In the pre-planning section I tried to stress that the face to face program needed to be modified for a distance learning situation. The enhancement section noted how visuals, interactivity, and activities enhance the experience for distance learners. For communication I focused on online etiquette over communication tools since communicating online is different than face to face. The role of the facilitator changes in a blended situation since the facilitator needs to focus on building the learning community and interactions without being physically present.
The full document is below.
A Guide to Convert a
Face to Face Learning Program to a Blended Learning Format
I. Introduction-What is blended learning?
Blended
learning, or hybrid learning, refers to learning that mixes face to face
learning with learning that takes place outside of normal constraints of time
and place using technology. A course is
considered blended when 30%-79% of the content is delivered online (Simonson,
Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).
There are many important things to consider before converting a face to
face learning program to a blended learning format. A common mistake is to “shovel” the content
from your face to face learning program into an online format. Not only will this tactic decrease the
likelihood of success for your learners, but it also fails to take advantage of
features of blended learning that could help improve the chances of success for
your learners (Simonson, et al. 2012).
This guide will help you prepare a blended learning course and provide you
with some general guidelines to consider while making the transition.
II. Pre-Planning Strategies to Consider
Throughout
this guide an important consideration to keep in mind is that blended learning
requires the same thoughtful approach to instruction that face to face learning
requires. You should use the following
checklist to avoid trial and error mistakes during the pre-planning process of
converting to a blended format.
ü What are the objectives and outcomes from
your face to face program? Keep
these in mind because you are not changing your outcomes, just how you deliver
the instruction.
ü What content does the program currently use
and how can it be transferred to a blended course? All of your content does not need to go
online since you are working in a blended format, but deciding which portions
can be accessed online is a consideration.
ü How will the online portion of the class be
managed? You will need to have
access and knowledge of how to use a CMS (course management system) in order to
organize and manage the online content.
ü How will your audience, the learners,
connect to the online portions of the course? The nature of your program will influence this
greatly. For example, if this is part of
professional development time and resources will need to be provided.
ü How will you know your learners have
accomplished the objectives or outcomes of your program? It is possible your current method of
assessing success will need to be modified or changed.
ü What is the plan when technical problems
occur? Identify key people to
contact and have alternate plans ready to keep the program on track.
III. Enhancements
This section
is designed to help you make decisions regarding your current face to face
program and revise it to incorporate strategies that are more effective in a
distance learning environment. Here are
three areas to consider-interactivity, visuals, and activities. Look at your current face to face program and
decide what needs to be modified or revised in order to incorporate these
concepts.
Interactivity
What can be done
to make sure the learner is connected to the learning process? A problem with blended learning situations is
that the learner can feel isolated and disconnected form the learning community
during the distance portions of the class.
Increasing the level of interaction often leads to a higher level of
student satisfaction (Simonson, et al. 2012).
There are a number of technology tools such as discussion forums, blogs
and wikis that can be used to increase the level of interaction between
distance learners. Communication is an
important part of interactivity and this is discussed in more depth in section
three.
Activities
Most people learn
best by doing something. Decide what
activities from your face to face program will be transferred to the online portion
of the class. Many of the technology
tools that increase interaction can be used to create something. For example, if your face to face program had
the participants make a poster showing their learning, that activity can be
translated to creating a wiki.
Visuals
Undoubtedly your
face to face program incorporated visuals of some kind. While transferring your program to a blended
format you need to not only consider if and how you will transfer those visuals
to the online portion, but what else can be added. Long sections of text can become tiresome to
the learner and you can cue learners about essential information by adding a
simple visual. An example of this is
above where this section was started with a simple diagram noting three areas
of enhancement for distance learning.
Visuals can also
refer to video or animations. If there
was video in your original face to face program it is possible that it can
still be utilized in a blended program.
There is also the opportunity to take key information from lectures and
record it so your learners can access it anytime as well. Be careful to not shovel your recorded
lectures into the blended course format without considering length and if it is
essential to the objectives.
III. Communication
Without
communication there is no interaction between you and your learning
community. Because a substantial portion
of the course will take place outside of the classroom communication is an
important. There is a wide variety of
communication tools that you can choose from and that you will be working
with. Instead of discussing the types of
communication tools available, it might be more effective to discuss how to
communicate online since it is essential for learners to understand how to
communicate effectively in an online environment (Simonson, et al. 2012).
Before
starting the online portion of your blended course take the time to inform your
learners of the expectations and differences involved with communicating
online. Some of your learners may have
experience working online, but others may be more familiar with informal online
etiquette or have no experience at all.
A key thing to remember is that distance learning situations are devoid
of the cues we come to recognize from face to face interactions. Care needs to be taken to make sure that
ideas are not only communicated properly, but that communication is also done
in a respectful way.
The
following link, http://www.bucks.edu/old_docs/online/dlresources/etiquette.htm
provides an online quiz with some general guidelines for good online
etiquette. You can share this with your
learners or adapt it to your course.
Either way communicating expectations at the start of your course is a
positive step towards building a successful learning community.
IV. Role of the facilitator
Facilitating
any learning experience does not simply mean being a fountain of content
knowledge. You will find that in a
blended learning situation your role as a facilitator will expand or change to
include areas not present in the face to face learning environment. In a blended learning situation a facilitator
will,
·
Encourage a high level of interactivity.
·
Provide clear instructions and guidelines for
activities and assignments.
·
Respond to questions in a timely matter.
·
Encourage participation by responding to
students personally and incorporating thought provoking questions.
·
Choose topics of discussion that encourages
discussions.
·
Use rubrics to guide assessment.
·
Use grouping strategies to better organize and
respond to students.
·
Create a positive learning community by creating
guidelines and expectations.
The above list is
adapted from the article “Strategies for Enhancing Student Interactivity in an
Online Environment” (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2006).
Conclusion
At
this point you should be ready to approach converting your face to face program
to a blended learning program. Here are
some final tips to summarize the process.
·
Do not dump your face to face content into a
blended model and expect it to work.
·
Blended learning requires the same care and
planning that face to face learning requires.
·
Remember to create positive interactions for and
with your learning community.
·
Communication online is different than
communication face to face.
·
Your role as a facilitator will change and
expand in order to support a blended learning environment.
References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S.,
Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a
distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston, MA:
Pearson.
Durrington, V., Berryhill, A.,
& Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an
online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190–193. Retrieved from http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/433631/strategies_for_enhancing_student_interactivity_in_an_online_environment/
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