Here - EnglishAgenda - British Council

Generally speaking though, very tech-savvy participants will complete tasks and findthe course easier than those with no ICT experience whatsoever. What this means inpractice is that unskilled participants take longer to complete tasks, and need morehands-on support from the tutor and the rest of the group. Less technically proficientparticipants are often aware of the skills gap if they take a course with more proficientcolleagues. However, the face-to-face component enables supportive group workfrom the beginning of the course, and can help these participants feel more secure.Here is one (less skilled) participant’s take on this in her course feedback:I was often amazed at how those who knew more never seemed to mind helpingout people like me and often wondered if they felt that they regretted signing upfor this course. One day, I asked two of them and they immediately said, ‘No way!’and went on to say that they felt that they had learned/were learning A LOT!The tutorsAll of our courses, whether offered fully online, or in blended versions, have aminimum of six participants and a maximum of 15 participants. This is partly becauseof the nature of our courses that are all hands-on, and task-based. In other words,participants work individually, in pairs and in small groups and prepare a significantnumber of outputs during a course. The hands-on nature of our courses means thatthe tutor workload is high. Typically, for one hour of online work, we calculate 1.5hours of tutor support for a group. For one hour of face-to-face work, the ratio maybe two hours of tutor work (at least) if we include preparation time.In addition, we assign one tutor for a single group of six to ten participants. If thegroup has 11 to 15 participants, there are two tutors, with one taking the lead role(about 60 –70 per cent of the workload), and the other playing a support role (30 – 40per cent of the workload). Again, this is due to the increased workload for tutors withlarger groups, due to the additional one-to-one support that online courses needto provide to participants, especially in the area of technology, where teachers mayhave little or no experience.Course design and deliveryWith the blended Cert ICT, the tutor can deal with larger groups in the face-to-facecomponent, with up to 20 participants in one face-to-face group. However, for theonline component a large group of 20 is split into two separate online groups of ten,each with its own tutor. The fundamental design issue here is that online tutoring(at least for hands-on, task-based courses that require a great deal of interaction/communication) can significantly increase a tutor’s workload. The online version ofa face-to-face course may mean more work for a teacher – if the job is going to bedone well. This is a fundamental issue when considering blended learning, and onethat we find many institutions do not seem to be aware of. Clearly it has importantimplications for staff hours and costing.Because all our courses are offered online, typically we have teachers from allover the world, working closely together online in groups, for the duration of theircourse. The blended version of the Cert ICT, however, tends to attract participantswho live locally to where the face-to-face component of the course is being run.Reversing the blend: From online to blended | 77