Blended Classes
I recently taught a blended class, by which I mean half of the class was online and the other half was in-class. I thought this was extremely helpful in student retention because I could check up on them face to face as well as online. I had a huge success rate with this class and I really feel I got to know my students better. Has anyone else taught a class like this with similar experiences, or was it not as successful as a pure online course?
Lori,
You level of concern indicates you will probably do very well.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I am approaching the time that I am to teach a blended learning class. I am anxious and at the same time nervous.I am hoping that my class is as much of a success for the students as yours.
Jerry,
I found my blended doctoral program to be perfect for me. The f2f time was very helpful, and fun, and the distance components were more than adequate. I did have to be a little more vigilant keeping up with details and pursuing the education than with my f2f master's program, but I actually believe I got a better educational experience from the blended program. That was my experience.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I have not personally taught a blended course, but I am currently enrolled in a graduate program that requires a one week residency for each semester. From what I was told by my current instructor, statisically many doctoral program students will not be successful because of such a limited face-to-face interaction. Retention rates apprantly at this school, in these types of programs is not very high. Personally, I'm a little concerned if this was a smart decision, to enroll in a blended doctoral program.
Very interesting. I love being in the online learning field because it is constantly evolving! Tina
Greetings Tina,
I have not seen an online swimming college course yet. However I have viewed different instances of triathlon training consulting coaching online. You can learn online on how to operate a commercial business machine as a technical trade. In addition, you can view media clips from an instructor showing you how the commercial business machine operates such as, a carpentry machine but the real truth seems that your presence on campus is needed for the hands-on application cannot be replaced.
Swim coach online training websites please check out:
http://myswimcoachonline.com/
http://www.triswimcoach.com/
For example, if a student is going to take a swimming course they would have to purchase a beginner swimming textbook posed by the instructor and an underwater camera for the course. Students would post in the discussion board ideas posed by the instructor on swimming issues from the textbook. The instructor would ask students weekly to submit media from their underwater camera to be posted to the course room. The swimming can be done at a local YMCA gym, health club gym, or you or friends swimming pool as a requirement for the course. The instructor would include evaluating students stroke and also post to the course room for other students to view in the learning online process. It could happen! I have not seen a scratch and sniff online course yet?
Hi Lee, have you ever seen an online swimming course? Tina
Teaching classes online mostly depends on the course topic. If you are going to teach an English writing skills class online that would be a great way to go. If you are going to teach a carpentry class on operating a carpentry commercial machine then you would actually have to be at the campus to get that hands-on technical trade experience from the instructor. Sure you can watch media clips on how the carpentry machine works both the actual physical presence needs to be explored by students on campus. Some technical trade schools have a low residency with online blended learning. So all depends on the institution and the accreditation in my opinion on the level of how much online can go online. You probably can take an online swimming course. How? When you purchase your textbook from the university bookstore on a swimming course you also must purchase an under water swimming camera. You record your strokes from the camera and submit to your instructor in evaluating how you are doing in the course along in responding to threaded discussions.
Hi Donna, I agree! We don't have the option to offer blended solutions in the school of undergraduate studies at my university; however, we are experimenting with live meetings using web conferencing software. Tina
I have never taught a blended class , but having taken an online class helps me to appreciate the benefits of blended learning. I would have welcomed the opportunity to speak directly to my instructor. I think that the students will feel more comfortable knowing that they can ask questions in class if the need arises.
Hi Karen, I agree. One of the issues of moving learners completely online is there feeling of being isolated and alone in a virtual sea of learning materials! The blended approach provides greater presence and support! Tina
Our school is hoping that the blended learning approach will do exactly what you stated in this forum. I believe it is a good way to get a student to make the move to becoming more responsible in time management and still have the safety net of being able to see and hear their instructors on the same subject matter they will be studying on line independently.
Hi Jenni, the online environment can actually allow more opportunities for feedback from the instructor. We generally will have learners post drafts to the assignment box for feedback from the instructor prior to submitting their final draft and we also use peer reviews where learners give feedback to one another on their drafts.
Tina
My concern would be that the students would not have as much feedback from the instructor if the class were done online. Do you have more frequent times that you can check a project before they turn in the final project?
Hi Zane, how do you split up the content between the online and f2f sessions? Tina
