Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course Design and Implementation

Generating peer-to-peer interaction – Making sure that the tasks and the moderator
encourage peer-to-peer interaction increases the likelihood of successful
connectivist learning.
Using freely available technology – Using free and open access apps and web-based
tools ensures that participants will have access to the same tools to create their
own courses and that the skills they are learning will be immediately relevant and
applicable to their teaching context.
Open content – Using open web-based content such as online journals and blogs
ensures that all participants have equal access to resources and even participants
coming from less well-resourced areas are not disadvantaged by limited access to
academic materials.
Flipping the paradigm – Using a flipped approach to core content ensures that
participants come to the much shorter face-to-face element of the course readily
prepared with a strong understanding of background issues and basic technical
skills and experience. This helps to maximise the effectiveness of the face-to-face
workshop element of the course.
Recommendations for blended learning course designers
Build online tasks around social interactivity – People do not really want to interact
with a computer, they want to interact with other people, so design tasks in which
the computer is the conduit and enabler of communication, not the focus of it.
Think about tutor time – Think carefully about the amount of online tutor support
necessary and how to avoid tutor overload. The tutor is very important to the
success of the course, use their time wisely and value it. If the tutor is unhappy
or feels overwhelmed or exploited then the course is unlikely to be successful,
however well you may have designed your materials.
Do not reinvent the wheel – Check to see if you can exploit freely available
resources before you start to build your own. It can save you a huge amount
of time and enhance the materials by including a wider perspective.
Be time realistic – Think carefully about how long it takes to build effective online
resources. It takes much more time to create online learning materials than it does
to create classroom materials. A good rule is to try to estimate how long it will take,
double it and then add 50 per cent, then you might be close to the reality.
Integrating online and face-to-face – Make sure you think about how the online
and face-to-face elements will support each other and how best they can do this.
Your course still needs to have some unity and continuity even if it is delivered in
very different modes and in different places.
Exploit what works best – Build online tasks that can go beyond what can be done in
a book or in a classroom. The internet and the world of online communication can be
used to achieve some marvellous and creative things, so do not try to imitate books
and classrooms, understand what is best about online and exploit it to the full.
72 | A blended learning teacher development course