Here - EnglishAgenda - British Council

There is a fourth activity type in which participants develop their own case studythrough the online interactions. They post the situation (in effect generating theirown text), which is then commented on by their colleagues who offer possiblesolutions. The case and the solution(s) are then developed by the original poster(also with reference to the literature) and submitted for assessment. An examplefrom the Human Resource Management (HRM) module, in which the assignmentasks participants to:Produce a case study of an HRM aspect of your own LTO, in which you describethe situation, identify a problem and propose and evaluate a solution.This is achieved in the following way, as outlined to the participants themselves:First, you should produce a description of the situation and identify the problemand post it on the discussion board.Then everybody in the group is invited to respond to everybody else’s situationwith suggestions.You complete the assignment by writing your own solution (incorporating asmany or as few as you like of your classmates’ ideas).Finally, any of the above activity types can be linked closely to the assignmentswhich participants are required to complete for each module. The closeness of thealignment between the activity and the assignment will vary, and some trainers setup tasks which will provide content for the paper, as in the last example above.Such activities involve a blend of text, task, discussion and application in a finalwritten text produced by the participants for assessment.The role of the trainer in the above activities will vary, although for the most part itis to act as a facilitator by setting up the activity and then clarifying the task if thisappears necessary, and prompting the participants by posing questions or drawingattention to shared or contrasting issues arising from the content postedby participants.Synchronous activities form the second type employed on the course. These typicallyinvolve chat sessions to discuss nominated topics or to deal with assignment-relatedissues. The trainer mediates the discussion and, where participants are seekingspecific information or guidance on the assignment, answers questions. For the mostpart, such sessions are an online substitute for the kind of face-to-face discussionwhich would occur in a classroom.A second type of synchronous activity is exemplified in the simulation, which formsthe culmination of the course. Participants are put into teams of up to six members,and they are provided with briefing material which is downloaded from the VLE. Thismaterial sets the context and provides information on the management structure,staffing, services and finances of a fictitious LTO. The task is to analyse the strengthsand weaknesses of the LTO, to identify potential areas for repair or development, andto prepare a medium-term business plan. The activity takes place over several daysduring which tasks are assigned among team members, outcomes are posted on theVLE, and texts are prepared and posted (a Powerpoint presentation and a planBlended learning: The IDLTM experience | 95