4 Tips for Teaching Blended Learning Courses

How do you connect the in-person and online components?

Even though your students are likely comfortable with technology and social media, they may not have experience with a blended learning course. This could lead them to neglect the online components of the course. It is important for you to spend some time during the first face-to-face class, through an online introductory video, or during a live webinar to describe which components of the course will take place online and which will be during in-person class sessions.

You can also draw students’ attention online by connecting these components closely to your in-person sessions. For example, you may want to consider continuing discussions or debates online by posting follow up questions, or by posting videos online that introduce and prepare students for in-class case activities. The face-to-face and online portions should feed into each other to create a cohesive and engaging learning experience.

Suggested Tools

• H5P (free/MacPherson works on getting the licence) – straightforward app used to create interactive content (e.g., flashcards, interactive videos, course presentations, branching scenarios, etc.), Avenue integration.

• Camtasia (MacPherson has some licences for faculty) – software used to create and edit screencasts.

Find helpful resources for Camtasia here: https://www.techsmith.com/tutorial-camtasia.html

• MacVideo (free) – secure video sharing platform, which offers automatic closed captioning, built-in video/screencast quizzes, Avenue integration.

• Echo 360 (free) – video sharing platform, which offers lecture capture/recording, automatic & flexible closed captioning, integrated assessments & polls, time-synced notes, discussion forum, confusion flags, bookmarks, Avenue integration.

• The MacPherson Institute offers expertise and support with video production which includes well equipped studio space.
https://teaching.mcmaster.ca/educational-technology/

How do you make yourself present in the course?

Just as your presence is necessary when teaching face-to-face in the classroom, your presence is needed for the online portions of your blended learning course. Instructor presence encourages students to remain engaged and interested in your course4. Some ways to interact with your students include:

• In-person and virtual office hours: Try setting up a web conferencing link for set hours during the week and allowing students to drop in with their questions. These can supplement or replace the in-person office hours that you would hold in a traditional face-to-face course.
• Curated discussion questions: Moderating online discussions ensures that students are receiving correct information and are expanding their thinking.
• Video clips: Try posting a brief video between face-to-face sessions to introduce an upcoming assignment, respond to frequently asked questions, pose interesting discussion questions, or describe a new concept.
• Shared content: Post links to current news or interesting articles for your students to see how your course connects to the outside world and to maintain their engagement with the course.
• Live webinars: Hosting a live class session online can be an opportunity for you to present new information, discuss course content, conduct a review session, and otherwise interact with students between face-to-face sessions.

Whatever tools you use to stay connected throughout the course, it is important to remember that students should feel your presence just as much online as they do during in-person classes.

Suggested Tools

• Video Note (Avenue) – allows to record a short video directly from any computer through the web camera and attach it to the announcement. Effective for weekly summaries, comments regarding student work/participation, Q & A, etc. The tool is not fully accessible.

• AppearIn (free, fee for extra functionality) – web conferencing tool, effective for scheduling one-on-one consultations, office hours.

• Calendly (free, fee for extra functionality) – allows to schedule office hours without back-and force emails, Avenue integration.

What forms of assessment and feedback should you use?

Assessment can happen in person or online during a blended learning course. You may still want to use in-person tests, exams, or presentations, while many assignments, exercises, and simulations may be completed online. Consider assessing participation both in person through class or group discussions, and online through discussion board posts, blogs/vlogs, or synchronous group discussions. Avenue to Learn provides effective tools for tracking grades throughout the semester, and can link online assignment dropboxes or quizzes to grade items. Here are some other ideas that you may want to consider:

• Online quizzes and tests through Avenue to Learn can prove useful for formative and summative assessment, making both you and your students aware of what they have learned and what requires more work. These can provide important feedback to students quickly.
• Group work and collaboration are crucial to business education. You can facilitate these skills by requiring group assignments, presentations, or discussions throughout your course, or by employing peer assessment. Having students review their peers’ work facilitates their self-assessment and can provide formative feedback throughout the learning process.

Whichever assessment activities you choose to employ in your class, it is crucial to provide regular feedback to students. With more online learning components, it can be easy for some students to fall behind. By closely monitoring your students’ progress and providing regular feedback, you can ensure that they leave your course having attained the necessary knowledge and skills.

Suggested Tools

• Peer Grade (free; fee for extra functionality) – online platform to facilitate peer feedback, which provides instructors with students reports, rubric quality and evaluation insights, customization for all types of peer assessment and files, Avenue integration.

• FlipGrid (free) – video discussion platform where students and instructors can record short videos to answer/ask questions and reply to each other’s videos.

• Rubrics (Avenue) – “help improve student learning through several mechanisms: increasing transparency, reducing anxiety, aiding the feedback process, improving student self-efficacy, or supporting student Self-regulation” (Brookhart, S. M., 2018); the Avenue Rubric tool helps instructors to decrease grading workload. Also see Appendix 5: Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation

How can you maintain motivation and engagement throughout the term?

Students’ motivation and engagement are related to better learning and course outcomes5. Maintaining motivation can be even more important for blended learning courses where students heavily rely on self-regulated learning. Here are some suggestions for actively engaging your students in-person and online:

• Connect the core concepts of your course to real world contexts and current events.
• Vary the ways you present course material, for example through simulations, debates, TED talks, cases, newspaper articles, videos, etc.
• Check in with students often, informally through in-person or online discussion, or formally through formative/summative assessment
• Maintain an active presence on discussion forums by responding to students’ posts to encourage everyone to participate and learn.
• Encourage collaboration through group activities or assignments to allow students to learn from one another and build accountability.

Suggested Tools

• Applicable Tips for Engagement and Motivation – from the Online Learning Consortium, Ali Briggs presents ten ways to overcome barriers to student engagement, looking specifically at social barriers, administrative barriers, and motivation barriers.
• How to Increase Student Engagement – In this LinkedInLearning.com video series, Dr. Karl Kapp explores both time-tested and cutting-edge tools to increase cognitive engagement, knowledge retention, and collaboration. (Free to access this video series, but you must log in to LinkedInLearning.com using your MacID and password.)

How do you establish good communication?

To establish good communication throughout the semester, students must understand the expectations, appropriate forums should be prepared, and the instructional team should be responsive.

1. Be sure to inform students of where they should direct their questions:
   1. Emailing you or a teaching assistant directly.
   2. Posting in a central discussion forum for peers, teaching assistants, or you to respond.
   3. Attending in-person or virtual office hours.
2. Maintain a consistent presence in your course: if students see you posting videos, blog posts, discussion posts, or content regularly, they will feel more comfortable communicating with you throughout the course.
3. Establish a reasonable response time that students can expect from you or a TA. Consider a quicker response time for the first few weeks of a course while students are still getting accustomed to the course structure (e.g., 12 hours versus 24–48 hours for the remainder of the term).
4. Encourage collaboration and communication amongst students through discussion forums, blogs/vlogs, group work, etc.

Suggested Tools

• Zoom – an online web conferencing tool to connect you with your students. The free version of the app allows 100 simultaneous student connects, 40 minute (max) sessions, break out rooms, unlimited 1:1 meetings. A paid subscription ($20/month) allows greater functionality.

• WebEx – WebEx Meetings is McMaster’s current web and video conferencing tool available to staff and faculty primarily for teaching and learning purposes. WebEx allows for virtual meetings and online teaching sessions with a variety of capabilities. Accounts and training are available upon request: https://avenue.mcmaster.ca/support/ with 24/7 technical support available from WebEx at 1 (866) 229-3239.