Promotion in Schools
• Goal to increase
• Course scheduling flexibility
• Exposure to diverse perspectives
• Solution
• Weekend course workshops
• Virtual presentations by online guests through
  the Elluminate Live! system and related
  discussions hosted within the Blackboard
  learning management system

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Faculty Support

• Campus Wide
• Blended learning workshop series
• Individual and group consultation (e.g.
  departmental workshops)
• Presentations by external experts
• Handbook for Blended Learning Online Study
  Group
• Tip Sheets 2 page handouts on blended learning
  topics
• ITBL Resource Wiki

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Faculty Support

• eLearning Tools
• Blackboard Learning Management System
• Elluminate Live! Synchronous Conferencing System
• Macromedia Breeze
• Custom tools (e.g. WISPR, Peer Review Tools,
  Blackboard Building Blocks)
• Open source tools (e.g. Pachyderm, Drupal)

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BL Instructor Survey

• What do you like most about BL?
• Increased access and flexibility
• Variety of approaches
• Increased communication
• Assessment feedback efficiencies
• Increased opportunity for student reflection
• Richer classroom interactions
• Development of a learning community

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BL Instructor Survey

• What do you like least?
• Increased instructor workload
• Nothing
• Students challenged to contribute online (i.e.,
  take responsibility for their learning)
• Technology challenges

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BL Student Survey

• Nine courses
• 241 completed surveys
• 76 return rate
• 50 first yr
• 78 female
• Average age 21.4 yrs

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BL Student Survey

• Interaction - amount
• With other students
• 77.6 increased 15.8 nd
• group work was primary reason
• With instructor
• 55.2 increased 27.4 nd
• accessibility was primary reason

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BL Student Survey

• Interaction quality
• With other students
• 68.9 increased 25.3 nd
• group work was primary reason
• With instructor
• 58.5 increased 27.8 nd
• accessibility was primary reason

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BL Student Survey Summary

• Most effective
• group work discussions online resources
• Least effective
• expectations not clear online components heavy
  workload
• Advice be prepared to take responsibility and
  be open to new approaches

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Dissemination of Results

• Internal
• Faculty-led blended learning presentations to new
  ITBL cohorts, departments and the U of C
  community
• Articles in U of C publications
• External
• Conference presentations and journal articles

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IBL Scholarship Dissemination Grants

• 10 annual awards of 1000
• Support
• Research related to designing, conducting and
  publishing research on teaching innovations
  related to the IBL projects
• Conference travel to present a paper based on the
  results of a study that describes lessons learned
  in the course redesign and implementation

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CONCLUSION

• Questions
• http//tlc.ucalgary.ca/