Through an examination of the ten basic questions of blended course redesign, participants will reconceive their traditional face-to-face courses for blended teaching and learning. Participants will follow backwards design principles to design a course module, and will learn techniques for integrating face-to-face and online work, and apply them to their own courses. For experienced teachers, this workshop provides a new approach to design a course in order to overcome "course and a half" syndrome and better manage your workload.
Friday, November 14th, 8:30am-11:30am
Preparing Instructors to Teach Online: Two Faculty Development ModelsKathy Keairns
Two directors of online learning, one from a Colorado Community College and one from a private university in Denver, share their faculty development models. Presented at the 2013 eLearning Consortium of Colorado annual conference in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Facilitating in and with the Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) Modelrolandv
Participants will explore how fully online facilitation assists learners in the construction of new
procedural and declarative knowledge.
Concepts discussed will include:
● Constructivism-informed Education Processes
● Reduction of transactional distance
● Collaborative processes
● Principles of PBL Online Facilitation (Savin-Baden, 2007)
Using Twitter for Teaching, Learning, and Professional DevelopmentJason Rhode
Have you wondered what Twitter is and what if any practical applications there are for teaching and learning? Perhaps you are among the 30% of faculty who now use Twitter in some capacity and you would like to learn some tips and tricks for better utilizing Twitter in education context. During this online session offered 11/30/2012 we introduced the basics of Twitter and explored best practices for using Twitter in teaching, learning and professional development.
Preparing Instructors to Teach Online: Two Faculty Development ModelsKathy Keairns
Two directors of online learning, one from a Colorado Community College and one from a private university in Denver, share their faculty development models. Presented at the 2013 eLearning Consortium of Colorado annual conference in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Facilitating in and with the Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) Modelrolandv
Participants will explore how fully online facilitation assists learners in the construction of new
procedural and declarative knowledge.
Concepts discussed will include:
● Constructivism-informed Education Processes
● Reduction of transactional distance
● Collaborative processes
● Principles of PBL Online Facilitation (Savin-Baden, 2007)
Using Twitter for Teaching, Learning, and Professional DevelopmentJason Rhode
Have you wondered what Twitter is and what if any practical applications there are for teaching and learning? Perhaps you are among the 30% of faculty who now use Twitter in some capacity and you would like to learn some tips and tricks for better utilizing Twitter in education context. During this online session offered 11/30/2012 we introduced the basics of Twitter and explored best practices for using Twitter in teaching, learning and professional development.
The rapid expansion of online teacher training raises a number of questions: How should we model student-centered, communicative teaching, incorporate a teaching practicum, and best accommodate students in a diverse, international context? This year-long critical analysis of a university-based TEFL certificate program offers insights and recommendations for teachers and administrators.
Ready, Set, Record: Being Present and Engaging Students Online Using YouTubeJason Rhode
During this session at the 7th Annual International Symposium on Emerging Technologies for Online Learning, learn about one instructor's use of YouTube's free and easy-to-use features for recording, editing, captioning, and embedding video into his online course. An overview of the steps for recording, editing, captioning, video in YouTube will be provided as well as examples shared for various approaches for seamlessly incorporating video into any online course. While the session featured the integrated "video anywhere" YouTube features in Blackboard, the principles provided will be applicable to an online course in any learning management system. A summary of feedback survey results from students regarding their experiences with video in the course were shared as well as lessons learned by the instructor for those wishing to follow the same suggested steps for incorporating video in their own course. Accompanying presentation abstract is at http://sloanconsortium.org/conference/2014/et4online/ready-set-record-being-present-and-engaging-students-online-using-youtube and links at http://jasonrhode.com/et4online14
Flipped Instruction: Flipping it Without Flipping OutLHoustonMemphis
List of Educational Objective(s) for the Session (be sure these indicate learning outcomes):
* Define the flipped instruction approach and how it can foster student success.
* Identify strategies to enhance instruction using the flipped instruction approach.
* Explore opportunities for applying flipped instruction theory in lesson planning and delivery.
* Describe practical uses of the flipped instruction approach in food service systems management courses.
Online Teaching Basics: what I continue to learnJLewisGeology
This is presentation was presented to the Koinonia Professional Development seminar group at the Princeton Theological Seminary on Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Strategies for Making the Transit...Kaitlin Walsh
This presentation will highlight some of the strategies that Charter Oak State College has adopted for translating traditional on-ground teaching methods to an online environment. In on-ground courses, faculty already know how to engage their students by way of “traditional” face-to-face methods. But when a course moves online, adapting “traditional” methods simply requires using those methods as a compass. Online education may be the future, but entering the future does not mean forgetting the past.
Highlights from the MnSCU Captioning Assessment ProjectD2L Barry
Highlights from the MnSCU Captioning Assessment Project, Lesley Blicker – Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Maran Wolston – Minneapolis Community and Technical College, and Rita Resendiz-Abfalter – Anoka Ramsey Community College. Presentation at the Brightspace Minnesota Connection at Normandale Community College on April 14, 2016.
In this Presentation, we would like to discuss current developments on teaching Knowledge Management with Flipped Classroom. We will start with a short introduction into the Flipped Classroom concept. At the master program “Knowledge Management” at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland the Flipped Classroom Model is introduced for the whole study program. Based on this experience and accompanying studies we can report about various Flipped Classroom examples of teaching Knowledge Management
Teaching Librarians Online About How to Teach OnlineArden Kirkland
A poster presented by Arden Kirkland, Amanda Calabrese, and Mary-Carol Lindbloom at the 2017 national conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
ENSURING QUALITY AND DETERMINING EFFECTIVENESS, ELI Focus SessionTanya Joosten
As many institutions have invested in faculty development programming and understand that it is pivotal to the success of innovation in course designs and academic programming, there is a need to ensure that the products resulting from these efforts are meeting institutional standards of quality for student learning and other outcomes. We have seen an array of mediated forms of learning (hybrid, blended, flipped, online, self-paced, competency-based, MOOCs, and more) being diffused across campuses and systems, and many of us have been asked to provide evidence of the effectiveness of our faculty development programming to ensure the quality of classes and programs. Administrators are looking for an ROI in faculty development as we are seeing decreases in funding, enrollments, and budgets. This presentation will share an approach to ensuring quality and evaluating the effectiveness of faculty development, including the sharing of resources.
Outcomes: Learn about a life cycle of ensuring quality in faculty development * Identify steps in a backward-design approach to evaluating the effectiveness of faculty development * Share potential resources to use in future efforts
Tuesday, Apr 1st, 2014, 12:15 PM - 12:40 PM, Eastern Time
Troy University, Invited Keynote: Understanding Online Students and LearningTanya Joosten
More at: http://trojan.troy.edu/etroy/colloquium/speakers.html
Session available at: https://troy.blackboard.com/webapps/bb-collaborate-bb_bb60/launchSession/guest?uid=dcb2a668-ea0c-4402-92f3-6733f30dc686
The rapid expansion of online teacher training raises a number of questions: How should we model student-centered, communicative teaching, incorporate a teaching practicum, and best accommodate students in a diverse, international context? This year-long critical analysis of a university-based TEFL certificate program offers insights and recommendations for teachers and administrators.
Ready, Set, Record: Being Present and Engaging Students Online Using YouTubeJason Rhode
During this session at the 7th Annual International Symposium on Emerging Technologies for Online Learning, learn about one instructor's use of YouTube's free and easy-to-use features for recording, editing, captioning, and embedding video into his online course. An overview of the steps for recording, editing, captioning, video in YouTube will be provided as well as examples shared for various approaches for seamlessly incorporating video into any online course. While the session featured the integrated "video anywhere" YouTube features in Blackboard, the principles provided will be applicable to an online course in any learning management system. A summary of feedback survey results from students regarding their experiences with video in the course were shared as well as lessons learned by the instructor for those wishing to follow the same suggested steps for incorporating video in their own course. Accompanying presentation abstract is at http://sloanconsortium.org/conference/2014/et4online/ready-set-record-being-present-and-engaging-students-online-using-youtube and links at http://jasonrhode.com/et4online14
Flipped Instruction: Flipping it Without Flipping OutLHoustonMemphis
List of Educational Objective(s) for the Session (be sure these indicate learning outcomes):
* Define the flipped instruction approach and how it can foster student success.
* Identify strategies to enhance instruction using the flipped instruction approach.
* Explore opportunities for applying flipped instruction theory in lesson planning and delivery.
* Describe practical uses of the flipped instruction approach in food service systems management courses.
Online Teaching Basics: what I continue to learnJLewisGeology
This is presentation was presented to the Koinonia Professional Development seminar group at the Princeton Theological Seminary on Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Strategies for Making the Transit...Kaitlin Walsh
This presentation will highlight some of the strategies that Charter Oak State College has adopted for translating traditional on-ground teaching methods to an online environment. In on-ground courses, faculty already know how to engage their students by way of “traditional” face-to-face methods. But when a course moves online, adapting “traditional” methods simply requires using those methods as a compass. Online education may be the future, but entering the future does not mean forgetting the past.
Highlights from the MnSCU Captioning Assessment ProjectD2L Barry
Highlights from the MnSCU Captioning Assessment Project, Lesley Blicker – Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Maran Wolston – Minneapolis Community and Technical College, and Rita Resendiz-Abfalter – Anoka Ramsey Community College. Presentation at the Brightspace Minnesota Connection at Normandale Community College on April 14, 2016.
In this Presentation, we would like to discuss current developments on teaching Knowledge Management with Flipped Classroom. We will start with a short introduction into the Flipped Classroom concept. At the master program “Knowledge Management” at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland the Flipped Classroom Model is introduced for the whole study program. Based on this experience and accompanying studies we can report about various Flipped Classroom examples of teaching Knowledge Management
Teaching Librarians Online About How to Teach OnlineArden Kirkland
A poster presented by Arden Kirkland, Amanda Calabrese, and Mary-Carol Lindbloom at the 2017 national conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
ENSURING QUALITY AND DETERMINING EFFECTIVENESS, ELI Focus SessionTanya Joosten
As many institutions have invested in faculty development programming and understand that it is pivotal to the success of innovation in course designs and academic programming, there is a need to ensure that the products resulting from these efforts are meeting institutional standards of quality for student learning and other outcomes. We have seen an array of mediated forms of learning (hybrid, blended, flipped, online, self-paced, competency-based, MOOCs, and more) being diffused across campuses and systems, and many of us have been asked to provide evidence of the effectiveness of our faculty development programming to ensure the quality of classes and programs. Administrators are looking for an ROI in faculty development as we are seeing decreases in funding, enrollments, and budgets. This presentation will share an approach to ensuring quality and evaluating the effectiveness of faculty development, including the sharing of resources.
Outcomes: Learn about a life cycle of ensuring quality in faculty development * Identify steps in a backward-design approach to evaluating the effectiveness of faculty development * Share potential resources to use in future efforts
Tuesday, Apr 1st, 2014, 12:15 PM - 12:40 PM, Eastern Time
Troy University, Invited Keynote: Understanding Online Students and LearningTanya Joosten
More at: http://trojan.troy.edu/etroy/colloquium/speakers.html
Session available at: https://troy.blackboard.com/webapps/bb-collaborate-bb_bb60/launchSession/guest?uid=dcb2a668-ea0c-4402-92f3-6733f30dc686
Keynote: Emerging Social Trends: Strategies and Best Practices for Teaching a...Tanya Joosten
Keynote: Emerging Social Trends: Strategies and Best Practices for Teaching and Learning
Dr. Tanya Joosten
Presented at Transformative Teaching and Technology Conference at St. Norbert College.
June 2, 2015
http://www.snc.edu/it/t3/2015/
“Promoting student access and success through research”Tanya Joosten
Presented at the University of Nebraska WorldWide Innovation in Pedagogy and Technology Conference
Tanya Joosten will share the research agenda in the establishment of the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancement (DETA) funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. DETA seeks to foster student access and success through evidence-based, cross-institutional online learning practices and technologies. Specifically, DETA looks to identify and evaluate effective course and institutional practices in online learning, including competency-based education, for underrepresented populations through rigorous research. The presentation will share DETA's purpose and research agenda, proposed research model for distance education, and opportunities for community engagement, including funding to conduct cross-institutional research.
Emerging Social Trends: Decisions, Decisions Tanya Joosten
Presented at Sloan-C Emerging Tech, #et4online, on April 10th, 2014
Tanya Joosten (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA)
@tjoosten
Session Information
April 10, 2014 - 3:30pm
Track: Open Education
Major Emphasis of Presentation: Applied Use (technology or pedagogy)
Institutional Level: Multiple
Audience Level: All
Session Type: Featured Session
Location: Lone Star C3
Session Duration: 50 Minutes
Session: Information Session 7
Virtual Session
Abstract
Higher education is undergoing a rapid transformation due to changes in societal interests and values. As educators, we must be responsive to these changes and look to develop strategies to best meet the needs of our students inside and outside of the classroom.
"Taking advantage of social media in your courses"Tanya Joosten
Presented at the University of Nebraska WorldWide Innovation in Pedagogy and Technology
Abstract
Tanya Joosten, author of Social Media for Educators, will share guidance on how you can effectively use social media in your course to 1.) provide better support for students through amplified communication, 2.) curate and/or create rich and current content to increase student satisfaction, and 3.) develop greater opportunities for interactivity and feedback to improve student learning. Specifically, attendees will design a learning module using backwards design while considering and taking advantage of the characteristics and functionality of social media. We will consider how social media can assist us in providing our students an experience that facilitates multiple technological literacies to prepare them for professional life.
Presented at the Technology Knowledge and Society Conference, 2012, UCLA.
We engaged in a year long campus conversation on emerging technologies and their impact on the University. Throughout higher education, there is a growing recognition that new technologies have the potential to usher in dramatic change. The UWM's Digital Future planning initiative presented an opportunity for us to proactively plan for this future as opposed to being in a reactive position with respect to coming changes.
A Workshop: Promoting Student Access and Success Through ResearchTanya Joosten
Promoting Student Access and Success Through Research
July 7, 2015 - 8:30am
Lead Presenter: Tanya Joosten (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA)
Track: Blended Models & Course Design
Interactive Workshop - 210 minutes
Location: Governor's Square 14
Virtual Session
Session Duration: 210 Minutes
Workshop Session 1 & 2 (combined)
Abstract:
Participate in the development of a research model to support the National DETA Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Extended Abstract
Come help us develop a research model to facilitate cross institutional research on blended instruction. The future of blended learning should be driven by research-based instructional and institutional interventions as the result of cross institutional research impacting access, learning effectiveness, and student satisfaction.
To give you a little background, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will share their efforts in the establishment of the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancement (DETA) funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. They seek to foster student access and success through evidence-based, cross-institutional online learning practices and technologies. Specifically, DETA looks to identify and evaluate effective course and institutional practices in blended and online learning, including competency-based education, for underrepresented populations through rigorous research.
This workshop looks to engage the blended learning community in assisting of the development of DETA's research agenda, including a research model for distance education and research toolkits that can be used by institutions across the country. Through collaborative group discussions, this workshop will look for participants to brainstorm and prioritize ideas around defining student success, identifying key research questions to drive future research, development of shared measures to be gathered by different institutions, creation of instrumentation, and more. The outcomes of this workshop will inform research conducted in 2016. Further, opportunities for community engagement, including funding to conduct cross-institutional research, will be discussed.
For more information on our efforts thus, see http://uwm.edu/deta/summit.
Come be a part of this exciting initiative!
Promoting Student Access and Success Through ResearchTanya Joosten
October 16, 2015 - 10:45am
Lead Presenter: Tanya Joosten (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA)
Diane Reddy (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA)
Track: Student Services and Learner Support
Featured Session
Location: Southern Hemisphere II
Session: Concurrent Session 10
Session Duration: 45 Minutes
Virtual Session
Abstract:
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee discusses promoting access and success of distance education students through research efforts. They will share their agenda in the establishment of the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancement (DETA) funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.
Determining the Effectiveness of Your Faculty Development ProgramTanya Joosten
Date: March 17, 2014
Time: 1:00–4:00 p.m. ET (UTC-4) convert to your time zone; Runs three hours.
Malcolm Brown and Veronica Diaz will moderate this online seminar with Tanya Joosten, Dylan Barth, and Nicole Weber from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
As the demand for blended and online learning opportunities increases, so does the need to ensure the quality of online education through faculty development programming. And with the increase in the diffusion of blended and online programming across higher education institutions, stakeholders are looking for ways to ensure the quality of the student experience and better understand the impact on student outcomes. Recently, many of us have been asked to provide evidence of the effectiveness of our faculty development programming: administrators are looking for a return on investment in faculty development to ensure quality in blended and online programming, as we are seeing decreases in state funding and enrollments, which leads to cut budgets. In order to for us to determine the effectiveness of our programming using a backwards design approach, we need to first understand what is a good online or blended course as well as what competencies are required of faculty to teach blended and online courses and how those can be best facilitated in a faculty development program. Then we can consider how to evaluate the impact on student outcomes.
This workshop will offer a collaborative and interactive opportunity to connect with colleagues to consider and construct how the effectiveness of faculty development programming can be determined and disseminated. A model of evaluation for a faculty development program will be shared.
Learning Objectives
By actively participating in this seminar, attendees will be able to:
Identify the characteristics of a good blended and online course, including the pedagogical model
Determine what elements and formats should be considered in designing a faculty development program
Share strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of your faculty development program at the course, program, and institutional levels from multiple perspectives, including students, colleagues, researchers, and administration
Understand how these steps fit into a model of evaluation for learning technologies and pedagogical innovation
Presentations, Day 1, by Tanya Joosten and Amy Mangrich on Blended Learning for the 1st Annual eLearning Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Topics include discussions, assessment, content delivery, and more. Course demonstrations included as well.
Getting started with your course re/designTanya Joosten
A workshop presented at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI. Participants were re/designing tech-enhanced, blended, hybrid, flipped, and online courses.
See more at http://snc2015.wikispaces.com.
#t3atsnc
Presented at Sloan-C Blended, Milwaukee, WI, July 8th, 2013
With the increase in the diffusion of blended and online programming across higher educational institutions, stakeholders are looking for ways to ensure the quality of the student experience. Quality of blended programs can be ensured through faculty and instructional development and training, faculty and instructor evidence of competence and recognition for excellence, constructive evaluation and feedback on blended and online course design and delivery, and community-building opportunities among instructors and staff. Blended learning is becoming a prominent mode of programming and delivery in education. It is swiftly emerging and transforming higher education to better meet the needs of our students providing them with more effective learning experiences. This movement is leading to a renovation in the way courses are taught and programs support their students. Instructional and faculty development provides the core foundation to institutional programming in providing a framework for implementing blended and online learning pedagogy in the classroom. This student-centered, active learning pedagogy has the potential to alter the traditional classroom by enhancing course effectiveness through increased interactivity leading to superior student outcomes.
A recent study reported that "Respondents ... anticipated that the number of students taking online courses will grow by 22.8% and that those taking blended courses will grow even more over the next 2 years" (Picciano, Seamen, Shea, & Swan, 2012, p. 128). As the demand for blended learning opportunities increases, so does the need for development of instructors to teach and design blended courses and mechanisms to ensure the quality of courses and programs. The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM) has been providing instructional development and blended learning opportunities to students for over a decade. Since 2001, UWM has developed 8 blended degree programs. In the fall of 2012, UWM offered approximately 100 blended courses and enrolled 7,655 students (26%) in at least one blended course. UWM continues to see growth, as the nation does, and continues to provide opportunities for students to best meet their needs.
The workshop will provide examples and strategies for the design of the experiential online education. Participants will explore what makes a great education experience and define the attributes that contribute to a great online learning experience.
Course Design for Blended Learning
Dr. Rebecca Frost Davis, Program Officer for the Humanities, National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE)
Blended learning offers many opportunities for liberal arts colleges to enhance the curriculum, but how can faculty maintain the essential values of liberal education in an educational context combining online and face-to-face interaction? This seminar will examine successful methods and processes for blended learning course design. Examples will include designing online courses from liberal arts values, flipping the classroom, and academic collaboration between campuses. Interactive exercises for course design will help participants leave with a process and next steps for developing blended learning experiences in their own courses.
This presentation forms part of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)-project. This projects concerns a cooperation between ITS, ITB (both Indonesia) and TU Delft focusing on joint curriculum development
This project includes the use of open, online and blended education to support this process.
The presentation sketches the issues – for further discussions- to be taken into consideration when it comes to blended education (policy development, approach /priorities and planning) .
Bringing together internal and external students on Blackboard - Brett Fyfiel...Blackboard APAC
With the recent redevelopment of postgraduate courses in project management for the School of Civil Engineering and the Built Environment, new challenges were faced to make units more inclusive of a variety of enrolment preferences. The short term ambitions for the courses included developing units that are delivered both facetoface, and entirely online and have the potential to be scaled to meet the growing demand for continuing professional education. To ensure that students could join either facetoface or online offerings of the same units, the implementation team brought internal and external cohorts together on the same unit sites on Blackboard. The units are currently under evaluation but some early learnings may provide insight into new approaches to blended learning, and how these approaches have facilitated new ways of teaching and learning through tentative academic culture change.
Delivered at Innovate and Educate: Teaching and Learning Conference by Blackboard. 24 -27 August 2015 in Adelaide, Australia.
Teaching Online 101 - 2014 Brightspace Ignite WisconsinD2L Barry
Presentation titled "Teaching Online 101, Online Faculty Professional Development" by Kevin Forgard - Instruc(onal Design Consultant at UW Colleges Online. Nov. 14, 2014 at the Brightspace Ignite regional forum in Waukesha, Wisconsin
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
4. Step 1: What is blended?
What is blended?
How is it different from face-to-face? Online?
others?
What are the similarities and differences with
flipped?
NMSU14.wikispaces.com
6. A scholarly definition
At the 2005 Sloan-C Workshop on Blended Learning, the
following was adopted by the participants and will serve
as the accepted definition of blended learning for this
paper:
1. Courses that integrate online with traditional face-to-
face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable
manner; and
2. Where a portion (institutionally defined) of face-to-
face time is replaced by online activity [2]. (Picciano,
2006, p. 97).
10. Web-enhanced
0 - 20%
Blended
21 - 99%
Online
100%
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
An institutional definition
13. Step 2: How is it different?
What considerations do you have when
transforming your course to blended?
Specifically, What elements of your course
design and your delivery will potentially
change?
NMSU14.wikispaces.com
18. • Ten questions
• Designing learning modules
• Online vs. F2F - Integration
• Decision rubric for
content choices
• Learning objects
Content
• Progressive/summative
• Before, during, and after
• Self evaluation
• Peer evaluation
• Student evaluation
Course Evaluation
• Rubrics
• CATs
• Templates
• Traditional formats
Assessment
• Synchronous/asynchronous
• Establishing voice
• Discussion forums
• Small groups
Interactivity
• Managing expectations
• Time management
• Technology support
Helping Your Students
• Staying organized
• Managing workload
• Avoiding course and a half
Course Management
Course Redesign
Transitioning to
blended
teaching
Considerations
19. The 10 questions
Review the 10 questions, NMSU14.wikispaces.com
Consider which question you find most
important, intriguing, problematic, or surprising?
Pair with a partner, share which question you
identified and your response in considering the
question in your own course design.
Share with rest of us one highlight from your
discussion
21. Five issues in “perfecting”
• “Course and a half” syndrome
• Re-examining course goals and objectives
• Building presence, enhancing connectivity,
and building community
• Community building
• Managing your time and staying organized
22. Step 3: How to make it
What considerations do you have when
transforming your course to blended?
Specifically, What elements of your course
design and your delivery will potentially
change?
24. Redesigning your course using
the 10 questions
Tanya Joosten
Learning Technology Center
Department of Communication
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
25. Course details
• Original course design
– Organizational Communication, COM MUN310
– Original Design: Night classes, 3 hours app.
• Course Transformation
– Goal: To more effectively use valuable f2f time
– Means: Focus on task requirements and medium selection
– Experience teaching fully online and fully f2f
– New Design: Reduced class time, 45% online, 55% F2F
26. Sample Module Wednesday Sunday
Week 1 F2F Class
-Agenda posted
-Reading available online
-Individual project task due
Week 2 Online Class
-Discussion
post due
-Discussion responses due
Week 3 -Complete Weekly Quiz prior to
class
F2F Class
-Targeted discussion from quiz
results and discussion forum
-Group project task due
27. What goes online?
• Content Delivery
– Acquire basic content (lecture and reading)
– Assess understanding of basic content (discussion forums, rubrics, and
quizzes)
35. Sample online agenda
• Thursday, Agenda Posted
• Tuesday, Reading and Lecture
• Tuesday, Initial Discussion Post
• Wednesday, Response Post
• Thursday, Quiz (prior to class)
36. What goes face-to-face?
• Decreases students’ equivocality and uncertainty
• Allow for instant feedback for understanding
• Provide opportunity for higher order learning
• Presentations of group work done outside of class
37. What goes online?
• Building Learning Community
– Online discussion questions
– Group experiential learning activities (virtual labs)
38. What goes online?
• Summative Assessment
– Assess achievement of learning objectives for course (midterm and
final exams)
39. What goes online?
Content Delivery
Acquire basic content (lecture and reading)
Assess understanding of basic content (discussion forums,
rubrics, and quizzes)
Building Learning Community
Online discussion questions
Group activities
Summative Assessment
Assess achievement of learning objectives for course
40. Sample Module Wednesday Sunday
Week 1 F2F Class
-Agenda posted
-Reading available online
-Individual project task
due
Week 2 Online Class
-Discussion
post due
-Discussion responses due
Week 3 -Complete Weekly Quiz prior to
class
F2F Class
-Targeted discussion from quiz
results and discussion forum
-Group project task due
41. What goes face-to-face?
Decreases students’ equivocality and
uncertainty
Allow for instant feedback for understanding
Provide opportunity for higher order learning
Presentations of group work done outside of
class
44. Keys to a successful
transformation
• TIP 1: Avoid course and a half
• TIP 2: Promote online learning community
• Tip 3: Plan for integration.
• Tip 4: Don’t feel that you have to follow the traditional f2f scheduling
format.
• Tip 5: Assess both mediums, online and f2f.
• Tip 6: Manage student expectations
50. What lecture format did you
prefer? Why?
I preferred the standard ppt w/ notes because
that was the easiest for me to access from my
home computer and was the easiest to print
out.
I chose ppt form as don't need to be online all
the time. And I can study the slides whenever i
want to. It also has the option of outlines, which
helps in studying.
51. More comments
I can go at my own pace and re-read things I need
to, otherwise skim things I don't need certain depth
on.
so you had to listen to the powerpoints and
sometimes people just didn’t have the time, but
could read them thoroughly and reference them
better…we are online classes because we don’t
have the time or access to sit through a lecture on a
computer. But we could all work reading a really
good powerpoint through into our schedules.
56. Tips on developing activities
Focus on Building Learning Community
integrating collaborative activities and asynchronous
discussion forums
Backward Design
What should students know, understand, and be able to
do?
What will I accept as evidence of student understanding
and proficiency?
What activities will allow students to achieve this?
57.
58.
59. Backward Design
•Introduced by Wiggins and McTighe in
Understanding by Design (2005)
•Instructors begin with learning goals and
outcomes rather than activities
•Effective in online and blended courses
because students need more structure
60. Key Questions in Backward Design
• What do you want your students to do
(not just know)?
• What evidence will you accept that they
have accomplished that?
• What learning activities will produce
this evidence or documentation?
61. Why Use Backward Design?
• Practice-oriented instead of abstract
theory
• Learning objectives linked to verifiable
outcomes
• Fosters an online peer learning community
62. What’s in a Learning Module?
• A chunk of content
• A learning activity
• A mode of assessing student work
63. Planning using backwards design
Identify Desired Results (DO):
Be able to analyze and critique decision making processes
Acceptable Evidence:
Accurate written application of theory from the content given
a decision making situation in determining what was effective
and what was ineffective in the decision making process.
Learning Experience:
Students view video clips from Apollo 13
Students post analysis that integrates concepts from reading
and lecture
Institutions need to find appropriate definitions of blended (and online) that facilitate the nature of the organization culture in order to facilitate acceptance of this innovative pedagogical model, assure consistent data collection and communicate effective with faculty/students. Additionally, traditional definitions of blended need to be re-visited since the emergence of new pedagogies and emerging technologies create paradigm shifts.
Allen, Seamen, and Garrett (2007) define blended courses and programs as having between 30 percent and 79 percent of the course content delivered online.
Institutions need to find appropriate definitions of blended (and online) that facilitate the nature of the organization culture in order to facilitate acceptance of this innovative pedagogical model, assure consistent data collection and communicate effective with faculty/students. Additionally, traditional definitions of blended need to be re-visited since the emergence of new pedagogies and emerging technologies create paradigm shifts.
Active learning, student-center
Engaged learning
Research driven effective practices
NICOLE
For each delivery mode, there are pedagogical considerations to be made with regard to content delivery, interactivity, and assessment.
The UWMLTC faculty development program and pedagogical consultations with our team guide instructors in making decisions about these considerations.
Content
Yes - text+images, current, video clips (under 10 minutes)
Avoid video lectures, don’t spend to much time on audio lectures either
Interactivity
Create opportunities for participation, community, collaboration, and connectedness through online class discussions, group discusionss, team projects, team synchronous meetings
Assessment
Frequent low-stakes feedback, opportunity to fail, make corrections to learning
Avoid catastrophic assessment
Provide audio feedback, if appropriate
Provide varied forms of assessments from cognitive, behaviors, affective domains
Text plus images (Mean study)
Rich, current (Web clips, videos, see Ginkgotree study)
Social presence, group activities, thought-provoking discussion boards, interactive
Introductions and Icebreakers
Support and Sharing Scholarship
Discussions
Group Projects
Feedback
Frequent and low stakes
Avoid Catastrophic Assessment
Valid assessments
http://assessment.uconn.edu/primer/taxonomies1.html
Tie into what talk about with Content, Interactivity, and Assessment. Are faculty development program teaches faculty to design and delivery courses based on our definition of what a good blended or online course is around Content, Interactivity, and Assessment. In addition to that, we help them with course administration issues by addressing how they can support their students, manage their time and course, evaluating their course.
This diagram reviews on a single screen all of the program features that have been described above. It is scarcely comprehensive, however, as we offer the program we discover changes and additions that are required. An example that provides case in point is the development of alternative modes of blended learning that focus on large enrollment courses. This has been a recent area of examination for which we have now produced a special module.
Institutions need to find appropriate definitions of blended (and online) that facilitate the nature of the organization culture in order to facilitate acceptance of this innovative pedagogical model, assure consistent data collection and communicate effective with faculty/students. Additionally, traditional definitions of blended need to be re-visited since the emergence of new pedagogies and emerging technologies create paradigm shifts.
To give you an idea of the course, my course is an upper level communication course that is taken primarily by communication majors, but it also fulfills a requirement for other programs, such as the organizational administration major in our College Connection program. The majority of my students are graduating seniors with a few juniors in the course as well.
Now, when implementing any educational technology or model of teaching, I usually look to meet a need in the course. The problem with my f2f course was that it was a night course. My students would come to class unprepared. They hadn’t read the chapter or the articles. Sometimes they didn’t know what the topic was because they just hadn’t had time to get to the course reading or any of the preliminary assignment. Also, they were exhausted. Many of them had worked a long day, hadn’t had dinner, and wanted to go home to see their family. I needed to look for a way to make the f2f time more meaning and have my students come to the f2f prepared.
So, my goal in transforming my class using a blended model was to better prepare my students for the f2f portion of the course by using online activities prior to the class and to better use their valuable f2f time for higher order learning, so that they could get home to their family and dinner and we could reach higher levels of learning rather than spending f2f time on didactic information. Sometimes when my students would come to class we would have to crack open the book and just go over the basic information in the chapter and I didn’t want to spend the f2f time doing that.
Question 7 discusses the division of time between the face-to-face portion and the online portion of your course. I reduced our class time from 6-9:30, which is what it normally was, to 6-8 each week, so about 45% of the course was online. Now, this was a natural division that came based on my course design and deciding what could be accomplished online. So, this wasn’t a predetermined percentage. It was a natural division based on the course redesign.
The first thing I thought about when designing my course using the blended or hybrid model was what was I going to do accomplish online and what was I going to accomplish f2f, which is the 2nd of the 10 questions.
So, to recap, this is what a typical week looked like for my students. They received the agenda for the following week when they left class. They had the weekend to complete the reading and listen to the lecture with the initial discussion post being due on Tuesday at the latest. Then, they had to respond to at least on classmate no later than Wednesday, and they had to take a quiz prior to coming to class on Thursday.
As I thought about my learning objectives, which would be better achieved online, and which would be best achieved face-to-face, I wanted my students to have a basic knowledge of the concepts and theories. I wanted them to start to be able to apply the theories in a given context and to critical analyze the theories and the phenomena.
My students online work consisted of completing the assigned reading from the text, listening to or reading a lecture module, participating in a discussion that facilitates application of the course content, and completing a quiz on the course content before coming to the f2f session.
Now, I will explain each of those learning activities in a bit more detail.
In order for my students to have a basic knowledge of the concepts and theories, they needed to read and understand the chapter and the course content to some extent. Therefore, I assigned my students to complete their reading independently, which is the normal standard for most of us.
However, I also assigned online lectures for the students to read or listen to. This lecture material was supplemental to the reading. I decided to no longer be the sage on the stage. I knew from teaching fully online that my students did not need to be f2f in order to understand my lecture material. It would be a better use of time if they could receive this didactic information prior to coming to class.
Now, in determining to put the reading and lectures online, I had to focus on the task the students were completing and the learning objectives I wanted them to achieve. The content (in the reading and the lectures) was simple to understand for the most part, so I felt delivering it in a text-based form was acceptable. There were times when I felt the content was complex or ambiguous to students that I delivered it in the f2f or I used rich media, such as video clips, in order to convey the information.
This is what my students see when they come to a unit. They have an agenda that tell them what reading they are supposed to complete and what the lecture topic is. As you can see here, my students are given 3 options for receiving the lecture material. They can download the PowerPoint file to their desktop and print the notes, they can view the PowerPoint and notes text online in their browser, or they can listen to the lecture and view the PowerPoint slides using a product called Breeze Presenter or Adobe Present. Most of my students prefer to simply print the notes and read them or they print the notes and highlight them as they listen to the lecture. But, they were given the lecture in alternative formats to whatever met their learning style.
This is a sample text lecture. This was created right in PowerPoint. It is pretty low tech, which means it was easy to create and it is easy to support. I simply typed my lecture text in the notes box in PowerPoint and covered it to html. Students have little problems viewing these since .
This is a sample of what the audio lecture look like. This again was created right in PowerPoint. I recorded voice narrations right in PowerPoint. I then used a product called Adobe Present or Breeze Presenter to create this flash-based interface. This is slightly more advanced than the text only, but it was still pretty easy for me to do. It does take some time to record the audio and to just get used to talking to a computer. But, because it runs in the browser, Internet Explorer, it is pretty easy for the students to listen to as well. They do not need any additional software. However, if they ever run into problems with the audio, their speakers, or bandwithd, they can always read the text version.
Text plus images (Mean study)
Rich, current (Web clips, videos, see Ginkgotree study)
So, I talked about the first aspect of my course that was delivered in the online portion, which was the reading and lecture material, the basic content that they were going to acquire. Now, in addition to just having them read and listen to the lectures, I wanted to make sure that they completed those things, so I wanted to assess their understanding of the basic content in the online portion of the class before they came to the f2f.
Many times in my f2f, I had a hard time gauging what my students did and did *not* understand.
As question 3 outlines, 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?
After having them read and listen to the lecture, I use online discussion forums and quizzes to assess what information students did not understand and what was unclear to them.
The discussion activities are for students to demonstrate what they have learned from the reading and apply the knowledge to given contexts. Also, students can use the discussion areas to get clarification from classmates or myself on misinterpretations or questions they have as well prior to taking the quiz. It is also an area where students can demonstrate their skills as a critical analyzer - break down the ideas, analyze the parts, and argue the scholar.
In addition to the discussions, the quizzes are used to test students’ knowledge of reading and lecture, basic concepts and principles. The quizzes let me know that students completed reviewing the reading and lecture material and have a basic understanding of course concepts and ideas. I also used the quizzes to target weaknesses in their learning.
I then use the information in the discussion forums and quizzes to guide our discussion in the f2f.
Discussions help identify the concepts that students are struggling in their application in certain contexts.
Here is an excerpt from a discussion that took place online where the students discuss not understanding systematic soldiering, a theoretical concept.
Here is an example of a quiz and an example of the quiz statistics.
The quiz allows you to target the concepts that students did not understand from the reading and lecture.
So, to recap, this is what a typical week looked like for my students. They received the agenda for the following week when they left class. They had the weekend to complete the reading and listen to the lecture with the initial discussion post being due on Tuesday at the latest. Then, they had to respond to at least on classmate no later than Wednesday, and they had to take a quiz prior to coming to class on Thursday.
Question number 5 discusses: 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?
Students come to class already having read chapters and/or articles; discussed these readings and lecture; and, taken a quiz on the material, so they are very familiar with the material, so the face-to-face sessions are more interactive being that everyone has some background knowledge.
Areas that are unclear are evident to the students and myself from the discussions and quizzes.
So, when examining what should go f2f, we want to integrate activities that require a rich communication medium. We want to use the f2f time for information that needs all cues available (verbal, nonverbal) to facilitate the meaning.
Communicating face-to-face allows us to decrease students’ equivocality and uncertainty about course content. For example, we can clear up any misconceptions of reading and/or lecture material, which we identified in the online discussions or quizzes. As we saw in the previous post, systematic soldiering was difficult for students to understand. We can develop structured discussions on these misconceptions and/or other complex constructs present in the reading and lecture.
Also, face-to-face communication allows for instant feedback for understanding. For example, when you introduce of new assignment or a change in class requirements, students may have questions that require immediate feedback for clarity.
By students already coming to class with an thorough knowledge of content, it provides the opportunity for higher order learning. Student can discuss the content in more depth. Case studies, video analysis, simulations, role-playing in-class provides students with an opportunity to apply what they have learned in real-life situations. This capacity for higher order learning increased greatly in a blended course.
Finally, f2f sessions can also be used as a forum for groups to present their work that they completed outside of class and online.
Beyond the weekly grind, so to speak, there are some other things that are taking place online. Online discussions are more important to the course than simply an area where students can discuss the course content.
Several years ago, I stumbled on the importance of building learning community and peer networks in my classes. Some students felt disconnected from their peers and their instructor in distance education classes, which lead to lower satisfaction and sometimes led to students drop the course. Other students who are first generation college students or minority students do not have these peer networks when entering college, so studies report that these students are likely to do poorly when they are unable to develop peer networks or learning community.
In order to make sure that my students were connected to each and myself being that part of the course is online and to make sure our students have the relationships needed to succeed, I focused on building mechanisms in my course that would develop learning community. The mechanisms I used were online asynchronous discussion forums and group activities.
Many times students in the f2f class, may chose to remain anonymous and not ask questions because they don’t want to look “stupid;” however, by having online discussions students have a sense of anonymity and can ask questions more openly. Also, the online discussions will facilitate relationships. Students tend to find peers with whom they can have a scholarly debate and are like minded. Students tend to get to know each other better in the online discussions than they may in the f2f class because of the lack of social cues.
Group activities work in similar ways. Students are working in groups throughout the semester. Therefore, if they have a procedural or content question that they do not feel comfortable asking me, the instructor, they can ask one of their peers that they have build this network with through their group activities.
In addition to group activities building online community, they provide students with an opportunity for experiential learning through mediated communication technologies. Many students will take positions where they will participate in team work and have to effectively collaborate through e-mail, discussions forums, and other technologies. Having them participate in group work online will better prepare them for their work life. Also, by putting group work online, the group process becomes apparent in the discussion posts. You can track their progress, offer timely advice and information, and identify social loafers. Previously, when you taught f2f, you couldn’t track a group’s progress as closely. It was sort of the black box phenomena. You gave them the instructions and then the process was invisible to you. You hoped they developed a product that was acceptable and met your expectations.
Finally, I moved my midterm and final exams online. The course management system randomly pulls exam items for each exam generated. It also grades the exams and provides feedback. This greatly helps me manage my workload, and again, saves us time in the f2f class.
The first thing I thought about when designing my course using the blended or hybrid model was what was I going to do accomplish online and what was I going to accomplish f2f. The problem with my f2f course was that it was a night course. My students would come to class unprepared. They hadn’t read the chapters or articles. They usually didn’t even know what the topic was. Also, they were exhausted. Many of them had worked a long day, hadn’t had dinner, and wanted to go home to see their family. By transforming my class using a blended model I was able to prepare my students for the f2f portion of the course by using online activities prior to class, and I was able to better use their f2f time, so that they could get home to their family and dinner.
Beyond delivery basic content online, I use online discussion forums and quizzes to assess what information students did not understand.
I also use online discussion, not only to assess what students understood from the reading and lecture, but I use them to build online learning community amongst students.
So, to recap, this is what a typical week looked like for my students. They received the agenda for the following week when they left class. They had the weekend to complete the reading and listen to the lecture with the initial discussion post being due on Tuesday at the latest. Then, they had to respond to at least on classmate no later than Wednesday, and they had to take a quiz prior to coming to class on Thursday.
Question number 5 discusses: 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?
Students come to class already having read chapters and/or articles; discussed these readings and lecture; and, taken a quiz on the material, so they are very familiar with the material, so the face-to-face sessions are more interactive being that everyone has some background knowledge.
Areas that are unclear are evident to the students and myself from the discussions and quizzes.
So, when examining what should go f2f, we want to integrate activities that require a rich communication medium. We want to use the f2f time for information that needs all cues available (verbal, nonverbal) to facilitate the meaning.
Communicating face-to-face allows us to decrease students’ equivocality and uncertainty about course content. For example, we can clear up any misconceptions of reading and/or lecture material, which we identified in the online discussions or quizzes. As we saw in the previous post, systematic soldiering was difficult for students to understand. We can develop structured discussions on these misconceptions and/or other complex constructs present in the reading and lecture.
Also, face-to-face communication allows for instant feedback for understanding. For example, when you introduce of new assignment or a change in class requirements, students may have questions that require immediate feedback for clarity.
By students already coming to class with an thorough knowledge of content, it provides the opportunity for higher order learning. Student can discuss the content in more depth. Case studies, video analysis, simulations, role-playing in-class provides students with an opportunity to apply what they have learned in real-life situations. This capacity for higher order learning increased greatly in a blended course.
Finally, f2f sessions can also be used as a forum for groups to present their work that they completed outside of class and online.
Here is an example of a quiz and an example of the quiz statistics.
The quiz allows you to target the concepts that students did not understand from the reading and lecture.
I have a few tips to help you with your course redesign based on my own challenges that I encountered.
TIP 1: Avoid course and a half
Use Backward Design from McTeague and Wiggins from the beginning of your planning rather than as an afterthought to make sure yor are connecting each learning activity to a learning objective. If an activity overlaps another or does not link to a learning objective, get rid of it.
The first time I taught the blended course, I realized that I had overloaded it with activities. My students were completing a “course and a half.” Many faculty whom we interviewed for our book chapter reported they had a similar experience even though we told them in the faculty development workshop this could happen in their redesign process.
Do not “pack on” activities to make your course more rigorous. Do not keep your current f2f course and simply “add on” some online activities. Are your learning objectives being met based on the activities you are having them complete?
Referring to questions 1 and 10 will assist you in rethinking your learning objectives and planning to avoid course and a half.
1.) What do you want students to know when they have finished taking your blended course?
10.) 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?
TIP 2: Promote online learning community
I cannot mention this enough. In developing your learning activities, consider ways that you can focus on creating opportunities for interaction and collaboration amongst the students and implement the use of asynchronous discussion for completion of the activity. Groups and discussion forums are two primary ways to provide a means for students to build these peer networks. Also, consider how your learning activities can be engaging for students.
The research indicates that peer networks are directly linked to the success of first generation college students and minority college students. Also, students are more satisfied when they feel they are “a part” of something. For example, many students come into the college setting without having knowledge of the college experience or the” ins-and-outs” since their parents did not attend college. Giving them the opportunity to build these networks through class activities gives them linkages to important information and partners in learning that can assist them in succeeding.
Students in the online medium can become disengaged if all they are doing is reading and taking exams. The blended model lends itself to active learning online. The online medium offers new opportunities to engage them by using interactive content, providing active learning, integrating rich media, and using frequent, low stakes assessment.
Have students interact with the content by having them pull information from web sites or other online resources into their online discussions (something you can’t have them do in the f2f). There are also digital activities that they can complete online like crossword puzzles, flash cards, and other digital games (e.g., Study Mate, Hot Potato) that allows them to learn basic concepts in an engaging manner. Video clips from YouTube or your own video collection can provide them with a better understanding of course concepts and can be loaded into the course management system for easy access. Since you are meeting f2f less, providing students engaging ways to learn online increases their learning and their satisfaction.
Questions 3 and 4 of the 10 questions will assist you in getting thinking about your activities. Remember, focus on building online learning community and engaging activities.
3.) 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?
4.) 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?
Tip 3: Plan for integration.
How will the online tie into the f2f and vice versa? There was a disconnect the first time I taught the course. Integration was something that I thought would come naturally. If you don’t integrate the two mediums, students feel that one is less important than the other. For instance, I had planned that the online prepared my students by giving them a foundational knowledge of the content, so we could perform higher order learning in the f2f. The content area of the online and the f2f were the same. However, I did not plan any specific integration activities to tie the two together. My students felt that the online portion was “busy” work and could not understand how it tied into what we were doing in the f2f.
The next semester, I brought online quiz results into the f2f and use them to structure our f2f discussion. It allowed me to provide “just in time” teaching and target their weakness in learning. I also pulled discussion posts that I thought indicated there was a weakness in learning that we needed to address or that highlighted key points. By bringing online discussion posts and online quiz results into the f2f class, the students felt that both environments were connected and equally important.
Question 5 of the 10 questions specifically addresses integration
5.) 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?
Tip 4: Don’t feel that you have to follow the traditional f2f scheduling format.
You don’t have to still meet every class period for a reduced time or even meet every week. Where do the content and activities lend themselves to meet f2f? In my traditional, f2f course, we met one night a week for several hours. The first time I taught my blended course, I thought that I should still meet every class period, but just for a reduced time period. I realized that it didn’t provide the flexibility students needed because they still had to spend the same amount of time and cost driving and parking.
The next semester, we only met on half of the days we were scheduled to. The students and myself were much happier with the schedule. Also, the time in between the f2f meetings allowed more time to complete work online. It seemed more relaxed and less stressful. It helped me better manage my workload and stay organized and my students felt the same.
In another course, we didn’t meet for several weeks in the beginning while we worked on learning several foundational theories online, then we picked back up with the f2f meetings for the practical and experiential portion of the course.
Question 7 gets one thinking about how this will look for his or her hybrid or blended course.
Question 7 states, 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?
Tip 5: Assess both mediums, online and f2f.
How are you assessing the f2f work? Is it more than attendance?
The first time I taught the course, I implemented new low stakes grading for the active learning that was taking place online and had little assessment surrounding what was taking place in the f2f. My online assessment plan was very detailed focusing on online discussions, quizzes, group projects, exams, but the f2f portion was lacking greatly giving students the idea that the f2f was less important. Build f2f learning activities into your assessment plan (e.g., CATs, Case Studies, Simulations, etc).
Question 8 of the 10 questions addresses this issue.
8.) 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?
Tip 6: Manage student expectations
The first time I taught the course, student support was an afterthought. I quickly realized that unless I want to answer the same question 25 times over e-mail, I better identify the areas where my students need support. Remember, blended learning may be as new for your students as it is for you. They will have anxiety and uncertainty about the new mode of delivery of this course. Take some steps to reduce those feelings.
Specifically, I focused on managing student expectations in regards to blended learning: What is blended learning? Why is blended learning beneficial? What are your responsibilities as an blended student? Also, I wanted to find ways to help students become familiar with the course and the technology. I provided them with help sheets, a scavenger hunt, and contact info for tech support. By providing these resources, I was better able to manage my time since I spent less time responding to e-mail.
Questions 6 and 9 address supporting students.
6.) 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.
9.)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.
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I hope you find these tips useful and understand why the 10 questions are so important to a successful course transformation into the blended mode.
TIP 1: Avoid course and a half
TIP 2: Promote online learning community
Tip 3: Plan for integration
Tip 4: Don’t feel that you have to follow the traditional f2f scheduling format
Tip 5: Assess both mediums, online and f2f
Tip 6: Manage student expectations
Tell communication story regarding “all cues available”
Focus on the task – simple content, text only is fine -- more complex content, may need rich digital media (audio, video)
Technology – software/hardware – can your home PC do video editing, nope – LTC resources
Skills – do I know Microsoft Producer – can I learn it – how long will it take to learn it – who will teach me
My journey
1.) started of with PowerPoints with text notes – like a transcript
2.) partially converted PowerPoints to audio PowerPoints – now had software and skill
3.) finished converting PowerPoints to audio PowerPoints – had more time
4.) converted to podcast lectures – automatic delivery (easier for some students)
This is what my students see when they come to a unit. They have an agenda that tell them what reading they are supposed to complete and what the lecture topic is. As you can see here, my students are given 3 options for receiving the lecture material. They can download the PowerPoint file to their desktop and print the notes, they can view the PowerPoint and notes text online in their browser, or they can listen to the lecture and view the PowerPoint slides using a product called Breeze Presenter or Adobe Present. Most of my students prefer to simply print the notes and read them or they print the notes and highlight them as they listen to the lecture. But, they were given the lecture in alternative formats to whatever met their learning style.
This is a sample text lecture. This was created right in PowerPoint. It is pretty low tech, which means it was easy to create and it is easy to support. I simply typed my lecture text in the notes box in PowerPoint and covered it to html. Students have little problems viewing these since .
How do I keep them engaged and develop social presence?
This is a sample of what the audio lecture look like. This again was created right in PowerPoint. I recorded voice narrations right in PowerPoint. I then used a product called Adobe Present or Breeze Presenter to create this flash-based interface. This is slightly more advanced than the text only, but it was still pretty easy for me to do. It does take some time to record the audio and to just get used to talking to a computer. But, because it runs in the browser, Internet Explorer, it is pretty easy for the students to listen to as well. They do not need any additional software. However, if they ever run into problems with the audio, their speakers, or bandwithd, they can always read the text version.
This is a sample of what the audio lecture look like. This again was created right in PowerPoint. I recorded voice narrations right in PowerPoint. I then used a product called Adobe Present or Breeze Presenter to create this flash-based interface. This is slightly more advanced than the text only, but it was still pretty easy for me to do. It does take some time to record the audio and to just get used to talking to a computer. But, because it runs in the browser, Internet Explorer, it is pretty easy for the students to listen to as well. They do not need any additional software. However, if they ever run into problems with the audio, their speakers, or bandwithd, they can always read the text version.
Was difficult at first to rethink the entire course to determine what would be effective online. Had weekly discussions and lectures as I did in the f2f, but didn’t feel the “connection.” Without the connection, I felt as if I was cheating my students and myself out of a quality online experience. I realized that I needed to redesign my learning activities and assessment plan to have that “connection” or online learning community.
Found backward design model (McTeague and Wiggins) very useful in doing that.
My journey:
I re-examined my learning objectives – and focused on the online medium
I identified what would be considered good documentation or evidence in an online environment that these objectives were achieved
Then, I planned my learning activities – focusing on collaborative activities that utilized the asynchronous discussion forums (so I could “see” the progress when students fell off track, had misconceptions, and identify weakness in their learning – could not do this in f2f so well) -- resulting in peer networks to build an online learning community and increase students opportunity for success in this new medium