Blended Learning: The Future of Higher Education

Blended Learning: The
Future of Higher
Education

Professor Mike Keppell
Professor of Higher Education
Director, The Flexible Learning Institute
Charles Sturt University

Wednesday, 21 July 2010 1

Overview
Assumptions and principles

What is blended learning?

Benefits of blended learning - from an activity,
subject, course, university perspective

Paradigms of blended learning - enabling,
enhancing, transforming

Affordances of learning spaces

Examples of blended learning


Assumptions
Universities value and seek to inculcate the skills
essential for lifelong and life wide learning,
producing graduates who will continue to develop
intellectually, professionally and socially beyond the
bounds of formal education.

Universities believe that programs, services and
teaching methods should be responsive to the
diverse cultural, social and academic needs of
students, enabling them to adapt to the demands of
university education and providing them with the
cultural capital for life success.


Higher Education Principles
Equivalence of Learning Outcomes ethical obligations

traverses physical,
Student Learning Experience blended and virtual
learning spaces
learning outcomes,
subject, degree
Constructive Alignment
program, generic
attributes

speciﬁc needs of
Discipline Pedagogies
disciplines


What is Blended Learning?
Combination of face-to-face teaching and learning with
online teaching and learning

“It is a design approach whereby both face-to-face and
online learning are made better by the presence of
each other” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008, p.5).

“Thoughtful fusion of face-to-face and online
experiences” (p.5).

“Combines the properties and possibilities of both to go
beyond the capabilities of each separately” (p.6)

“It is a complete rethinking and redesign of the
educational environment and learning experience” (p.x)

What is Unique about
Blended Learning?
Convergence of classroom and communications
technology

Transformation of how we approach teaching and
learning

Synchronous and asynchronous communication

Diversified range of learning spaces that are both
physical and virtual


Activity-Level Blended
Learning
Activity-level blending
Includes both face-to-face and online Discussion / Project/ Reflection /
components. e.g online debate and Debate Topic Posted
face-to-face debate; off-line reading and
online discussion.
Individual Response Posted

Blackboard Platform

Student-Student Interaction: React
to Three Responses from Peers

Results

Synthesis of Discussion (e.g.
85% peers agreed) Collaboration
Products (e.g., Top five best)


Activity-Level Blending in
Practice
Student Resources Resources
Instructor Role Assessment
Role (Content) (Services)
Allocate reading.
Some
Ask students to
Read discussion
read required
Off-line reading and post respective Reading about topic in
chapter face-to-face
summary in
class
LMS

Feedback from
Post a one
Student peers in online
paragraph
and discussion.
summary
instructor Discussion Feedback from
Online Facilitator and
posts in forum instructor in
comment
discussion online
on two
forum discussion
other posts
forum.

Subject and Course
Level Blending
Subject-Level Blending

One of the most common
Distinct face-to-face and online activities as part of
course/subject.
For example designing learning resources (50/50
blended approach)

Course-level blending
Degree program level
Teaching Fellowship Scheme


Paradigms of Blended
Learning
Enabling blends
These address issues of access and equity and add
flexibility. This might include the same opportunities in
face-to-face, online and blended learning environments.
Enhancing blends
These focus on incremental changes to the pedagogy in
both the face-to-face and online components.
Transforming blends
Transformation of the pedagogy. Major redesign of
teaching and learning e.g. online PBL.


Problem-based
Traditional model
learning model

Content Problem

Teacher Student Coach Problem
solver
Tan (2003) p.12

11

What are Affordances?
When you first see something you have never seen
before, how do you know what to do?

“An affordance is the design aspect of an object
which suggests how the object should be
used” (Norman, 1988).

Determined by context, culture, instinct, mental
model e.g. hyperlinked text on website.

When designers make use of affordances the user
knows what to do just by looking


Diversity of Learning Spaces
Physical Blended Virtual

Formal Informal Formal Informal

Mobile Personal

Outdoor


Learning Space Affordance Example

Face-to-Face
Oral feedback to a
Teaching and Oral communication
question
Learning

Information access
Learning Subject outline
Interactive learning
Management Multimedia forum
Networked learning
Systems project
Materials development

Discussion about
Learning Commons Informal learning lecture
Peer learning


Learning Space Affordance Example

In-depth group Discussion of reading
Tutorial discussion Discussion of
Peer learning presentation

Practical work
Peer interaction Practical work on IT
Residential School
Sense of belonging to networks
university

Authentic learning
Applied learning in
Practice Community of Practice
discipline
Mentor/mentee


An Example of Blended
Learning - Critical Decisions
What are the learning goals?

What are the learning activities?

What are the affordances of the technology?

What should be off-line and online?

What is the assessment?


An Example of Blended
Learning
Postgraduate Diploma in Education
Programme
(Professional and Vocational Education)

Module IIT5078 - Designing Learning Resources

Blended learning (Five face-to-face classes of four
hours duration - 20 hours and 10 hours of online
Approach discussion activities). Emphasis on peer learning,
project-based learning and learning-oriented
assessment.
In this module it was essential for the student to
interact within the Blackboard LMS as the online
Essential
component was designed to be a significant
component of the module.

Learning Design

Problem-based

Project-based

Authentic Learning Cases


Project-based Learning

Howard, (2002)


Interactivity Decisions

Information access

Interactive learning

Networked learning

Materials development

(Oliver & Herrington, 2001)


Information Access
CONVEY INFORMATION ALONE TO THE
LEARNER

Examples Rationale

Module outline information accessibility

Assessment outline timely delivery of information

PowerPoint slides review of content

Task outlines administrative efficiency


Information Access Examples
Announcements weekly announcement to students

teaching schedule document
module outline document
Module Information weekly topics document
module assessment document
project assessment rubric document

Staff Information lecturer background and contact details

Books reading list

Resources websites

Course Material for
powerpoint files, etc
Five Classes


Interactive Learning
INCREASED LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT WITH
RESOURCES

Examples Rationale
Search and review
independent learning
documents
Database searching independent learning

External links to websites independent learning
simulations of real life
Simulations
activities
tutorial type activities and
Multimedia
immediate feedback


Interactive Learning
Examples
Problem-based learning cases
Project-based learning videos
Interactive concept maps
Synchronized audio-lecture and PowerPoint files
Online Survey
Online encyclopedia: Wikipedia
Encyclopedia of Educational Technology


Networked Learning
PROVIDE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

Examples Rationale
Announcements one way communication in Bb
initial communication with
Staff information
students
Email one-to-one, one-to-many

Discussion forums, group tasks social construction of knowledge

Online debates social construction of knowledge

Real-time chats social construction of knowledge


Networked Learning
Examples
Four online discussion groups
related to module readings
Two in-class discussion groups
Discussion forums for module-
related questions
Group spaces for projects


Materials Development
DEVELOPING AND PRESENTING PRODUCTS
AND ARTEFACTS

Examples Examples

Stories/digital stories Portfolios

Reflective journals Teaching practice journals

Reports Concept maps

Presentations Interviews

Photographs/video/audio Projects

> Combined with discussion forums

Materials Development
Examples
The group project provided an
opportunity to apply principles and
skills in the module to create a
learning resource (i.e. needs
analysis, concept map, video,
photos, report, presentation)


1. 4.
2. Criteria 3. Needs 5. Student
Authentic Concept
- Rubric Analysis Presentation
Task Map
Feedback Feedback
as feed- as feed-
Assessment
forward forward
AS learning
task

Teacher feedback
Teacher feedback - Verbal
Student feedback - Written Peer feedback -
- Verbal Verbal

Needs analysis
6. Learning Concept map
Students as Digital learning
self-evaluators Resource resource
Report

30


Conclusion
Blended learning is a combination of face-to-face
teaching and learning with online teaching and
learning

Examples of blended learning include problem-
based, project-based and authentic learning tasks

Benefits of blended learning expound from an
activity, subject, course, and university perspective

Paradigms of blended learning include enabling,
enhancing, transforming


Professor Mike Keppell
mkeppell@csu.edu.au


Blended Learning: The Future of Higher Education

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Blended Learning: The Future of Higher Education

More from Mike KEPPELL

Recently uploaded

Blended Learning: The Future of Higher Education