The Impact of Faculty Development on Blended Learning

The Instructional Development Team Magali Carrera, Team Leader

Tracey Russo, Instructional Designer

Damon Gatenby, Technical Support Specialist

Jen Riley, Faculty Trainer

Who we are?

• UMass Dartmouth

CITS/Instructional Development team

– Background

– What we do

– Online Teaching and Learning Strategies

Training Course

Agenda

• UMass System Sloan Consortium Grant• Blended Learning Training Course• Integrating Instructional/Emerging

Technologies• Faculty Survey Results• Lessons Learned• On-going Plans

Sloan Consortium Grant

• UMass campuses develop plan to expand access to programs by taking a “local strategy” approach to developing, delivering, and marketing online, blended programs, and services.

• UMass system awarded $650,000 Sloan Consortium grant in January 2007.

Sloan Consortium Grant

• Transform B.A. in Liberal Arts degree to meet the needs of regional population

• Provide alternative course calendaring and scheduling

• Create highly interactive blended courses• Utilize available technologies to enhance

the learning environment• Provide faculty development support

Blended Learning Training

• Developed 2-week online blended learning training course using blended practices (i.e. face to face meetings; synchronous online meetings via Live Classroom, asynchronous discussions; team projects; resource building)

• Developed and facilitated by faculty for faculty

Blended Learning Training

• Participants actively engage with each other to reconsider classroom practices via the discussion boards and small group discussions.

• Participants engage with blended learning technologies (Live Classroom, audio integration, wikis, etc).

• Determine the “right mix” --how face-to-face assignments blend with online assignments to create effective learning experiences.

Faculty Commitment

• Faculty invited to participate– receive $4000 stipend

• Participate in the 2 week online blended learning workshop via our campus learning management system (LMS)

• Complete LMS 2-week training course (if not done so already)

• Complete at least 2 technology workshops (i.e. using audio files; using additional Vista tools; etc.)

Faculty Commitment

• Learn to use Wimba Live Classroom, the campus synchronous collaboration tool

• Integrate new technologies into their course

• Allow peer assessment of the blended course

• Participate in IRB approved surveys and distribute student surveys in course

• Provide future workshop on experience• Offer their course at least one more time

within four semesters of the first offering

Blended Learning Training

• Training Course Objectives– define blended/hybrid learning;– become familiar with current literature on

blended/hybrid learning;– become familiar with instructional technologies

that can be used to enhance the student learning experience;

– form a community of practice; – develop a web-link library of resources; and, – create an action plan for developing one's

blended course, identifying appropriate instructional technologies.

Training Overview

Introductions and Defining Blended

Learning

Introductions and Defining Blended

Learning

Developing Your Ideas About Blended

Learning

Developing Your Ideas About Blended

Learning

Sharing Our WorkSharing Our Work

Submit Survey

Training StartOur training begins with a short survey:

1. Which of the following do you feel most accurately defines the term “blended learning”?

A. A mix of face to face classroom instruction and online instruction

B. Instruction using multiple forms of mediaC. A shift from lecture to student centered instruction

in which students become active and interactive learners

D. Reduced seat time in the face to face classroomE. An online course site with course materials and

activities that supplement the face to face classroom instruction

2. What do you think are the benefits and challenges of blended learning?

Introductions and DefiningBlended Learning

• Welcome/overview• Course expectations• Technical requirements• Why blend?• Introductions-via asynchronous discussion

How do you define blended learning now?

Introductions and DefiningBlended Learning cont.

• Review the current literature• Models and scenarios• Types of Blends• 2nd asynchronous discussion addresses the

following: – Has your original definition of blended learning

changed? Why or why not?– What ideas about going blended and (re)designing your

class do you have at this point based on what we've read?

Developing Your Blended Ideas

• Finding the Mix– Start with your objectives– Know your learner– Make your course interactive– Deciding when to be live versus when to be

online– Learner choice vs. self-regulation– Bells and whistles versus simple designs– Knowing if the blend works

Developing Your Blended Ideas• Pick a learning objective and decide how to

achieve that objective in your blended course.

Consider the following questions:– What assignment(s) will you blend to achieve that

learning objective?– Will the assignment(s) take place face-to-face or online? – What instructional technologies will you use to develop

and present the assignments?– What are the benefits of your approach?– What are the drawbacks of your approach?

Sharing Our Work

Sharing Our Work

Participant Action Plan

1. What objective(s) will be redesigned for the online environment?

2. What media or technology do you plan on integrating to achieve your goals?

3. What additional training, workshops, or technology assistance do you anticipate?

4. What are your next steps?

Using Instructional Technologies

• Synchronous Virtual– Chat/IM– Virtual Classrooms

• Asynchronous Virtual– Threaded Discussions (Voice or Text)– Wikis– Blogs/Journals

• Self-Paced Asynchronous – Podcasts– Self-tests– Tutorials/Simulations

Faculty Survey Results

• When asked....

– I would teach a blended course or fully online course again. • All stated, “yes”

– I would encourage other faculty to teach a fully online or blended class. • Strongly agree-100%

Faculty Survey Results cont.

– The blended faculty believes that the blended course format allows them to teach more effectively.• To a moderate extent 50%• To a great extent 25%

– Technical support and help was available when I needed it. • All faculty “strongly agreed”

Lessons Learned

• Training– Discussions were considered very effective– Exchange of resources and ideas– Chance to use technologies, Live Classroom– Group work was least valuable– Pace too fast

• Other considerations– Students need better notification about what a blended

learning environment is and how a course will unfold during a semester

– Faculty time on task was increased– Technical issues for students

On-going Plans

• Further development of learning objects• Evaluate– Collaborative tools (clickers, wikis, blogs)– Lecture capture software

Questions/Comments?