Delivery

Online Learning

Curriculum development for online learning should meet quality standards.

The former eCampusAlberta Quality Standards (2.0) continue to be a benchmark against which online learning courses can be assessed.

A Guide to Quality in Online Learning from Academic Partnerships provides an extensive and in-depth consideration of factors and requirements to create successful online learning.

Blended Learning

(adapted from Cleveland-Innes & Wilton, 2018)

The simplest definition of the term blended learning is the use of traditional classroom teaching methods together with the use of online learning for the same students studying the same content in the same course. It is a “thoughtful fusion of face-to-face and online learning experiences” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008). “Thoughtful” is the key word in this last sentence; blended learning needs to be carefully planned so that you are not simply adding an online or face to face component onto an existing course without any consideration of the learning outcomes and/or student workload.

In other words, blended learning is a term applied to the practice of providing instruction and learning experiences through some combination of both face-to-face and technology-mediated learning. During the technology-mediated components of these learning experiences, students are not required to be physically together in one place but may be connected digitally through online communities. For example, one blended learning course could involve students attending a class taught by a teacher in a traditional classroom setting while also completing online components of the course independently, outside of the classroom, on an online learning platform.

Classroom instruction time may be replaced or augmented by online learning experiences, and online learning can include varying degrees of interaction or just time alone in independent study and learning activities. However, in a quality blended learning experience, the content and activities of both in-person and online learning are integrated with one another and work toward the same learning outcomes with the same content. The various learning experiences are synthesized, complement each other, and are planned or orchestrated to run in parallel.

Variations of Blended Learning

Blended learning is sometimes called mixed-mode learning. The potential variations of blended or mixed-mode learning are virtually endless; some common models are described below:

• The first model, blended presentation and interaction, has classroom engagement as its primary component, with support from out-of-class, online exercises. The flipped classroom or flipped curriculum approach is a common example of this model, with students viewing podcasts or other online resources independently, followed by classroom-based tutorials or seminars for group learning based upon these resources.
• The second is the blended block model (sometimes called a programme flow model), in which a sequence of activities, or “blocks,” is structured to incorporate both face-to-face learning and online study, usually with consideration for both pedagogical goals and practical constraints. For example, a course for geographically distributed learners or working professionals may have limited opportunities for classroom-based learning and therefore begin with a block of intensive face-to-face sessions, followed by blocks of online study and collaboration through online tutorials, possibly followed by a further block of face-to-face learning or group presentations.
• The third model is fully online but may still be considered blended if it incorporates both synchronous learning (for example, online tutorials) and asynchronous activities (for example, discussion forums).

References

Cleveland-Innes, M. & Wilton, D. (2018). Guide to blended learning [PDF file]. Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence at http://oasis.col.org/handle/11599/3095

Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. (2008). Blended learning in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.