Here - EnglishAgenda - British Council

We were fortunate in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be able to provide intensive Englishcourses where all three modes took place in one location, i.e. the classroom was nextdoor to the computer room that was next door to the self-study room, so learnerssimply rotated between the three. Anchoring all the modes to one location is atypicalthough and in the vast majority of the case studies the face-to-face mode took placein a classroom, whereas the online element took place wherever the learner choseto study, which presumably was at home although this was only clearly stated in fourcase studies (Eydelman, Chapter 3; Pardo-Gonzalez, Chapter 4, Kern, Chapter 11,Krake, Chapter 20). In some instances of course the online work had to be carriedout at home due to a lack of facilities at the school, university etc., although sixauthors do mention having access to a language laboratory (Eydelman, Chapter 3;Gilbert, Chapter 1; Pardo-Gonzalez, Chapter 4; Whittaker, Chapter 16; Bilgin, Chapter19 and Krake, Chapter 20).How do I design for a ‘suite of courses’?Most of the blends described in this publication refer to short courses and indeedNeumeier’s (2005) framework arose from a 33-hour course. However, a large numberof the learners who attended our courses in Bosnia and Herzegovina worked theirway through the levels, often from elementary upwards to upper-intermediate, whichis typical in many language schools I believe. With this in mind the content and designof the Bosnia and Herzegovina blend altered to realise the learners increased abilitiesas language learners, to cater for their needs, to maintain their interest and to fulfilour aims (Whittaker, Chapter 16). Despite these changes to the content and designof the blend there was still a high degree of ‘horizontal integration’ where there is‘some continuity in learning tools across programs and courses as [this] is clearlyadvantageous from the student’s point of view’ (Levy and Stockwell, 2006: 30).This continuity manifested itself in the structure of the timetable, the use of acoursebook in class, CD-ROMs in the computer session and the types of tasksin the self-study mode.3. Learners and teachers/tutorsAs the learners, teachers and tutors play such a key role in any blend I believe theywarrant their own section. It is important to note that the teachers and tutors mayneed as much support in the move towards a blended approach as their learners. Itmay be the case that the teachers and tutors lack the computer skills their learnerspossess, and that this can be a daunting prospect for many and may act as a barrierto change.Who will be involved in the design process?The instructors and teachers were involved in every stage of the redesign processin Bosnia and Herzegovina (Chapter 16) as I felt it was vital to have their input in thedecision-making process to create a sense of ownership. Moreover, they attendedtraining sessions when necessary to prepare them for the changes in advance, forexample familiarising them with new coursebooks before they were introduced. Thisensured to a large extent that we had buy-in from them as ultimately as the end usersthey would be responsible for the success and the longevity of the blend.Conclusion | 235