Teaching Blended

What is Blended Learning at NIC?

• Teach­ing and learn­ing activ­i­ties occur in the on-cam­pus class­room and in dig­i­tal for­mats using a vari­ety of learn­ing tech­nolo­gies and dig­i­tal resources.
• The course has sched­uled and required in-class instruc­tion and con­tact time between instruc­tor and stu­dents.
• The course also has reg­u­lar dig­i­tal inter­ac­tions between the course instruc­tor and stu­dents.
• The amount of time for the dig­i­tal activ­i­ty vs. the in-class activ­i­ty is set by the instruc­tor and varies by course.
• Stu­dents should refer to the course meet­ing sched­ule or out­line for more details.
• Blend­ed cours­es often have con­tent deliv­ered in dig­i­tal for­mats leav­ing the in-class time for appli­ca­tion activ­i­ties, expe­ri­en­tial and hands-on learn­ing along with spe­cif­ic assess­ments.
• There are defined expec­ta­tions and dead­lines for com­ple­tion of assign­ments and oth­er course relat­ed activ­i­ties both for the on-cam­pus class­es and dig­i­tal inter­ac­tions.
• Stu­dents may have to work in groups with oth­er stu­dents or do col­lab­o­ra­tive activ­i­ties.
• Group activ­i­ties may be done dur­ing in-class and/or via dig­i­tal for­mat inter­ac­tions.
• Mid-terms, tests, and quizzes includ­ing any final exams will take place dig­i­tal­ly via a vari­ety of for­mats.
• If a final exam is sched­uled for the course, the exam will take place dig­i­tal­ly on a cer­tain day/time accord­ing to the insti­tu­tion­al exam sched­ule.
• There may be option­al real-time office hours as part of the course.

Blend­ed learn­ing  has many ele­ments that need plan­ning, orga­ni­za­tion and exe­cu­tion to appro­pri­ate­ly engage stu­dents in suc­cess­ful blend­ed learn­ing expe­ri­ences. Here are some tips:

1. Use in-class learn­ing expe­ri­ences for hands-on, applied and prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ences.
2. Use in-class learn­ing expe­ri­ences for assess­ments and demon­stra­tions of learn­ing that need to be observed, done with mate­ri­als or in envi­ron­ments that have spe­cial­ized resources.
3. Put all con­tent engage­ment, read­ing, watch­ing, pas­sive learn­ing expe­ri­ences to the dig­i­tal for­mat.
4. Have stu­dents engage in small assess­ments (e.g., a short quiz, post in dis­cus­sion forum, video sum­ma­ry) pri­or to arriv­ing for in-class learn­ing. In this way you can see where you may need to re-teach or re-empha­size cer­tain learn­ing that may not have been suc­cess­ful­ly obtained.

Resources 

• Best Prac­tices for Design­ing Blend­ed Cours­es | Web­page from Cen­tre for Teach­ing Excel­lence, Uni­ver­si­ty of Water­loo
• Get­ting Start­ed with Design­ing a Hybrid Learn­ing Course | Web­page from Cen­ter for Teach­ing Inno­va­tion, Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty
• Blend­ed and Online Learn­ing | Web­site from Tay­lor Insti­tute for Teach­ing and Learn­ing | Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­gary
• Blend­ed Learn­ing | a free e‑book by Jack­ie Doher­ty