Blended Learning

Blended e-learning in HE Greg Benfield George Roberts Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development

Intended outcomes

This session is designed so that participants will have an opportunity to:

Introduce themselves to and through WebCT

Review recent research on the learner experience of blended e-learning in HE

Reflect on some case studies of the use of e-learning in HE

Critically evaluate the role of learning technologies in higher education

Design an e-learning activity from a given scenario

Wider aims: good practice

encourage student-tutor contact

encourage student-student co-operation

encourage active learning

give prompt feedback

emphasise time on task

have and communicate high expectations

respect diverse talents and ways of learning

(Chickering & Ehrman, 1987)

independent of the mode of engagement

Good Learning

based on

reciprocity

authenticity

credibility

Good Teaching

sets ground rules

provides alternatives

exemplifies models

gives access to experience

Good Design

Permeability

Variety

Legibility

Robustness

Visual appropriateness

Richness

Personalisation

Good Practice

encourages

contact

co-operation

active learning

gives prompt feedback

emphasises time on task

has high expectations

respects diversity

Session structure

1. Welcome to WebCT

2. What is blended learning?

3. Learners, technologies, issues

4. VLEs: beyond the filing cabinet

– Flexibility, Blogs, e-portfolios

– Communication and collaboration

– Assessment and feedback

5. Designing for learning with technology

Welcome to WebCT

Your id

Your password

Log in

Discussions

Participants’ experiences 1

Vicki:

“ At the beginning of the task I typed something in, and then lost it, and couldn’t find where it had gone. And that was frustrating because I spent all that time typing it in and then just couldn’t find it ”

Nick

“ for people from other campuses or other universities, because they have firewall, network problems and security problems as well. That’s the only pitfall .”

Participants’ experiences 2

Vicki :

“ I think you’re probably more careful about what you say. And also the fact that it’s printed, it’s there, you’re not going to say something that’s totally off the wall. Because it will be there and everybody else will know that you’ve said it, it was a daft idea. You’re not going to expose yourself in that way. ”

Cathy:

“ Well the fact that it is a permanent record reminds people sometimes that they have to think quite long and hard about what they put in there. So, whereas if you’re sitting in a group and you say something which is profoundly embarrassing you can laugh it off and say ‘Oh God!’ you know. Whereas if you’ve posted something on the WebCT site and everybody can read it you’re less likely to perhaps open up. ”

Session structure

1. Welcome to WebCT

... drawing on

Review of Undergraduate Experience of Blended e-learning

Full report, Executive summary, 4 briefing papers at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/4884.htm

JISC Effective practice & Learner Experience studies:

Learner Scoping Study (Sharpe, Benfield, Lessner, De Cicco)

LEX (Creanor et al)

LXP (Connole et al)

Synthesis project (Sharpe et al)

http:// www.jisc.ac.uk/elp_learneroutcomes.html

Academy review research questions

What is blended learning?

What underlying rationales are being used for promoting blended e-learning?

What monitoring and evaluation strategies are being adopted for ensuring and enhancing the quality of blended e-learning?

What impact is blended e-learning having on the student experience?

What are the success factors for blended e-learning?

What is blended learning?

Activity (5 mins)

In groups of 3 or 4 compose an agreed definition of blended learning to share with the rest of the group.

We will compare your suggestions with findings from the Academy review.

Blended learning: QAA model hi collocation hi collaboration traditional laboratory lo computerisation hi collocation whiteboards in classrooms hi collaboration virtual field trips hi computerisation lo collocation CACL, online forums hi collaboration “Learning to teach online” hi computerisation hi collocation lo collaboration video link lecture hi computerisation lo collocation lo collaboration “traditional” DL lo computerisation lo collocation lo collaboration CBT training hi computerisation

The problem

When we try to pin down the meaning of any modification of the term “learning”

e-learning

blended learning

distance learning

work-based learning

etc

we will ultimately have to address what is understood by learning

10 Dimensions of blended learning

This leaves us with the possibility of blending

delivery different modes (face-to-face and distance education)

technology mixtures of (web based) technologies

locus authentic/work-based and class-room based learning

pedagogy different pedagogical approaches

chronology synchronous and a-synchronous interventions

roles multi-disciplinary groupings of learners

focus different aims

direction instructor-directed vs. learner-directed

epistemology associative, cognitive constructivist, social constructivist, situative

politics overt/covert curricula; direct/indirect objects of learning, flexibility, community, personalisation

Session structure

1. Welcome to WebCT

Landscape Learner voices: Laura http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning_pedagogy/elp_learneroutcomes/elp_learnervoices.aspx

Landscape Multi modal learning Mode 1: baseline admin and support Mode 2: Blended Learning Mode 3: FDL

Landscape: social software An ‘”underworld” of digital communication among learners’ (LEX, Creanor et al 2006) Google and Wikipedia preferred information search & retrieval tools (LXP, Conole et al 2006) “ The concept of ‘time’ is changing – both in terms of expectation of information and results on demand. There is evidence of a fragmentation of the learning timetable” (LXP, Conole et al 2006) ©BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3830527.stm

Session structure

1. Welcome to WebCT

Landscape: VLEs

HEA Review

In HE (U/G at least) the landscape is characterised by

Wide scale use of virtual learning environments to provide supplementary course resources

Far less frequently radical, transformative course (re)designs to improve learning

Occasionally a holistic view of technology, including use of own technologies to support learning.

Impact crater Pwyll, Europa Lunar and Planetary Institute http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/europa/thickice/

Roles

Such as:

Initiator

Researcher

Recorder

Summariser

Reporter

How are role assumed?

Assigned

Emergent

Hybrid

Responsibility?

Moderation: issues for consideration

Rules

Objectives

Interactional, instrumental, regulatory, heuristic, imaginative, representational, personal

Task/outputs/product

Netiquette

Response time

Equal treatment

Tools

Shared documents

e-Mail

Discussion forums

Instant messaging

Virtual Learning Environments (VLE): e.g. WebCT

Blogs

Wikis

e-Portfolios

Knowledge management systems

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies: Flexibility

Flexibility

Oberon: a 1 st year fully online module within a ‘standard’ programme

Content with interactive self-tests, quizzes and two ‘group’ activities

Otherwise study at own pace and submit final portfolio when ready

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies: Blogs http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/ http://del.icio.us http://www.downes.ca

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies: Blogs http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/education/arts/diaries/home.html ! http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/groups/en-all

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies: Blogs and Portfolios http://pdp.coventry.ac.uk/blog.aspx?blogoid=2824 http://www.pebblelearning.co.uk/

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies: e-portfolios http://elgg.net/

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies: Blogs and Portfolios and Projects http://my-world.typepad.com/my_weblog/ http://tao4learning.wordpress.com/

Virtual Teamwork (Business School)

Multi-professional learning: Partnerships in Practice (Health and Social Care)

Wikis and podcasts (OCSLD, Online Tutoring)

Instant messaging, Skype, MSN, BuddySpace

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies 2b: communication/collaboration cont’d

Multi-tasking with chat

Learners’ expectations of technologies

Activity

Small groups of 3/4

Contrast the landscape of technologies in HE with the population traversing this landscape:

Identify one or two key implications for improving the learner experience of HE with technology

Session structure

1. Welcome to WebCT

Design for Learning Background reading Individual task Group task Plenary Follow through

Design for Learning (distribute) background reading Individual task: write one sample examination question and explain why this is a good question. Post to discussion area Plenary: presentation by groups Follow through: collate and distribute all questions & criteria Framing: final examination will be composed of your questions Group task Evaluate Critique on discussion board Compile sample examination paper and post Produce assessment criteria

What the research says about VLEs…

Students are overwhelming positive about access to supplementary course information (Sharpe et al 2006)

“ we've never done any surveys, ever, that have given other than the students want more of it, wider and deeper” (Longside 2).

“ On the whole students were not very complimentary about VLEs …. Dislike appeared to relate more to the inconsistent way the VLE was used than the services incorporated into it” (LXP, Creanor et al 2006)

Students are concerned about

Inconsistency in use between modules

Time and expense associated with downloading and printing

Mismatches in staff and student expectations

Institutions need to re-evaluate the worth of the content they provide

Set clear expectations for attendance, if necessary, use incentives

Schools/departments should establish templates, protocols and standards of VLE use

… and other university systems

Students make regular and frequent use of online resources (Sharpe et all 2006): “I have contact with the university even though I am not there” (quoted in Aspen & Helm 2004)

“ The university as the core physical centre for learning is becoming a thing of the past” (Creanor et al 2006)

“ Students displayed the ability to integrate for themselves a wide range of technologies and applications. The majority of the technologies and applications used by students to support their learning were not maintained or supported by their host institutions.” (LXP, Creanor et al 2006)

Institutions need to be more supportive and integrative of learners’ technologies

Institutions should remove barriers to digital connectivity

Institutions need to explore new methods to deliver content

… and other university systems 2

Google and Wikipedia are preferred information retrieval tools; Google is often used to turn up learning materials from other universities (LXP, Creanor et al 2006)

“ the usabilty of Google contrasts with the complexity of many university library systems” (LXP, Creanor et al 2006)

Students frequently look outside their own institutions to find content

Students need more effective provisions of opportunities to learn:

information retrieval and evaluation

how to avoid plagiarism

Institutions need to re-evaluate the usability of many of their IT services

HEIs increasingly need to be better able to aggregate content, ie. provide repositories of high quality academic resources in easy to find form

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies 2: communication/collaboration

There is an “‘underworld’ of digital communication among learners” (LEX, Creanor et al 2006)

“ Technologies are used extensively to communicate with fellow peers and tutors, with students demonstrating use of a variety of tools (email, MSN chat, Skype, mobile phones, etc.) to support a range of communicative acts” (LXP, Conole et al 2006)

“ Students are part of a wider, networked, community of peers …[in which they] share resources, ask for help and peer assess” (LXP, Conole et al 2006)

Yet …

“ In the surveys of courses making use of multiple features of the VLE, discussions frequently appear as the part which is least used and valued by students … and as being something that is difficult to engage undergraduate students with …. Even in courses where discussion is well integrated into the course design, there are still reports of students having difficulties in making good use of both asynchronous and synchronous discussions” (Sharpe et al 2006)

Beyond the filing cabinet case studies 2a: communication/collaboration

Why is that do you think?

Three (and a half) approaches to understanding learning

People learn by association : building ideas or skills step-by-step

e.g. mnemonics, training drills, imitation, instruction

associative learning leads to accurate reproduction or recall

People learn by constructing ideas and skills through active discovery

e.g. exploration, experimentation, guided discovery, problem-solving, reflection

constructive learning leads to integrated skills and deep understanding

People learn by constructing ideas and skills through dialogue

e.g. discussion, debate, collaboration, shared knowledge-building

social constructive learning also leads to integrated skills and deep understanding

People learn by participating in communities of practice

e.g. apprenticeship, work-based learning, legitimate peripheral participation

situated practice leads to the development of habits, values and identities

Three broad approaches cont.

All approaches emphasise:

Learner activity

Constructive alignment of activities with desired outcomes

The importance of feedback

Opportunities for consolidation (practice) and integration

They differ in:

The role and importance of other people

The authenticity of the activity

The formality of activity structures and sequences

The emphasis on retention/reproduction or reflection/internalisation

The locus of control

Principles of effective learning design

People learn more effectively when:

They are active

They are motivated and engaged

Their existing capabilities are brought into play

They are appropriately challenged

zone of proximal development

scaffolding

differentiation

They have opportunities for dialogue (with tutors, mentors or peers)

They receive feedback (intrinsic or extrinsic)

They have opportunities for consolidation and integration

Task

In your groups develop a short online group activity and prepare a presentation of this activity using the flip chart paper.

References

Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for Quality Learning at University Second Edition . Maidenhead, Open University Press.

Browne, T. and Jenkins, M. (2003). 'VLE surveys: a longitudinal perspective between March 2001 and March 2003 for Higher Education in the United Kingdom.' UCISA. online http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/groups/tlig/vle/vle2003.pdf, accessed 12 November 2003

Catley, P (2005). ‘One Lecturer's Experience of Blending E-learning with Traditional Teaching or How to Improve Retention and Progression by Engaging Students’. Brookes eJournal of Learning and Teaching , 1(2) online at http://www.brookes.ac.uk/publications/bejlt/volume1issue2/academic/catley05_1.html !

DfES (2005) 'Harnessing Technology: Transforming learning and children's services'. Online at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/e-strategy/

HEFCE (2005). HEFCE strategy for e-learning, online at http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_12/

JISC (2003). 'Virtual and Managed Learning Environments.' Joint Information Systems Committee. online at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=issue_vle_mle , accessed 25 August 2005.

JISC (2004). Effective Practice with e-Learning: A good practice guide in designing for e-Learning . Bristol, JISC. Online at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/jisc%20effective%20practice3.pdf

References cont’d

JISC (2005). Innovative Practice with e-Learning . Bristol, JISC. Online at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/publication_txt.pdf

Laurillard, D. (1993). Rethinking University Teaching-A framework for the effective use of educational technology . New York, Routledge.

Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking University Teaching-a conversational framework for the effective use of educational technology . London, RoutledgeFarmer.

Mayes, T and de Freitas, S. (2004) Review of e-learning theories, frameworks and models . JISC. Online at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Stage%202%20Learning%20Models%20(Version%201).pdf

Sharpe, R, Benfield, G, Roberts, G and Francis, R (2006). "The undergraduate experience of blended e-learning: a review of UK literature and practice undertaken for the Higher Education Academy." Retrieved 3 October, 2006, from http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/research/Sharpe_Benfield_Roberts_Francis.pdf

Virtual teamwork