Whats the Big Deal about Blended Learning - Models, Results and ChallengesTerry Anderson, PhDAthabasca University, Canada

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Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada

* Athabasca University34,000 students, 700 courses100% distance educationGraduate and Undergraduate programsMaster & Doctorate Distance Education

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ValuesWe can (and must) continuously improve the quality, effectiveness, appeal, cost and time efficiency of the learning experience.Student control and freedom is integral to 21st century life-long education and learning.Continuing education opportunity is a basic human right.

Learning as Dance (Anderson, 2008)Technology sets the beat and the timing. Pedagogy defines the moves.

A learning technology, by definition, is an orchestration of technologies, necessarily including pedagogies, whether implicit or explicit.

DefinitionsBlended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through delivery of content and instruction via digital and online media with some element of student control over time, place, path, or pace. (Wikipedia)

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blended learning is the thoughtful integration of classroom face-to-face learning experiences with online learning experiences. - Garrison and Kanuka 2004Information dissemination component of the class is done by the students own choice of location and time. In class time is for a variety of active learning activitiesan opportunity to redesign the way that courses are developed, scheduled and delivered in higher education Bleed, 2001

Bleed, R. (2001). A hybrid campus for a new millennium. Educause Review, 36(1),1624.

Two Major VariationsBlended LearningFlipped ClassroomActive Classrooms Reduced Class-timeActive Online

But also can blend classrooms with:Service learning, internships, field experiments, tours and projects and artifact constructionNew Pedagogies

Developing a work-related profileas part of the university experience. CEP Leadership Group

Allison Rossett

http://www.tk08.astd.org/PDF/Handouts%20for%20Web%202-11/W102.pdf

Why do Blended??Social MotivationsDigital LiteraciesJob skills and Future ProofingInternationalizationOpen ScholarshipControlling the Cost of Higher Education

Staff experiences of transitions to blended learning at the University of Glasgow Vicki Dale, Josephine Adekola & Kerr Gardiner

Institutional MotivationsReduce cost by more effective use of classroomsRe-usable nature of digital contentMore flexibility in scheduling

TeachersMore time for interaction with informed studentsMore capacity to share digital resourcesMore opportunity to personalize and add social presence

StudentsTime shiftingPlace shiftingPace ShiftingSocial shiftingSelf-directionTeam building and collaboration experiencesFinding resourcesCreating resources

Mom Corp. Mom Corps (www.momcorps.com), a national talent acquisition and career development firm, released findings from its third annual online survey conducted by Harris Interactive from July 29-31, 2013 among 886 working adults on their perceptions and preferences around several work/life and flexibility issues.

Here are a few more highlights from the survey:

80% of working adults agree that flexible work options are just as important for people who dont have children as they are for those who do.73% of working adults agree that flexibility is one of the most important factors they consider when looking for a new job or deciding what company to work for.45% of U.S. working adults said they would be willing to relinquish at least some portion of their salary for more flexibility at work.

Does Blended Learning Really Work?Improve attendance?Improve learning?Cost savings?Student satisfaction?Teaching satisfaction

Stockwell, B. R., Stockwell, M. S., Cennamo, M., & Jiang, E. (2015). Blended learning improves science education. Cell, 162(5), 933-936. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/faculty/stockwell/StockwellLab/index/publications/Stockwell_Cell_2015.pdf.

Meta AnalysisCombines results from as many experiments as possible.Needs a comparison - Classroom & BlendedMeasures learning, satisfaction, completion etc.

Do Students Learn more?in terms of achievement outcomes, BL conditions exceed CI conditions by about one-third of a standard deviation (g + = 0.334, k = 117, p < .001) and that the kind of computer support used (i.e., cognitive support vs. content/presentational support) and the presence of one or more interaction treatments (e.g., studentstudent/teacher/content interaction) serve to enhance student achievement. Bernard et al (2014)

Bernard, R., Borokhovski, E., Schmid, R., Tamim, R., & Abrami, P. (2014). A meta-analysis of blended learning and technology use in higher education: from the general to the applied. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 26(1), 87-122.

It is easy to do blended learning badly!

Fig. 3 Scatterplot of publication year by learning effect size (k = 117) Bernard et al. 2014

Bernard, R., Borokhovski, E., Schmid, R., Tamim, R., & Abrami, P. (2014). A meta-analysis of blended learning and technology use in higher education: from the general to the applied. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 26(1), 87-122.

2015 Meta-analysis Student - Achievement Positive (Spanjersa, Kningsa et al.)

Spanjers, I. A. E., Knings, K. D., Leppink, J., Verstegen, D. M. L., de Jong, N., Czabanowska, K., & van Merrinboer, J. J. G. (2015). The promised land of blended learning: Quizzes as a moderator. Educational Research Review, 15, 59-74. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X15000251.

Student satisfaction - a non-significant trivial average (Spanjersa, Kningsa et al)

Do students really like Blended LearningGenerally yes BUTlearning new tools can mean surmounting learning curvesEffect of network literacyQuality of the instructional designAppropriate use of synchronous and asynchronous communications

Components of Effective Blended LearningBlendedLearningContentActive In- Class LearningNetworking

1. CONTENTcanned, instructor made videos or podcastscommercial videos, audio recordingsGames, simulations, virtual labsarticles, books (etexts or paper)include student research and open resourcesMOOCs, Open Educational Resourcesit does not appear that video lectures, in and of themselves, either add to or detract from student learning. No Significant Difference Phenomena

DeLozier, S., & Rhodes, M. (2016)

Note chemistry Landing example- finding and sharing a resource

Finding Curating and Curating ResourcesMOOCsLearning Object RepositoriesOpen Textbooks/ChaptersWikiEducatorBecause it is copyright does NOT mean you cant use portions in your teaching

Whats Wrong with Publishers Textbooks?Not sold to the consumersToo expensiveDont work as well as open access (Wiley, 2012)

There are alternatives to expensive textsRice University-based publisher OpenStax are now in use at one-in-five degree-granting U.S. colleges and universities and have already saved college students $39 million in the 2015-16 academic year."

It's the samelesson learned from the BC Campus open textbook project, which hassaved more than a million dollars for British Columbia students.Stephen Downes OLDaily Feb 8, 2016

Power of video - Showing NOT telling about empathy, irony, humour, hyperbole etc

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY&index=8&list=PL6e_LPIs5f6Ygx8y3sUAS7w7nNYlPp_L9

CopyrightWhat rights do you have?Only an insubstantial part of the work is used. Insubstantial covers a small and unimportant part of a work. Use caution when assessing substantiality. In most cases, educational purposes will call for use of a substantial or important part.

But What rights do you REALLY have??????

Canada Supreme Court 2014 - Copyright Pentalogy, an unequivocal affirmation that copyright exceptions such as fair dealing should be treated as users rights.a technology-neutral approach to copyright law expansion of fair dealing by interpreting it in a broad and liberal mannerresearch be piecemeal, informal, exploratory, or confirmatory. It can in fact be undertaken for no purpose except personal interest." -an expansive view of private study

Massive fight with Can Copy

Student Created ContentMake Content and Assignments Relevant to Students' Lives Use PeersInvolve Students' Affective ResponsesUse DiscussionEncourage Student Self-Reflection on Learninghttps://en.wikibooks.org/

Make Content and Assignments Relevant to Students' Lives [9][edit]1. bring in and have students bring in articles from the mass media publications

2. relate class work to students' future goals and careers

3. use case studies or problem-based learning with topics of interest to students

4. involve students in research on topics relevant to them

Provide Students With Choice and a Sense of Control[edit]1. give students options and choices in planning the course, in assignments, in ways to demonstrate their learning, and in how they are evaluated

2. allow students to pursue their own questions and interests whenever possible (in discussion, on projects, for paper topics...)

3. have students draft exam questions (edit and use some of the best ones)

4. be clear about your expectations and objectives (students need to know why they are being asked to do something)

Use Peers[edit]1. use peers to offer support and feedback

2. value and give credit to students' contributions

3. use formal and informal group work when appropriate

4. divide the material among students or groups of students. Require each group to teach their peers the material they have studied

Involve Students' Affective Responses[edit]1. select topics and reading that are relevant to students

2. use controversial topics

3. have students engage in structured, intellectual debates

4. have students argue the opposite of what they think/believe

Use Discussion[edit]1. require each student to bring in a "good" discussion question covering the material of the day or some other form of the "ticket in"

2. require each student to take a turn as class discussion leader

3. have students answer the following two questions while reading and bring those answers to class: What was the most difficult part/concept/idea in the reading? What did you like the best/most exciting idea?

Encourage Student Self-Reflection on Learning

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/User-Generated_Content_in_Education/Learning_by_Creating

Student Curated Content

http://www.slideshare.net/RalphSpringett/

Curating Play Lists

James Sanders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxHT7X6skL8&feature=youtu.be&list=PL6e_LPIs5f6Ygx8y3sUAS7w7nNYlPp_L9 James Sanders

Social Study Sites for online Engagement

https://piazza.com/

3 components Koope et als (2015) Model of Flipped Learningselection of appropriate media that explain key concepts and how to use them. Students watch these before a face-to-face lecture.exercises and assignments for the students related to the videos are designed. Students submit homework from these assignments before a lecture. By submitting the homework, a student shows that she has given serious attention to the exercises. The assignments are not rigorously (randomly?) assessed for completeness nor correctness.during the class, feedback connecting homework to key concepts, elaboration and preparation for the next videos are discussed.

KPPE, C., NIELS, R., HOLWERDA, R., TIJSMA, L., VAN DIEPEN, N., VAN, K., & TURNHOUT, R. B. (2015). Flipped Classroom Patterns-Designing Valuable In-Class Meetings. Paper presented at the Preprints of the 20th European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs, EuroPLoP. http://www.hillside.net/plop/2015/papers/panthers/41.pdf

Students With Pre-class video attend more classes

Stockwell, Stockwell, Cennamo, & Jiang, (2015). Blended learning improves science education. Cell 162(5)

Synchronous versus Asynchronousasynchronous discussions promote: more complex ideas (Bonk et al., 1998), more attention on the task (Chou, 2002), more reflective statements (Davidson-Shivers et al., 2001),effective for collaborative writing (Mabrito, 2006). interact more frequently (Bonk et al., 1998), Hiew, Y., & Tan, B. (2015). Comparing Asynchronous and Synchronous Interaction Using Online Technology. Pertanika Journal of Scholarly Research Reviews. Http:// pjsrr.edu.my

Hiew, Y., & Tan, B. (2015). Comparing Asynchronous and Synchronous Interaction Using Online Technology. Pertanika Journal of Scholarly Research Reviews. Http:// pjsrr.edu.my

Synchronous discussions were viewed as more useful and influential (Ng & Detenber (2005)less efficient in dealing with content, (Schwier & Balbar (2002) lesser amount of time on course task in the chat discussions (Mabrito, 2006). exchange socio-emotional interactions (Chou,2002) chat sessions are satisfying (Spencer & Spencer, 2002)Hiew, Y., & Tan, B. (2015). Comparing Asynchronous and Synchronous Interaction Using Online Technology. Pertanika Journal of Scholarly Research Reviews. Http:// pjsrr.edu.my.

Avoiding Video or Reading Disengagement

Machine marked quizzesShort answer, random markingWiki answersBlogging/micro-blogging

THE MEDIUM IS NOT THE MESSAGE??Turkish study compared audio versus video podcasts - NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCEReflective questions in the podcasts versus no questions - SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE EFFECT ON LEARNING.Yilmaz, F. G. K., & Keser, H. (2016). The Impact of Reflective Thinking Activities in E-Learning: A Critical Review of the Empirical Research. Computers & Education. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131516300069.

2. Active In Class Learning

Student Response Systems

individual or paired quizzes

student and group presentations and discussions

Open Ended Questions

Peer teaching

Problem solving, in class makes a difference in exam scoresVideo makes a difference in Student satisfactionStockwell, Stockwell, Cennamo, & Jiang, (2015). Blended learning improves science education. Cell 162(5).

Stockwell, B. R., Stockwell, M. S., Cennamo, M., & Jiang, E. (2015). Blended learning improves science education. Cell, 162(5), 933-936. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/faculty/stockwell/StockwellLab/index/publications/Stockwell_Cell_2015.pdf.

Active In class Learning - SummaryActive learning has many definitions, but perhaps the simplest is learning anything taught within the classroom other than the instructors lectures to passive students (Harris, 2010).

3. Networking

NOT Learning in a Bubble

Celebrating Fuzzy Boundaries !

Networking BenefitsComplements and expands classroom modes and style of interactionvalues participation from within and outside class contextshifts skill set for active participationpersistancestudent ownershipcollaboration

Most significantly, social-media ecologies can be used to enhance engagement by providing a virtual community that both complements and differs from the physical classroom. Importantly, the polyphonic nature of a social-media ecology can provide a dynamic model for sharing information that values participation and equalises contributions to the discussion forum, and often the virtual space can enhance learning in the classroom.

Anxiety from blurring public, school and private boundariestends to cut off experimentation with new communications technologies and applications

This anxiety responds to the fear of blurring private and public boundaries, and facilitating inappropriate commentary and/or offensive content. What is lost is the potential to build a social-media ecology that perceives users as sophisticated participants within a discursive forum that allows for a range of new approaches to communication designed to enhance the learning experience. Most significantly, social-media ecologies can be used to enhance engagement by providing a virtual community that both complements and differs from the physical classroom. Importantly, the polyphonic nature of a social-media ecology can provide a dynamic model for sharing information that values participation and equalises contributions to the discussion forum, and often the virtual space can enhance learning in the classroom. Haslem, W. (2014). Affinity spaces and microworlds: The UCROO experiment.

Networking and social inclusionseeking information via social network sites is a positive and significant predictor of people's social capital and civic and political participatory behaviours, online and offlineGil de Ziga, Jung & Valenzuela, S. (2012).

Inclusion through Learning and Web 2.0

Those with higher social capital can access more support and are exposed to more diverse information, which is associated with those outcomes we identified related to: trust,health, autonomy, knowledge, and deliberation. Hampton, K. N., Lee, C.-j., & Her, E. J. (2011). How new media affords network diversity

Social NetworksFacebook, LinkedIn, Academia, TwitterBlogsListservsPrivateELGGNINGDrupal, Word Press

Structure and control provided by Google Sites and immediacy and interactivity afforded by Facebook become complementary to each other.

Deng, L., & Tavares, N. J. (2015). Exploring university students use of technologies beyond the formal learning context: A tale of two online platforms. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology.

"The difference between a community and a network is that you belong to a community, but a network belongs to you...

Network ChallengesFilter bubblesEcho ChambersMathew PrincipleBullying Anonymity

What Type of Networked Academic Persona Have you Created?

Barbour, K., & Marshall, D. (2012). The academic online: Constructing persona through the World Wide Web. First Monday, 17(9). http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3969/3292.

Workload IssuesInstitutional recognition and reward for transition to blendedWork smarter not longerWell developed networksArchiving and curating NOT continuously respondingVoice MarkingUsing resources developed and retrieved from your network

Effects of different Instructional designs on student satisfactionAmount of work required by students negatively effected satisfactionQuizzes Only one of the potential moderator variables, that is, quizzes, had a significant (positive) result. It appeared that the average effect size for satisfaction was higher when quizzes were available in the blended learning conditionSpanjersa, Kningsa et al. 2015Communications in online part, no significant differences

Blended/online Learning design

Barac, K. (2015). The Conceived, the Perceived and the Lived: Issues with 21st Century Learning and Teaching.

Barac, K. (2015). The Conceived, the Perceived and the Lived: Issues with 21st Century Learning and Teaching. In B. Reiners & D. von Konsky (Eds.), Globallyconnected, digitally enabled). Perth: ASCILITE. Dont go down and begin arranging the chairs when first assigned a course.Note need to look at other designs in step one.

What will Campus need to offerPlaces students want to come toWays to discuss, integrate, conflate information and learning that takes place onlineA range of rich culture experiences

Campus Librariesmore what they do for people than what they have for peopleProduction/make-it studiosCollaborative workspacesStudents as researchers

McGilll Library

Assessment in Blended LearningTeachers: a way to engage in conversations with studentsallows me to see the results of my teachinga lot of workStudents:fear, stress, anxiety, and judgment (Vaughan, 2010)

Vaughan, N. D. (2010b). How can students improve their academic course workthrough the use of interactive learning technologies? Paper presented at the2010 Canadian Society for Studies in Education (CSSE) Conference.

SolutionsRubrics clear expectationsGuided Self Assessment (online journal entry)What is the most important thing you learned in this unitHow will you use this unit in your lifeHow does this unit add to your knowledge base about..Public, private or shared with class???Peer assessment Use tools in the LMS or free standingVoice markingMachine marking

Available open access:

Aupress.ca

Athabasca University PressIssues in Distance Education series

Aupress.ca

Conclusion

slides available at:Terry Anderson terrya@athabascau.cavirtualcanuck.caSkype: @terguy

Your comments and questions most welcomed!

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