Getting started with blended teaching and learning

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Getting started with blended teaching and learning

• Alan Aycock, Ph.D.
• Learning Technology Center
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• NERCOMP - April 2009

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Blended course definition A faculty perspective

• Blended courses integrate online with traditional
  face-to- face class activities in a planned,
  pedagogically valuable manner and
• Blended courses replace a portion
  (institutionally defined) of face-to-face time by
  online activity

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Whats at stake for faculty in this definition?

• A different model of teaching and learning
• Difference 1 Search for a canon
• What should a blended schedule look like?
• What goes online, what remains F2F?
• Three tests and a term paper no longer works
• Difference 2 Rethinking what we do
• Closing the loop
• The course-and-a-half syndrome
• Hearing voices from soliloquy to dialogue

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Blended course definition an institutional
definition
blended 1 21 - 50 Online with commensurate
reduction in seat time
blended 3 81 - 99 Online with commensurate
reduction in seat time
blended 2 51 - 80 Online with commensurate
reduction in seat time
blended 21 - 99
Online100
Web-enhanced 0 - 20
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Whats at stake for the campus with this
definition?

• Quality control of courses and programs
• Expectations of faculty development and
  performance
• Tracking and followup
• Establishing benchmarks

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Blended course demonstration

• Anthropology of Religion
• Senior-level course
• 20-25 students
• 1/3 Online
• 2/3 face-to-face

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Blended pedagogy considerations

• Rationale for teaching this course in blended
  format whats the problem?
• Reconstructing scholarship online while avoiding
  course-and-a-half
• Closing the loop between online and face-to-face
  work
• Other strategies to foster dialogue entrance and
  exit assignments

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UWM faculty development program purpose, format,
outcomes
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Purpose of the program

• Design, develop, and teach blended courses
• A practical approach
• Get started
• Redesign course
• Develop course material
• Acquire teaching skills

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Program format

• Taught in a blended format
• Face-to-face meetings and online assignments
• Model good blended practices
• Experience blended course as a student
• Effective teaching model
• Experienced blended teachers are program
  facilitators

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Program activities

• Presentation, demonstration, small-group
  activities, facilitator feedback, peer feedback,
  online discussion, consultation
• Emphasis on faculty active learning
• Discussing
• Questioning
• Developing

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Six Main Program Outcomes

• Start of a redesigned course
• Course redesign plan
• Course syllabus
• Learning modules
• New teaching skills and knowledge
• Building a learning community
• Assessment of student learning

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Six Main Program Outcomes

• Re-examine both face-to-face and online component
• Faculty know what to expect
• Student expectations
• Technology issues
• Teaching challenges
• Faculty get their questions answered
• Faculty make an early start on course development

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Faculty development program Topics evaluation
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Topics and Issues Covered
Course Redesign
Course Content

• Ten questions
• Online vs. F2F - Integration
• Designing learning modules

• Decision rubric for content choices
• Learning objects

Course Evaluation
Online Learning Community

• Progressive/summative
• Before, during, and after
• Self evaluation
• Peer evaluation
• Student evaluation

Transitioning to blended Teaching

• Synchronous/asynchronous
• Establishing voice
• Discussion forums
• Small groups

Course Management
Assessment Plan
Helping Your Students

• Staying organized
• Managing workload
• Avoiding course and a half

• Rubrics
• CATs
• Templates
• Traditional formats

• Managing expectations
• Time management
• Technology support

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Blended faculty development program evaluation

• Progressive summative
• Classroom assessment techniques
• Reality check survey
• Anonymous survey at end of program
• Ongoing
• Queries from instructors
• Follow-up interactions
• Formal debriefings
• Former program participants as guest facilitators

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Challenges and lessons learned
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Eight lessons

• Incentives time for participation
• Prior experience using technology
• Blended format for faculty development program
• Experienced blended teachers as facilitators
• Plenty of time for participant interaction
• Provide regular, fast, and positive feedback
• Focus on pedagogy more than technology
• Continuing support

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Eight challenges

• Identification of blended courses
• Quality control of courses
• Certification of participants
• Work load issues
• Cohorts and stragglers
• Following up measuring success
• Working with math and the sciences
• Scalability

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For more information

• Visit the Learning Technology Centers
  blended/hybrid Web site resource page at
  http//hybrid.uwm.edu
• Or contact the UW-Milwaukee Learning Technology
  Center at LTC_at_uwm.edu