ABOUT BLENDED LEARNING

• What is Blended Learning?
• How do you determine which is the best mode to deliver a given course?
• Which Authoring Tools should we use?
• Course design guidelines?

Not all subjects can be taught in the same manner. Some subjects always require face-to-face interaction (synchronous learning) with an instructor and/or equipment while others can be taught with the student setting their own pace without real-time interaction with an instructor (asynchronous learning).

Take online learning, mix in some streaming video, audio and other offline methods, and you have the latest wave in the booming Web based instruction trend: blended learning. Blended learning can bring better results faster and cheaper than traditional methods.

 The Virtual University Appliance supports all modes of learning. This is why we call it a 'Blended Learning System'  or 'Flexible Learning System'

What is Blended Learning? Top

Blended Learning mixes Synchronous Classroom meetings, Web-based online tutorials, and Web-Cast forums to maximize the ' Star' instructors output.

For example  at one extreme, you can offer the entire class online to students who do not wish to attend, or for some reason cannot attend, live instructor-led classes. All lectures, notes, exams, hand-outs, etc., are made available on the Web, even though the instructor continues to lecture to those students who come to class. At the other extreme, you can require all students to attend all lectures and supplement those lectures with Web materials. Some parts of the training program are only effective when with an instructor, but  you can augment the classroom experience by having students watch a video on-line, listen to some audio online or even take a 'competency' quiz before they come to class. In addition you can augment the learning and have the student continue learning online after they leave the classroom. This is the essence of 'Blended Learning' or sometimes also called 'Flexible Learning'.

One of the latest trends today revolves around the application of blended learning solutions. The idea behind blended learning is that you review a learning program, break it up into small units (modules), and determine the best medium to deliver those modules to the learner. Various teaching modes and media include, but are not limited to technologies such as;

- Traditional classroom and Lab settings (Synchronous - Instructor Led)
- Self-Study Reading assignments (Self-Paced)
- Stand-alone CBT assignments (Self-Paced)
- Asynchronous Web-based sessions (can be Instructor-Led or Self-Paced)
- Web-based sessions (Synchronous  Web-Casts) 

During the past few years the concept of blended training solutions has become a reality. Although education offered through traditional classroom courses is recognized for its high-quality, the pressure to deliver knowledge content via alternative, preferably Web-based, methods has produced exceptional results not previously projected.
 

How do you determine which is the best mode to deliver a given course?  Top

 To start, first decide whether classes can be taught using online learning tools. The questions facing the course authors and instructional designer therefore are; 

1. Can you teach the subject matter online?

2. Can the subject matter be modularized?

3. Are Asynchronous Web sessions realistic? 

4. Can you assess the students performance through objective tests and quizzes?

5. Can the course content be re-purposed and re-used?

The second order of business is to conduct a needs analysis and identify the following critical success factors: 

- Asynchronous Web modules that need to be developed to deliver the course's core content.

- Follow-up courses using a live, synchronous medium were necessary to provide learners an opportunity to practice skills if necessary. 

Which Authoring Tools should we use? Top

Developing Web-based training is a far reach from  of developing traditional classroom training. Therefore,  specific areas of expertise to support each critical success factor must be enlisted. 

To challenge and engage learners, one needs to produce courses that offer more than the average page-turner tutorials. Several authoring packages exist such as Macromedia Flash to create asynchronous learning modules. Flash gives developers the capability and tools to build interactive and visually effective content that can be delivered over low bandwidth. The asynchronous modules that courseware authors can build may include read-only content for learners new to the subject matter and more interactive and complicated tools for learners who had participated in other learning events and needed refresher materials. Audio was incorporated throughout the modules. 

However, most authoring packages including Macromedia Flash have severe limitations when it comes to taking the 'story-boarded' course and bringing it to life with real content. The reason is simple; Web-page Design and Authoring tools, such as FrontPage, focus on the presentation of content on the Web and Multimedia tools such as Macromedia Director and (Flash) focus on animation and multimedia-richness of the content. Neither of these programs offer the author the ease of use to actually 'transfer' their knowledge effectively let alone provide any instructional design features. This is where 'VU Course Builder' software is extremely valuable.

The VU Course Builder is a new type of program for course designing and test creation. Its final instructional recipe is a blend of features that included;

a. Creating effective course maps (Lessons, Modules, Topics etc..)

b. Letting knowledge experts include content efficiently

c. Linking to external websites

d. Including Video Lectures and/or Audio in the courses

c. Creating Tests and Quizzes

Course Design Guidelines for 'Blended Learning' Top

Live, instructor-led events. 

Synchronous events are key to the learning design because they give learners the opportunity to ask questions, interact with peers, and practice skills in a more realistic environment. Because the instructional design for the original classroom initiatives is based on small group interactions and practice, breakout rooms are a natural online tool. 

Asynchronous Web learning lessons/modules. 

Asynchronous modules present content that's essential to the learning process and can be accessed at a learner's individual pace. Throughout the course, the modules challenge users to make crucial decisions that reinforce the skills being presented. Requiring one to two hours to complete, the asynchronous features offer additional information on key concepts, examples, interactive exercises, and assessments. The modules also contain tools--in this instance, material--that learners are required to complete, print, and bring with them to the synchronous event. This is to help learners (who complete the asynchronous modules) to be successful in the live event.

Adult learners learn differently. What motivates Adult Learners to take Online courses is not the desire to take a degree (like the typical college student). Since an Adult learner is not too keen on sitting through a boring course (as a college student might because of the desire to get a degree), the course must be interesting, the material short and to the point and the experience engaging.

'Chunking' the content into very small segments, typically 3-5 minutes at the most is highly desirable. The content presented in the 3-5 minutes segments must be crisp and clear. The learner must be able to grasp the essence of the content in that time without loosing attention. Adult learners do not have a whole lot of attention. They want to know about what they are learning in short and precise lessons.

The main challenge therefore for a Online course designer/developer is to narrow the material from the vast resource of information and package this material in a short precise manner. The source material could be an entire book or a series of books. The course developed from this material could be only few pages but essentially an extract of the 'soul' of the source material.

Can this be done? Yes indeed by those who know the Subject Matter well enough to cut through the unnecessary and only extract the necessary to crate a exciting and engaging Online course where the learner knows what you want them to know after the course and the learner is able to do what you want them to be able to do after they have taken the course. Here is a quick checklist;

• What is it that you want them to know after they have taken the course?

• What is it that you want them to be able to do after taking the course?

• The Author must define Learning Objectives and desired Learning Outcomes clearly and concisely.

Participant guides. 

Although participant guides are often absent in Web-based training, a well-designed participant guide can be a critical success factor for both asynchronous and synchronous programs. For synchronous programs ensure that the guide isn't a simple book containing copies of the same screens used online. The participant guide should contain pre-class exercises and module instructions. 


Just-in-time tools. 

To help facilitate life-long learning, participants can be directed back to the reinforcement tools in the asynchronous Web modules, including examples, refresher exercises, tip sheets, flash-cards and so forth. 

Facilitate the learning process

Find creative ways to ensure that the asynchronous modules and other pre-class assignments are completed, such as the forms that learners have to complete to understand the synchronous class discussion.

Because many things are happening at the same time during the complicated synchronous design a 'course assistant' should help facilitate the learning process. The assistant should take responsibility for the following tasks: 

- Warm up learners before class/course begins 
- Assist facilitation, especially in breakout chat rooms 
- Respond to chat notes promptly
- Take Online surveys and evaluations frequently
- Resolve technical questions and problems quickly
- Handle late arrivals to Online Web-Casts and disruptive participants  

Perhaps the biggest lesson learned is that re-creating learning online and determining the right blend isn't easy or to be taken lightly. To create interactions that meet the same standards as traditional programs, invest the time to research the audience and the technology tools. Most important, bring together the right team, either internal or external, and be willing to fail a few times in order to get the right blend. 


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