Best Practices for Planning Blended Instruction

This post is a summary of the Best Practices Guide for Planning Blended Instruction.

Blended learning involves part of the course being taught in a traditional classroom and part of the educational materials being distributed through computer/web-based training (Blended Learning Toolkit, n.d.).

Technology plays a large part in this type of blended instruction and therefore, must be given a great deal of consideration during the planning process to ensure it is used appropriately and that all learners will meet the required technical criteria for participating in the course (REF).

Other important considerations are equivalency – the online learning approach needs to provide students with equivalent learning experiences that yield the same or better outcomes as the face-to-face instruction (Simonson, 1999), and quality – ensuring learning objectives, materials, assessments, and technology work in tandem, promoting learner interaction and sufficient engagement to attain the proposed learning outcomes (Academic Partnerships, n.d.).

Pre-Planning Strategies

When redesigning traditional classroom instruction into a blended learning environment, one should incorporate the following essential elements (Twigg, n.d.).

• Redesign the entire course to ensure consistency throughout

• Include active learning

• Provide means for greater interaction between students

• Integrate continuing assessments (formative) with automatic feedback

• Give learners easy access to facilitators/instructors

• Give learners enough time to complete assignments

• Monitor learner progress and have an intervention plan for when needed

• Measure learning outcomes, course completion rates, and cost

Course Enhancements

Use the ‘Replacement Model’ to redesign the course – replaces some face-to-face interactions, classroom times, and learning strategies with online and interactive learning and also includes enhancements and changes to traditional classroom strategies (Twigg, 2003, TeacherStream, 2009, and Meyer, 2003).

• Move to an online format (i.e., videos, presentations and interactive content)

• Spend classroom time on tasks that emphasize problem solving and application of content.

• Use discussion boards to increase participant communication and engagement.

Redefining the Role of Trainer in a Distance Learning Environment

The role of the facilitator in a distance education course encompasses guiding learners through the online learning process, helping them identify useful resources to enhance learning and meet objectives, facilitating communication between learners to contextualize learned materials through threaded discussions, providing expert knowledge when needed, and also assessing learning and providing accountability (Berge, 1995).

Encouraging Students to Communicate Online

Technologies such as Wikis and online forums can be used with great success to get students talking about what they are learning and expound on their experiences. A good strategy is to involve students as discussion moderators. (Kauffman, 2015).

• Encourage introductions that include demographics, personal experiences, goals, hobbies, and other interests.

• Use video and voice conferencing and create meeting spaces (i.e., Google Hangouts).

• Create support forums and study groups where students can seek help and also provide assistance to their peers (Lorenzetti, 2012).

Conclusion

Changing traditional classroom training can have many benefits for both the learners and the company. However, it is important to follow a planning process in which the entire course is redesigned to provide greater value, enhance learning experiences, and optimize achievement of learning outcomes.

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References

Academic Partnerships. (n.d.). A guide to quality in online learning. Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/juy9gh7

Berge, Z.L. (1995). The role of the online instructor/facilitator. Educational Technology, 35(1), 22–30. Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/hs34ydy

Kauffman, H. (2015). A review of predictive factors of student success in and satisfaction with online learning. Research in Learning Technology, 23: 26507. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.26507

Lorenzetti, J.P. (2012). Six ways to get your online students participating in the course. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/six-ways-to-get-your-online-students-participating-in-the-course/

Meyer, K.A. (2003). Face-to-face versus threaded discussions: the role of time and higher-order thinking. JALN 7(3). Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/jcd3aph

Simonson, M. (1999). Equivalency theory and distance education. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 43(5), 5-8. Retrieved from: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ603684

TeacherStream, LLC. (2009). Mastering discussion board facilitation resource guide. Retrieved from: https://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-onlinelearning-mastering-online-discussion-board-facilitation.pdf

Twigg, C.A. (n.d.). An overview of course redesign. The National Center for Academic Transformation. Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/jywntyq

Twigg, C.A. (2003). Improving learning and reducing costs: New models for online learning. Retrieved from: https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0352.pdf