KEY CONCEPT
Blended Learning
A term often used interchangeably with “hybrid learning.” Blended is a model of course design that combines traditional, face-to-face (F2F) class time with online and out-of-class coursework. Blended courses typically deliver some content online and may provide opportunities for online discussions, team projects, and activities.
Blended learning is a mode of delivery whereby teaching contact hours (commonly known as TCH) include both face-to-face meetings and online components, which are mediated through the College’s Learning Management System (FanshaweOnline). For a course to be blended at Fanshawe, a minimum of one teacher contact hour (TCH) per week of the course delivery is online.
How to Approach a Blended TCH
For courses delivered in a blended format, you can approach the use of the blended hour of instruction in the same way you would for a TCH in a physical classroom, whether synchronously or asynchronously:
- Blended delivery can be achieved using a combination of pedagogically sound methods each week that is comparable to F2F instruction each week.
- A blended hour should not be routinely or repetitively thought of as solely completing course assignments online.
Activities should reinforce, continue, and/or bridge the learning taking place in the F2F classroom hour(s).
Scaffolding and Combining
The use of scaffolding techniques to leverage the potential of the virtual environment and to promote student engagement and content mastery should be the focus of the blended hour. As its name suggests, blended courses should strive to integrate the online and in-person components of a course seamlessly. A pre-planned supplemental syllabus indicating the uses of the blended hour should be provided to students before the first virtual hour occurs.
KEY TERMS
- Formative assessments occur during the learning process. It can provide information about a student’s strengths and weaknesses. It can also be used to assess progress on a project.
- Summative assessments provide information about a student’s current state of knowledge or determine a student’s progress towards an agreed-upon set of standards.
Formative and Summative Activities
A combination of formative and summative activities can be used to enhance the blended hour, including, but not limited to the following:
- Formative and summative quizzes/surveys with feedback
- Short readings in digital format with commentary
- Threaded discussion forums
- Progressive activities which lead to final team project
- Peer critiquing and small group activities
- Scenarios or case studies with short reflection.
- Lecture capture, audio, video, or other rich media
- Synchronous chats and web conferencing
- Reflection journals
- Course blogs, wikis or other web-based learning tools
- Virtual research and retrieval of course-related information
Additional Resources
- Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation – Flipping the Classroom
- Stanford University Teaching Commons – Blended and Hybrid Teaching Guide
- University of Ottawa – Designing a blended course
- OER – “Blended Learning” from Teaching with Technology by Steel Wagstaff. University of Wisconsin.
Assessments that provides ongoing and frequent ways to measure student progress towards learning outcomes. They give students multiple opportunities to learn through practice and feedback, so they have sufficient time and support to reflect and improve, and act as an informal (i.e., ungraded) check-in to determine student progress in achieving learning outcomes. Data and feedback allows teachers to adapt their instructional decisions in a responsive and immediate fashion.
Assessments that focus on learner performance after instruction has occurred, to allow students to provide evidence demonstrating their level of achievement of the course learning outcomes. Typically such assessments are formal (i.e., graded). Common forms include: student portfolios, projects that have written and/or oral products, midterm and final exams, or performance tasks that demonstrate student achievement of the learning outcomes.
