Blended by Design:Designing and Developing a Blended Course
Jennifer Strickland, PhD, [email protected]
1
Day 2Course redesign and engagement
2
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
3
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”?
5
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 Steps
1. Identify course content for a module
2. Write learning objectives and develop instructional modules
3. 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
15
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
18
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”
19
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
21
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
22
Activity
Keeping your module in mind, develop a community-building activity for use online or in the classroom
Report out
23
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/corerules.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
Utilizing Student Teams and Community Building
36
Using Teams
Based on the work of Larry Michaelsen (University of Oklahoma)
http://teambasedlearning.apsc.ubc.ca/
3 Keys Promoting ongoing
accountability Using linked and mutually
reinforcing assignments Adopting practices that
stimulate idea exchange38
Promoting Ongoing Accountability
Require pre-group work
Require group members to express individual opinions and monitor via another member
Include peer evaluation in grading
Readiness Assurance Process
Test over readings
Group: Test, discuss, reach consensus and retest
Provide information for peer feedback process
39
Using linked and Mutually Reinforcing Assignments
40
Adopting Practices that Stimulate Idea Exchange
Use of assignments that create conditions that foster give-and-take interaction
Assign roles
Use permanent groups
Allow some in-class group work
Size: 4-7
Diversity of opinion, ideas, and perspectives
Not too easy
Not too much writing
Employ, select, apply concepts from the course
41
Team Teaching Tips
Outline learning goals Teach team skills Clear and detailed
instructions Rubric Stages of team development
Forming - polite but untrusting Storming - testing others Norming - valuing other types Performing - flexibility from trust
42
Team Contracts
Purpose, goals, and missions
Expectations
Roles
Conflict resolution strategies
Meetings
Communication
Decision-making policy
Agendas
Record-keeping
43
Other Resources
Team Based Learning (Michaelsen) http://teambasedlearning.aps
c.ubc.ca/?page_id=9
Video Demonstrations http://teambasedlearning.aps
c.ubc.ca/v/michaelsenvid.html
44
45
4 Questions as Guides
What do I want students to be able to DO after this unit of instruction (behavioral outcomes)
What will students have to KNOW to do XYZ (learning outcomes)
How can I ASSESS whether or not students have successfully mastered key course concepts?
How can I tell if students will be able to USE their knowledge of key course concepts? (application)
46
Activity
Using the 4 questions, develop some type of team activity for a unit in your course
Report out
47
