Blended Learning

Recommendations

Info

Preparing students For successful blended learning, students need to be motivated to engage in the blended learning experience you designed. They also need to feel confident in using the technology and be aware of the “social” aspects of collaborating and communicating in an online environment just as they should in a traditional classroom. ‣ ¾ A lack of motivation can sometimes be due to the student not seeing a clear and relevant purpose for the learning activity. оо оо Take the student point of view: ■■ Why should a student be bothered to go to your web site? Reply to a question in a forum? Watch a video? Complete a survey? Have you explained how these tasks are related to the objectives / outcomes or the assessment tasks? Students need clear answers to the reasonable question: “What do you want me to do with this stuff?” ■■ Make sure students know about the resources and understand how they are to be used. For example are students supposed to summarise readings? Compare articles? Identify trends? ‣ ¾ Give plenty of lead-in time when expecting students to use a specific technology for the first time particularly if it forms part of the assessment program. For example, if using a new tool or technology consider giving students some practice before the actual assessment task is due. оо оо оо Make sure students know where to get technical support (if not from you) – perhaps provide them with a tip sheet for frequently experienced problems, especially if using a tool not supported by Learning@Griffith. For all Learning@Griffith applications you can direct students to the relevant student help guides or to more general support information (e.g., getting started as a student) available on the Learning@Griffith Support site: https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/computing/ blended-learning-support/ Consider ‘modelling’ what it is you want students to do to give them a clear sense of what is expected of them. Provide practice exercises to support the development of students’ skills and familiarity in using the particular blended learning tool (and give plenty of lead-in time for these to be completed). Supporting and sustaining student learning Providing ongoing guidance for any student activity is important but perhaps more so when it is conducted online and away from the usual face-to-face contact. In an online environment, students often perceive fewer opportunities to seek guidance or reassurance. Therefore, consider how you are going to be “visible” online and provide students with feedback and reactions to their work. ‣ ¾ After the initial course orientation where you have tried to motivate students to be engaged in the course activities it will be important to continue to promote and encourage students’ use of the blended learning components. For example: оо оо оо Consider sending quick reminders to students via email or the chosen method of communication; Be involved in the online activities yourself, or involve other staff such as tutors (e.g., initiate discussion topics, give brief feedback during an activity); Consider breaking up a task into smaller components and give feedback on some or all of these components rather than simply at the end. ¾ ‣ Monitor student participation, identify students who don’t appear to be engaging and initiate some communication with them. 58 Getting Started with Blended Learning
‣ ¾ Give recognition of students’ engagement in the course both online and in class. This helps to validate students’ efforts and the contribution of the various course activities to their learning. ‣ ¾ Create synergy with blended and in class activities by incorporating feedback or reflections, summarise what has been done, share insights, follow-up on outcomes or establish links to next part of the course. A good ending As with any course, it is important to tie up any loose ends before students leave the course or move on to another part of the course. ‣ ¾ Have students received feedback on all course activities? ‣ ¾ Are you aware of any outstanding work that needs to be completed by students? ‣ ¾ And if so, is there any issue with students accessing this online tool beyond a certain date (e.g., have you set date restrictions on tool availability?) Section 2.3 Implementing Just as it is good to have a course orientation and welcome students to the course, it is worth considering having a final debrief and farewell. This is a good opportunity to re-emphasize the blend of learning and teaching that comprised the course and to highlight how course learning outcomes have been achieved. This helps to validate the efforts made by students in engaging in the online components particularly. Section 2.3 Implementing 59
Page 1 and 2:
Getting Started With Blended Learni
Page 3 and 4:
Foreword Griffith University has a
Page 5 and 6:
Contents Foreword..................
Page 7:
List of Figures Figure 1: Possibili
Page 10 and 11:
Examples of blended learning ‣ ¾
Page 12 and 13:
Blended learning possibilities In s
Page 15 and 16: Section 2: The Process of Blended L
Page 17 and 18: 2.1 Planning Planning is the first
Page 19 and 20: оо Will the blended learning tech
Page 21 and 22: 2.2 Designing and developing Once y
Page 23 and 24: Blended Learning Design Worksheet L
Page 25 and 26: Face-to-Face-Elements Online Elemen
Page 27 and 28: To access the help guide, “Reduci
Page 29 and 30: Why would I use a virtual classroom
Page 31 and 32: ‣ ¾ Don’t put material online
Page 33 and 34: Student activity and collaboration
Page 35 and 36: Level of learning Types of blended
Page 37 and 38: Blog Like a wiki, a blog is a web s
Page 39 and 40: E-portfolio An e-portfolio, or a di
Page 41 and 42: In-class quizzes Technology can now
Page 43 and 44: ‣ ¾ Image Gallery - individuals
Page 45 and 46: Assessment Good practice in assessm
Page 47 and 48: 3. What is required of them and whe
Page 49 and 50: ‣ ¾ “Avoiding Plagiarism” pr
Page 51 and 52: Staff-student consultations In all
Page 53 and 54: Management and administration Effec
Page 55 and 56: Course site design Provide a studen
Page 57 and 58: Course banner A course banner is an
Page 59 and 60: Dealing with “24-7” communicati
Page 61 and 62: These issues are addressed on the B
Page 63 and 64: 2.3 Implementing Even a well design
Page 65: оо оо оо Establish your prese
Page 70 and 71: Also, Griffith University has outli
Page 72 and 73: Create a reflective journal blog by
Page 74 and 75: оо responses to get an idea of th
Page 76 and 77: оо Halo-effect (euphoria or disap
Page 78 and 79: to colleagues, share your own ideas
Page 81 and 82: Glossary Asynchronous Not occurring
Page 84: Griffith Institute for Higher Educa
show all

Blended Learning

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?