Design and evaluation of two blended learning approaches: Lessons learned

In this paper, we share two blended learning approaches used at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. We have been using these two approaches in the last twelve years in many courses ranging from the diploma to graduate programs. For the first blended learning approach, we integrated one asynchronous communication tool with face to face tutorials, classroom discussions, and a reflection session. For the second blended learning approach, we integrated two asynchronous tools with face to face tutorials in a course. We discuss the theoretical foundation of the two blended learning approaches. In addition, we share insights from these two blended learning approaches, based on the students' data (online postings, questionnaires, reflection logs, and interviews), as well as our own reflections. Finally, we describe and discuss several important lessons learned that could inform the design of future instructional strategies in implementing blended learning in university teaching and learning settings.published_or_final_versio

An Evaluation of Blended Courses: Reflections from Undergraduates

Blended learning approaches are increasingly adopted in the higher education context, with various levels of success. This study explored students’ experiences and evaluations of a blended course in an undergraduate’s programme in information systems at a New Zealand university. This paper presents ten emerged themes, drawing on six in-depth focus groups’ interviews with undergraduates. The themes indicate that students are not only accepting of blended approaches but also perceived blended approaches useful for their learning and enjoyable to a certain extent. The emerged themes also uncover students’ reflections of their learning abilities and preferences in instances of the rising uptake of blended approaches across the higher education context. These study findings are potentially useful in providing practical contributions by informing learning institutions’ key considerations when implementing blended approaches to undergraduates who are relatively new to the method and learning environment

Blended Tutorials: Blended Synchronous Learning in Mathematics

A blended tutorial is a single learning event which gives students the opportunity of attending face-to-face or online. This article reports the findings of a scholarship of teaching and learning project conducted at The Open University, and considers the barriers and opportunities to using blended tutorials to support distance learning. Two pilot blended tutorials were carried out on the honours mathematics module M337 Complex Analysis, and the results of the evaluation are presented. Using qualitative data from practitioner reflections, lesson observations and semi-structured student interviews, this project uses thematic analysis to identify barriers and opportunities to using blended tutorials. Particular emphasis is given to the unique challenges in learning mathematics, and in the distance learning context of The Open University. The report concludes with recommendations for the design of blended tutorials, and recommendations for future research.

Does the TPACK framework help to design a more engaging learning environment?

This paper describes an attempt to design an e-learning course within a framework that combines theoretical underpinnings with pedagogy and content knowledge. It focuses on how a university lecturer can facilitate learning that integrates pedagogical and technological knowledge. The Technology Pedagogy And Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework enables new ways of thinking about technology integration and emphasises the intersection of these three domains: technology, pedagogy and content knowledge. Students’ involvement in a blended learning course and their reflections were examined to provide a picture of the synergy or lack there of in relation to this framework. This paper offers a look at the intersections of the TPACK domains to consider how the use of Web 2 technologies in teaching complement the other domains. It also describes how students assessed the combination of the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge domains in their learning experiences

Discovering the Post-Digital Art School

This report is about finding new ways to prepare students for a meaningful career in today’s creative industries. It describes a series of educational experiments that use a highly blended model of online and offline teaching. It has practical advice, recommendations, and reflections on the social dimensions of online learning

Online Reflections in a Blended Approach to Collaborative Faculty Development

Blended approaches to collaborative faculty development have the potential for stimulating critical reflection, but the process of online reflection by faculty members has not been fully explored in the literature. The purpose of this qualitative action research case study was to examine a blended approach to collaborative inquiry for professional development with a particular interest in the reflections that occurred online. This study had two focal points. First, to explore the relationship between the online reflections and the overall development of the participants and second, to more closely examine the levels of reflection that occurred within the online aspect of this blended collaborative inquiry. This dissertation employed the case study method to examine the experience of seven community college faculty members. Interviews and online discussion transcripts were used to identify themes and this study developed a rubric for identifying levels of online reflection. This study identified six major themes as follows: (a) discussions with other faculty members create a supporting atmosphere that is beneficial to learning about teaching, (b) the online reflections can be challenging, (c) the online reflections allow the discussion to continue and allow participants to keep up while missing a meeting, (d) the online reflections allow for more immediate idea sharing and for more in-depth reflection, (e) the convenience of the course management system facilitated reflection, (f) the lack of incentives to participate and the complicated structure of the discussion boards inhibited reflection. This study identified five levels online reflections occur as: (a) non-reflective, (b) contemplative, (c) problem/content, (d) process/product and (e) premise. This study also identified several patterns of premise level reflections. Based on these findings, this study provides greater insight into the best practices for organizing and conducting blended collaborative faculty development and facilitating critical faculty reflection in online venues

A blended learning model in higher education: a comparative study of blended learning in UK and Malaysia

Blended learning, involves the combination of two fields of concern: technology and education; or two groups of people: technologists and educationists. However, current literature shows less consideration on the potential disciplinary gap in the blended learning experience, as a result there is a paucity of evidence from cross-country/institutional/disciplinary investigations. This study aimed to explore, analyse and compare the blended learning experience in higher education. The research is reflected in 3 questions: (1) What are the current blended learning experiences in the selected higher educational institutions? (2) How such experience varies in different disciplines? (3) What are the reflections on the comparative experiences in (1) and (2)? The qualitative case study with comparative methods was used to obtain in-depth findings for these research questions. I visited 4 universities in two countries and sampled 51 research participants’ voices from contrasting disciplines. With these voices, I thoroughly discussed individual case studies, followed by a cross-case and cross-discipline comparison. These findings enabled insights to be drawn on a major argument: blended learning did enable and enhance learning experiences in all case studies but disciplinary differences remain a major challenge. The analysis shows that academics from science-based disciplines have an advantage at the instrumental level of technological usage without transforming learning experience; social science-based academics, due to their disciplinary nature, have embedded technology in wider trans-technical aspects that would enhance and transform learning and teaching. In the context of blended learning, I would argue that learning has not been enhanced (1) if the technology is the sole focus; (2) if the research effort of “technology enhanced learning” does not gain ground in educational theories and (3) does not recognise the disciplinary differences. Arising out of these findings, I proposed a blended learning model that indicates the boundary of the current literature and research findings, and a blended learning definition - an educational-focused process to enhance and transform f2f learning with the blend of technology in a symbiotic relationship. It is necessary for educationists and technologists to establish such a symbiotic relationship and the inter-disciplinary integration and discourse, that may impact on the individuals’ practice beyond their own disciplinary territory

Wrestling and wrangling with a worrisome wiki: an account of pedagogical change in the use of a Web 2.0 technology in a first year education course

The delivery of higher education in online and blended modes has implications across a range of contexts – economic, pedagogic, technical and social. This article explores the tensions and contradictions of teaching in a blended learning environment in terms of its pedagogic implications. It reports on how a specific Web 2.0 technology (a wiki) was used over a four-year period with and by students in an Education Course to enhance their learning outcomes during their first year of university study. Student feedback (qualitative and quantitative), and the personal reflections of the first author regarding her teaching approach, kept over a four-year period, provide the dataset for this article. Analysis of these data builds a story of how the wiki developed from an extraneous, inauthentic component of the course to an integral component of a successful teaching and learning experience for both the lead author and the students in the course. This story illustrates how an early career academic wrestled to develop appropriate approaches to adult education; wrangled with largely untested Web 2.0 technologies in higher education; and reaped the rewards of the use of such technologies in enhancing the educational experience of both the students and the lecturer. Although a highly personal account of wrestling, wrangling and reaping, the article provides valuable insights into the importance of establishing and maintaining authentic pedagogic relationships in increasing online educational environments. It cautions that the development of technical skills alone is insufficient to guarantee improved outcomes for students