Veronica Diaz, PhD, drvdiaz@gmail.com
DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING A
BLENDED COURSE
5-Minute University
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http://blendedlearning101.pbworks.com/index
BLENDED LEARNING WIKI
Program Overview
• Review of blended
learning
• Benefits of blended
learning
• 10 questions as a guide
• Blended course
examples
• Course redesign
strategies
•
•
•
•
Quality assurance
Mapping the course
Objectives and modules
Redesigning the first
module
• Student crisis points
• Crisis points
• Resource CD
4
Learning Objectives
• To understand blended
learning
• To learn to use tools to
convert into or create a
blended course
• To design a module and
to understand the steps in
doing so
• To understand basic
principles in creating a
high quality blended
learning experience
• To understand the
implications of teaching
in a blended environment
• To identify and connect
with the blended learning
community
• To accumulate resources
that can be used today
and in the future
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Segment 1:
An Overview of
Blended Learning and Redesign
What is blended learning?
• Blended learning courses
combine online and classroom
learning activities and
resources in an optimal way to
improve student learning
outcomes and to address
important institutional issues.
• Classroom attendance (“seat
time”) is reduced.
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Blended Format Definitions
Proportion of
Content Delivered
Online
Type of Course
0%
Traditional
1 to 29%
Web Facilitated
Course which uses web-based technology to facilitate
what is essentially a face-to-face course. Uses a course
management system (CMS) or web pages to post the
syllabus and assignments, for example.
30 to 79%
Blended/Hybrid
Course that blends online and face-to-face delivery.
Substantial proportion of the content is delivered
online, typically uses online discussions, and typically
has some face-to-face meetings.
80% +
Online
A course where most or all of the content is delivered
online. Typically have no face-to-face meetings.
Sloan-C, 2007
Typical Description
Course with no online technology used — content is
delivered in writing or orally.
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Why blended
learning?
……………………
• A way to meet Net Gen
student expectations
– Attractive alternative to
Face2Face instruction
– A good match for the Net
Gen’s visual, exploratory,
participative learning
preferences
• Usually more work to
design (at least at the
beginning), but improved
student engagement and
achievement
• The best of both worlds
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The Optimal Model
Teaching Opportunities
• Enables the incorporation of
new types of interactive and
independent learning
activities
• Variety of online and inclass teaching strategies
• Learn technologies while
you learn your material
Student Engagement
• Potential to increase and
extend instructor-student and
student-student connectivity
• Students who rarely take part
in class discussions are more
likely to participate online
• Integration of out-of- and inclass activities allows more
effective use of traditional
class time
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NATIONAL DATA REPORTS
The Sloan Consortium
What does blended mean?
Online
Integration,
Relationship,
Accountability
Face-to-Face
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Lectures
Assessments
Readings
Activities
Cases
Face2Face
Multimedia
Face-to-Face
IRA
Course
Demonstrations
Online
Research
Writing
Discussions
Projects
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Selecting Technologies
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As a Guide Throughout
THE 10 BLENDED QUESTIONS
10 Blended Questions
•
What do you want students to know when
they have finished taking your blended
course? [learning outcomes]
•
As you think about learning objectives, which
would be better achieved online and which
would be best achieved face-to-face?
[delivery mode and learning outcomes]
•
Blended teaching is not just a matter of
transferring a portion of your traditional
course to the Web. Instead it involves
developing challenging and engaging online
learning activities that complement your
face-to-face activities. What types of learning
activities do you think you will be using for
the online portion of your course?
[integration]
•
Online asynchronous discussion is often an
important part of blended courses. What
new learning opportunities will arise as a
result of using asynchronous discussion?
What challenges do you anticipate in using
online discussions? How would you address
these? [building and maintaining
community]
•
How will the face-to-face and time out of
class components be integrated into a single
course? In other words, how will the work
done in each component feed back into and
support the other? [integration and
accountability]
•
When working online, students frequently
have problems scheduling their work and
managing their time, and understanding the
implications of the blended course module
as related to learning. What do you plan to
do to help your students address these
issues? student readiness and crisis points]
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10 Blended Questions
•
How will you divide the percent of time
between the face-to-face portion and the
online portion of your course? How will you
schedule the percent of time between the
face-to-face and online portion of your
course, i.e. one two hour face-to-face
followed by one two hour online session
each week? [flow and delivery mode
optimization]
•
How will you divide the course-grading
scheme between face-to-face and online
activities? What means will you use to assess
student work in each of these two
components? [assessment and
accountability]
•
Students sometimes have difficulty
acclimating to the course Web site and to
other instructional technologies you may be
using for face-to-face and online activities.
What specific technologies will you use for
the online and face-to-face portions of your
course? What proactive steps can you take to
assist students to become familiar with your
Web site and those instructional
technologies? If students need help with
technology later in the course, how will you
provide support? [learning technologies and
support/crisis points/readiness]
•
There is a tendency for faculty to require
students to do more work in a blended
course than they normally would complete in
a purely traditional course. What are you
going to do to ensure that you have not
created a course and one-half? How will you
evaluate the student workload as compared
to a traditional class? [design and
integration]
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What can it look like?
• The National Center for
Academic Transformation
– http://www.thencat.org
– Replacement Model Summaries:
http://thencat.org/PCR/model_re
place_all.htm
• Syllabi review on wiki
• Your own syllabi search
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Blended Course Examples
• American National Government
(UCF)
• Introductory Astronomy (UCB)
• Economic Statistics (UIUC)
• General Chemistry (UI)
• Intermediate Spanish Transition
(UTK)
• General Chemistry (UWM)
• College Composition (Tallahassee
CC)
• Computer Literacy (U of Buffalo,
SUNY)
• English Composition (BYU)
• General Psychology (CSU
Pomona)
• Computer Programming (Drexel
U)
• Elementary Statistics (Penn State
U)
• Introductory Spanish (Portland
State U)
• Elementary Algebra (Riverside CC)
• Six Innovative Course Redesign
Practices
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Activity I:
Reviewing Blended Courses
• Browse blended course syllabi
• Review the NCAT redesign course
examples
• What did you observe to be
different in the traditional course
from the blended course
• Identify 2 unique features of or
instructional strategies used in
blended courses
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BREAK
What can be done F2F?
Your Ideas
My Ideas
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What can be done online/not F2F?
Your Ideas
My Ideas
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What is the IRA
between these two?
Your Ideas
My Ideas
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Segment 2:
Course Redesign
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Mapping Your Course
• Give us a quick overview
of how your face to face
course maps out
• What do you think will
“translate” most easily?
• What do you think will be
most difficult to
“translate”?
Resources: Assessing the Role of Teaching Presence from the Learner Perspective. Dr. Randy Garrison, Dr.
Norm Vaughan. Available at Blended Learning and Course Redesign in Higher Education &
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI07159.pdf.
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Bloom’s Taxonomy
create
Focus on learner
evaluate
Focus on measure
of learning
analyze
apply
understand
remember
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Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy
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5 Principles of
Successful Course Redesign
• Redesign the whole course.
• Encourage active learning.
• Provide students with
individualized assistance.
• Build in ongoing assessment and
prompt feedback.
• Ensure sufficient time on task
and monitor student progress.
• http://thencat.org/PlanRes/R2R
_PrinCR.htm
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4 Basic Redesign Steps
1. Identify course content for a
module
2. Write learning objectives and
develop instructional modules
3. Select course delivery strategies:
determine which strategy is most
appropriate for your content
4. Integrate course content activities
in classroom and online
environments: determine what is
best suited in either the online or
classroom environment
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Why Objectives?
• Clear statement of what
students will be able to
do when they are
finished with an
instructional segment
• Focuses on student
performance
• Provides structure:
beginning, middle, and
end
• What are the core
concepts your students
must learn for each
module?
– What do they need to
know?
– What do they need to be
able to do?
– What will they know as a
result of my instruction?
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Support Objectives by
• Integrating learning
technologies
– Classroom technologies
– Emerging technologies
– Online resources
• Developing diverse
assessment techniques
• Infusing active learning,
interaction, and peer
engagement
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Meeting Objectives
Instructional
Strategies
Learning
Activities
Assessment
Techniques
Objectives
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Course Organization
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dates
Topic
Readings
Section
Unit
Module
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The Organization
• Course structure set up in a
repetitive manner allowing
for easy navigation
• Course content broken
down into “chunks”
• Supports consistency
• Allows students to focus on
content rather than form
• “7 +/-2 rule”
• Content organized in
conceptually related blocks
• Let the content set the
chunks
Source: Blending In, March 2007
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Activity II:
Mapping Your Course
• Handout: Mapping your
Course
• Debrief homework
– ID what you do
– ID what the learner does
• Select one chunk/module
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Segment 3:
Quality in the Blended Course
Quality Matters: http://www.qualitymatters.org/index.htm
Other Quality Measures/Tools:
http://blendedlearning101.pbworks.com/Course-Evaluation-RubricsResources
Why Quality Matters
• Step-by-step guide for
development
• Checklist for developed
courses
• Ensure alignment
• Student perspective
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The Quality Matters Frame
•
•
•
•
•
1) Learning Objectives
Course
Module
Clear, student’s
perspective
Measurable
Instructions to students on
how to meet them
**Alignment to objectives
•
•
•
•
•
2) Learner Engagement
Sufficient to support
objectives
Diverse
3 types of interaction
Response time
Requirements, rubrics, and
samples
**Alignment to objectives
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The Quality Matters Frame
•
•
•
•
•
3) Resources/Materials
Materials support
objectives
Relationship between
materials and objectives is
clear to students
Breadth, depth, currency
Diversity
Citation and copyright
**Alignment to objectives
4) Assessment/Measurement
• Measure progress toward
objectives
• Grading policy
• Specific, descriptive criteria for
evaluating students work and
participation
• Tools appropriate for content
• Self-checks
**Alignment to objectives
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The Quality Matters Frame
5) Course Technology
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Appropriate selection
Skills and access of the learner
Instructor expertise required
Both what faculty and learner will be
expected to do with technology
Pedagogical objectives of the
technology
Don’t OD on IT
Student engagement and active
learning
Integration into the learning
experience
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Non-Aligning QM Parts
• Learner support
– Student services
– Library
– Technology
• Accessibility
– ADA standards
– Alternatives
• Course
overview/introduction
– Getting started
– Course purpose and
components
– Hybrid format
– Etiquette
– Introductions
– Prerequisites
– Technology skills
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LUNCH
SEGMENT 4:
STUDENT READINESS
Support in the blended course?
Identify the top 2 areas that students would
need help in a blended course
http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/293690/
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Students are most successful when
they have the following characteristics:
• Informed self selection
• Responsible for their
own learning
• An access plan for
taking the course
• Know how they learn
(metacognition)
• Have necessary
technical skills
• Know how to build a
support system
• Respond favorably to
technological
uncertainties
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Readiness Assessment Strategies
• eLearning website
• Screening surveys
• Pre and post
enrollment with
feedback
• Debunking incorrect
impressions
• Advisor meeting
•
•
•
•
•
•
Website
Welcome materials
FAQs
Examples
Pros/Cons
Testimonials
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Assess…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Skills (reading)
Learning styles
Work and study habits
Technical requirements
(hardware, software,
connectivity)
Need and immediacy for course
Feedback preferences
Ability to self-help (when things
are difficult)
Attitude toward the nature of
learning online
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Readiness Means…
• Determining who is ready
• Ready now = start course
• Not ready now =
– Tutorials
– Support
– Advisor meeting
• UCF Learning Online
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Are you ready for MY course?
• Take a moment to review Planning
Template for Assessing and
Addressing Student Readiness
• Considering the earlier 2 areas that
you identified, what might you do to
support student success or prevent a
poor experience
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SEGMENT 5:
BLENDED COURSE CRISIS POINTS
(STUDENTS AND FACULTY)
Blended Course
Crisis Point Causes
What is the most likely cause of a
crisis point in your course?
http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/293696/
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What are they?
• Moments during your course when
students or faculty are most likely to
need support and assistance
– Example: The first time a student to
your course web site and cannot
successfully login with their username
and password?
• Identify crisis points in advance to
mitigate student problems and
avoid frustration for all
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How do you identify them?
• Review the sequence of
learning activities and course
modules you have planned
– Pre course
– First day
– Mid course
– Last week(s)
• What student skills will be
required to be successful
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Preempting Crisis Points
• Review Planning Template
to Prepare for, Identify,
and Preempt Student
Crisis Points
• How will you address,
support, and troubleshoot
your students’ needs
during your course?
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Next Steps
Webinar 2
• Building community and
collaboration
– Online discussions
• Student teams
• Assessment and assessment
techniques
• Academic integrity
• Copyright issues
• Open content
Webinar 3
• Learning technologies in the
blended course
– Role of Web 2.0 tools and the
net generation learner
– Web 2.0 tools
– Blogs
– Wikis
– Social bookmarking
– Google applications
• Mapping revisited
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Next Steps
• Continue working on Mapping your Course
– Add/build as we progress through webinars
• Read and review the Quality Matters rubric
standards at
– http://www.qualitymatters.org/Rubric.htm
(click on rubric)
– Consider how your course can be (re)designed
to address each of these elements
• Take the Preparing for Online Teaching survey:
https://weblearning.psu.edu/FacultySelfAssess
ment/
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Contact Information
Veronica M. Diaz, PhD
drvdiaz@gmail.com
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/diaz/
Copyright Veronica Diaz, 2009. This work is the
intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted
for this material to be shared for non-commercial,
educational purposes, provided that this copyright
statement appears on the reproduced materials and
notice is given that the copying is by permission of the
author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires
written permission from the author.
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