Blended by Design:Designing and Developing a Blended CourseJennifer Strickland, PhD, jennifer.strickland@mcmail.maricopa.edu

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Day 2Course redesign and engagement

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Objectives

Continue with the module design process

Describe instructional design techniques used to organize content

Identify course activities suited to the online or classroom environment

Review some classroom technologies

Explore strategies and techniques to infuse student-student and instructor-student interaction and engagement

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Why (re)design into blended?

Ensures your design facilitates your course Engage students in dynamic and vital communities Students take more responsibility for content and

learning Students learn through active participation and inquiry

Assessing the Role of Teaching Presence from the Learner Perspective Dr. Randy Garrison, Dr. Norm Vaughan. Available at Blended Learning and Course Redesign in Higher Education &http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI07159.pdf.

Mapping Your Course, Part II

Give us a quick overview of how your face to face course maps out

What do you think will “translate” most easily?

What do you think will be most difficult to “translate”?

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5 Principles of Successful Course Redesign

1. Redesign the whole course.2. Encourage active learning.3. Provide students with

individualized assistance.4. Build in ongoing assessment

and prompt feedback.5. Ensure sufficient time on task

and monitor student progress.http://thencat.org/PlanRes/R2R_PrinCR.htm

4 Basic Redesign Steps1. Identify course content for a

module2. Write learning objectives and

develop instructional modules3. Select course (re) design

strategies: determining which strategy is most appropriate for your course

4. Integrate course content activities in classroom and online environments: determining what is best suited in either the online or classroom environment

Why Objectives?

Clear statement of what students will be able to do when they are finished with an instructional component

Focuses on student performance

Provides structure: beginning, middle, and end

What are the core concepts your students must learn for each module? What do they need to

know? What do they need to

be able to do? What will they know as

a result of my instruction?

Support Objectives by

Integrating learning technologies Classroom

technologies Emerging technologies Online resources

Developing diverse assessment techniques

Infusing active learning, interaction, and peer engagement

Why Modules?

Easier to find course content Support consistency Allows students to focus on content rather than form Content becomes manageable Prevents information overload “7 +/-2 rule”

Source: Blending In, March 2007

Meeting Objectives

Source: Blending In, March 2007

Course Organization

Dates Topic Readings Section Unit Module

The Organization

Course content broken down into “chunks”

Course structure in a repetitive manner allowing for easy navigation

Content organized in conceptually related blocks

Consistent, logical, clear, common sense, apply past experience, let the content set the chunks

Source: Blending In, March 2007

Mapping Your CoursePart II

In your chunk or module What does the instructor do? What does the learner do? What can stay in the classroom? What can happen online? What is the relationship between the two? Apply Bloom’s levels

Building Community among Students

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What makes a successful community?

Individuals feel safe Get questions answered Have conversations Get resources/information Support Friendship Produce a product Individual and shared

identities16

Jane Livingston, 2006, Building Community in a Blended Course, Educause 17

Building Community

Start early

Make it relevant

Identify connections

Create opportunities for engagement

Encourage participation

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Collaboration Benefits

Passive to interactive

Increase retention of class materials

Develops critical thinking skills

Knowledge construction

Builds community

Team building

Interpersonal skills

Importance of emphasizing the relationship of interactive activities to “content”

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Power Law of Participation

Ross Mayfield: http://ross.typepad.com/blog/2006/04/power_law_of_pa.html 20

In Class: Student Collaborative or Interactive Activities

In class writing activities

5 minute discussion questions

Scripted scenarios for role playing

Think-Pair-Share

Note Check

Case Studies

Discussions

Group Projects

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Online: Student Collaborative or Interactive Activities

Case studies Discussions Forums: Panel or Symposium Experiential Learning Group Projects

Role-play Games & Simulations Demonstrations Online Presentations

http://www.ion.illinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructionalstrategies.asp

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Activity

Keeping your module in mind, develop a community-building activity for use online or in the classroom

Report out

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Break 24

Facilitating and Assessing Online Discussions

Please think about and answer the following questions.

How do you use classroom discussion in your current courses?

How do you assess students?

Written Communication in the Online Environment

Netiquette: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/cor

erules.html

Discussion boards must be graded with substantial points assigned

Ways to Use a Discussion Board

Prepare for upcoming in-class discussion (pre-assignment) Reading Review of literature

Follow-up to in-class discussion (continue discussion or post-assignment)

Extension of in-class discussion and assignments (exploratory, will not be covered in class)

Source: Teaching Online A Practical Guide by Ko and Rossen

Ways to Use a Discussion Board Continued

Question and answer forum (to create an FAQ page) Pose a problem and have students generate possible

solutions – discuss those solutions Students post homework or projects and get classmate

feedback Case study

Source: Teaching Online A Practical Guide by Ko and Rossen

Ways to Use a Discussion Board Continued

Students critique classmates’ work using provided evaluation guidelines

Find/evaluate web resources on lesson/topic and discuss results

Invite guest speakers/lecturers Debate about topic

Quick Tip!

Consider allowing students to self assign groups that will take charge of and moderate/track a particular week’s interaction Facilitate Summarize Record Track participation Lead discussion

Questioning Techniques

“Name and describe three social systems theories that apply to community development.”

“What theory of community development did you find yourself relating to most? Why? How would you apply that theory to our learning community?”

Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online

Teaching, Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt (pg. 121)

Moderating and Facilitating Online Discussion

Encourage participation Ensure that some students don’t dominate Keep discussion focused Bring out multiple perspectives Summarize highlights Do not dominate or be over-involved in the discussion

Source: Gregg Kearsley Online Education: Learning and Teaching in Cyberspace, Wadsworth: 2000, p. 85

Source: Tom Nolan, Sonoma State University http://www.sonoma.edu/users/n/nolan/501/powerpoint/moderating_facilitating/

Discussion Boards in Your Hybrids How will you use the discussion

board? See Discussion Board Ideas

handout