Blended Courses:
How to have the best of both
worlds in higher education
By Susan C. Slowey
Best of both worlds?
One of the current trends in higher
education is the hybrid or blended
course. While these courses utilize both
traditional and non-traditional teaching
methodologies, these courses can offer
students the best of both worlds if they
are carefully planned and executed.
What is a blended course?
What is your definition of a
blended course?
What is a blended course?
Other definitions:
A hybrid course is a blend of face-toface instruction with online learning. In a
hybrid course, a significant part of the
course learning is online and as a
result, the amount of classroom seattime is reduced.California State
University Long Beach
Other definitions:
"Hybrid" is the name commonly used
nationwide to describe courses that
combine face-to-face classroom
instruction with computer-based
learning. Hybrid courses move a
significant part of course learning online
and, as a result, reduce the amount of
classroom seat time.University of
Wisconsin Hybrid Course Project
Why choose blended
courses?
New teaching opportunities: Faculty can
choose a variety of teaching methods that
may not be best suited to the traditional
classroom.
Teachers have the flexibility to combine
collaborative learning, independent learning
with bits of traditional lectures to create a new
learning environment.
Why choose blended
courses?
Increased student engagement:
– Instructors report that they feel more
connected with their students and are
able to get to know them better since
they communicate both online and
face-to-face.
Why choose blended
courses?
Increased student engagement:
– Blended course environments have
the potential to increase and extend
instructor-student and studentstudent connectivity and to build
relationships even more so than in
traditional or online courses.
Why choose blended
courses?
Increased student engagement:
– Discussions started in class are
continued online and online
interaction often carries over into the
traditional face-to-face classes.
Why choose blended
courses?
Increased student engagement:
– Integration of out-of-class activities
with in-class activities allows more
effective use of traditional class time.
Why choose blended
courses?
Increased student engagement:
– Students who rarely take part in class
discussions are more likely to
participate online.
Why choose blended
courses?
Instructors report that students
write better papers, performed
better on exams, produced higher
quality projects, and were capable
of more meaningful discussions on
course material when reflecting
online.
Why choose blended
courses?
Pedagogical changes may lead a
faculty member to switch from lectures
to a learner-centered based course.
Why choose blended
courses?
Students like the idea of blended
courses because they have the
flexibility of an online course that is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
WITH the added bonus of face-to-face
contact with their instructor.
How do blended courses
differ?
Teaching a blended course can be
challenging, since it requires acquiring
different teaching skills, redesigning a
course to take into account new
teaching and learning opportunities,
managing the course content both
online and in-class, and preparing
students to work in a blended format.
Rethinking Course Design
To teach a successful blended course
instructors must re-examine their
course goals and objectives, design
online learning activities to meet these
goals and objectives, and effectively
integrate the online activities with the
face-to face meetings. Instructors must
make the transition from lectures and
presentation to a more studentcentered active learning.
Adopting a New Approach
to Teaching
Instructors need to learn how to
facilitate online discussions and
small group activities, and reexamine traditional methods of
assessment of student work to
take into account the new learning
environment.
Managing the Dual Learning
Environment
The blended environment also
adds additional scheduling and
communication challenges as
courses meet both online and faceto-face. Instructors must also take
care not to overload themselves
and their students.
Preparing Students
Instructors must be prepared to
help students understand their
active role in the blended, assist
students in keeping their work on
time and on track, and be
prepared to offer strategies for
trouble-shooting new course
technologies.
Sample Course
For several semesters I have taught World
Geog (Geog 1303), Cultural Geog (Geog
1302) and Economic Geog (Geog 2312) in
the blended format.
I honestly found that Cultural and Economic
Geog were ideally suited for the blended
format while World Geog provided to be fairly
difficult to teach this way.
Sample Course
For the purposed of this presentation, I
want to briefly describe how the Cultural
Geography, Geog 1302 course was set
up.
Sample Course: Geog 1302
Each week the students are to read
over a chapter and take an online
chapter quiz before attending the class.
These quizzes are graded and make up
a portion of the student’s total grade.
Sample Course: Geog 1302
To ensure that the students emphasize
the correct material while reading the
chapter, chapter outlines and key terms
are posted online.
Sample Course: Geog 1302
Class meetings include a brief
introduction to the key cultural concept
discussed in the chapter
Following the brief introduction of the
topic, students are asked to discuss key
topics
Sample Course: Geog 1302
After class discussion, the class may
break into groups to further analyze key
concepts and apply them to real world
situations. All group work is graded.
Sample Course: Geog 1302
Instead of working in groups every
period, students may also see DVDs to
illustrate example of culture. Additional
materials are available online to help
review the DVDs.
Sample Class: Geog 1302
At the end of class, students will be asked to
turn in and report on their findings. The class
may continue discussions as necessary at
this time or continue the discussions online.
The final moments of the class are spent
wrapping up the class meeting and
reinforcing the key concept of the day.
Sample Course: Geog 1302
Student exams: I have tested in class,
online and in the Learning Center. How
you test is really a personal decision.
Sample Course: Geog 1302
Student grades: The student is graded
over:
– Major Exams
– Assignments--done online or available
online and worked on out of class
– Online chapter quizzes
– Groups work
– Final Exam
Sample Course: Geog 1302
Student comments:
– Overall, students liked the blended course
– Some felt it was too much work and they
were not disciplined enough to earn a high
grade
– Most students comment on how much
more they learned on their own than they
had in other college courses
Blended or not blended?
Deciding whether to teach a blended
course is not an easy decision. Just
because you meet the class once a
week does not mean these course are
less work. They can be much more
involved than traditional lecture courses.
Tips for preparing a blended
course
Examine your course. Is the course
content lend itself to a variety of
teaching styles?
Not all courses are ideally suited for this
environment. Science lectures might
work but labs will still need to be taught
in the traditional form.
Tips for preparing a blended
course
You will need to decide what students
need to accomplish in the course.
Examine the master course syllabus for
the student learning outcomes for your
course
Decide what learning objectives are
best taught in the classroom and what
objectives can be taught online.
Tips for preparing a blended
course
Design online activities that will
engage and challenge your
students
–The online portion should not be
just your lecture notes and old
power points
Tips for preparing a blended
course
Decide on how you will grade the online
portion of the course. Keep in mind that
they are supposed to complete half of
the course online.
Tips for preparing a blended
course
Flexibility--if something works then are
you doing fine. If the classroom time
isn’t working out as effectively as you
hoped, change things around. If the
students cannot complete all of the
online work before the next class,
rework the online material.
Tips for preparing a blended
course
Keep in mind, these courses are
learner-centered. This is a hard
concept to remember when creating
your blended course. Traditional
lectures do not work well in these
courses.
References:
Much of the material is from the University
of Wisconsin’s Hybrid Course Home
Page. It is one of the base online
websites discussing blended courses.
http://www4.uwm.edu/ltc/hybrid/index.cfm