Often when instructors are planning to flip a class they focus all their attention on planning the activities that the students will do in class and on what the students will do online to prepare for that active learning in class. However, there are two other aspects of the flipped-class design that require planning; how the activities will be introduced to the students and how the instructor and the students will know that they have adequately prepared for the in-class experience.
At a minimum, blended instructors should allow six months lead time for course development; one year is preferred. Several instructors voiced an opinion that the need for integration and organization necessitates a full course redesign; creating a blended course is not as simple as placing presentation slides or notes online.
At a minimum, blended instructors should allow six months lead time for course development; one year is preferred. Several instructors voiced an opinion that the need for integration and organization necessitates a full course redesign; creating a blended course is not as simple as placing presentation slides or notes online.
Formula for Success:
Provide an introduction each week and share your availability
Give feedback and answer questions from the previous week
Showcase exceptional student work from the previous week
Highlight the objectives of the coming week and any special preparation or required resources
Connect your coursework to relevant current events
The first suggestion for institutions that intend to implement blended learning is that they must be realistic about the investment of time, effort, and resources that are required for development and implementation. Institutions must create the necessary policy, planning, resources, scheduling, and support systems to ensure that blended learning initiatives are successful.
nstitutional factors. The first institutional factor required for successful blended learning is the allocation of dedicated services to support and assist learners and facilitators throughout the development and use of modules. This includes spending resources on communication to encourage instructors and prospective end-users to become actively involved and fully aware of blended learning initiatives (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004; Harris et al., 2009). The emphasis in this communication should focus on the learning and the associated outcomes rather than on the use of technology only. It should aim to encourage communication between users and developers, and help those involved to take full advantage of the resources available.
nstitutional factors. The first institutional factor required for successful blended learning is the allocation of dedicated services to support and assist learners and facilitators throughout the development and use of modules. This includes spending resources on communication to encourage instructors and prospective end-users to become actively involved and fully aware of blended learning initiatives (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004; Harris et al., 2009). The emphasis in this communication should focus on the learning and the associated outcomes rather than on the use of technology only. It should aim to encourage communication between users and developers, and help those involved to take full advantage of the resources available.
Institutional factors. The first institutional factor required for successful blended learning is the allocation of dedicated services to support and assist learners and facilitators throughout the development and use of modules. This includes spending resources on communication to encourage instructors and prospective end-users to become actively involved and fully aware of blended learning initiatives (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004; Harris et al., 2009). The emphasis in this communication should focus on the learning and the associated outcomes rather than on the use of technology only. It should aim to encourage communication between users and developers, and help those involved to take full advantage of the resources available.
The final challenge for universities implementing blended learning is the difficulty in acquiring new learning technology skills, such as how to foster online learning communities, facilitate online discussion forums, and manage students (Dziuban & Moskal, 2013; Voos, 2003). As for students, technology can also be a challenge for universities implementing blended learning.
The other challenge for universities is the lack of support for course design. In order to ensure a successful blended learning experience for students, there must be university support for course redesign, which may involve deciding what course objectives can best be achieved through online learning activities, what can best be accomplished in the classroom, and how to integrate these two learning environments (Dziuban et al., 2006).
st as time concerns are a challenge for students, the first challenge for implementation of blended learning for universities is time commitment. Johnson (2002) estimates that planning and developing a large-enrollment, blended learning course usually takes two to three times the amount of time required to develop a similar course in a traditional format.
"Garrison and Vaughan (2008) describe best practices for blended learning implementation in higher education. They underscore the need for a seamless connection between the face-to-face and online components in order to ensure a truly blended learning environment. Moreover, they advocate the superimposition of various other pedagogies, as appropriate - lecture, problem-based learning, just-in-time teaching, cooperative learning, and others - on the blended framework."
Ratings on Forums - thought from TEAP and student feedback - use to allow non-verbal engagement with forum - can have a like, agree, disagree, good point etc rating maybe? Adding more opportunity for the lurkers?
Don't use more than 3 font styles per page - this includes colour and size. More than 3 fonts increases cognitive load for your students.
Don't use course page to deliver your content. Use it as a launch page
You should be able to see at least one topic without having to scroll.
Don't be the one doing all the work - get students to design the practice quizzes. (Question creator role)
Do let students participate and collaborate. Use forums, wikis
Don't make users scroll side to side (centre banners makes it difficult to see outer blocks)
Do make sure your content fits (on the course page irrespective of browser)
Don't forget the value of the logs. (When a link is done from a label or assignment or HTML page you lose the logging capability you would get if you added it as a resource)
Don't overdo the activity names - causes breadcrumb to wrap (use a label to provide the explanation)
Do use labels to guide students
Don't be afraid of white space (use indent and labels)
Keep topic summary succint
Don't force users to scroll and scroll (Avoid lots of images and content in topic 0_
Do use images
Do simplify delivery (build it all in Moodle - lessons, book and pages)
Don't be afraid to branch out (try something new!)
Think about how you can use completion tracking effectively