Blended Learning in a

Faculty Learning Community

Blended Learning in a

Faculty Learning Community

Norm Vaughan, PhD & D. Randy Garrison, PhDLearning Commons, University of Calgary

nvaughan@ucalgary.ca

Educause 2005 Conference

Overview• Faculty development issues related to

educational technology integration

• Faculty learning community on blended learning

• Lessons learned

Reflecting on Faculty Development

Faculty DevelopmentPrograms

Examples Processes

Issues

Advantages

Faculty Development Issues

Program examples?

Program issues?

Issues with previous faculty development initiatives related to educational technology

• One off workshops – faculty come to a workshop – get excited about using educational technology but then go back to their offices and do not have the time to put their new ideas into practice

• Educational technology project development work (semester or academic year) - lack of opportunity for faculty to share their ideas and concerns with others who are also going through the same development process

• Educational technology institutes – positive in a sense that there is time to clearly link theory to practice (good mix of discussion and hands-on sessions), sense of community and sharing among participants – disadvantage, the lack of follow up connections often prevents extensive implementation of the projects

Faculty Learning Community (FLC)

A FLC consists of “a cross-disciplinary group of 5 or more faculty members (8 to 12 is the recommended size) engaging in an active, collaborative, yearlong program with a curriculum about enhancing teaching and learning and with frequent seminars and activities that provide learning, development, interdisciplinarity, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and community building”.

(Cox, 2003, p.1)

Challenges in Higher Education

• Lack of time to participate in face-to-face faculty development activities

• Perceived uptake of educational technology by faculty…..BUT…..concerns about workload: are faculty “layering” the technology on top of everything they’ve always done and continue to do?

Blended Learning

• The thoughtful integration of face-to-face classroom (spontaneous verbal discourse) and Internet based (reflective text-based discourse) learning opportunities

• An opportunity to enhance the campus experience and extend learning through the use of Internet information and communication

• Traditional classroom contact hours are restructured to accommodate the properties of online learning and appropriate activities

Blended Learning

• 80% of all American higher education institutions and 93% of doctoral institutions offer hybrid or blended learning courses (Arabasz & Baker, 2003)

• 85% of faculty surveyed in British higher education institutions believe learning technologies are improving access to education and 94% think that a mix of online and classroom-based teaching is more effective than classroom teaching alone (Marquis, 2004)

Faculty Learning Community on Blended Learning

• The Three “P” Drivers– Purpose – The successful redesign and implementation of

undergraduate credit courses in a blended learning format

– Process – series of biweekly face-to-face sessions (discussion and computer lab) combined with facilitated online activities between sessions

– Product – intended outcome of the community is that all members will have a fully functional Blackboard course site, combined with the necessary teaching and educational technology skills and experience, to support a blended mode of course delivery

• Funding: Provincial Grant (Access Fund)

FLC on Blended Learning Program Outcomes

Teaching Strategies

CurriculumDesign

Educational Technology Integration

Teaching excellence and innovationin support of

student learning

FLC on Blended Learning – Program Outcomes

• Curriculum Design A curriculum redesign plan of an existing credit

undergraduate course for blended learning. This plan involves the:

– Formulation of a blended course vision and learning outcomes

– Development of a course syllabus– Creation of assignments based on the

identified learning outcomes

FLC on Blended Learning – Program Outcomes

• Teaching Strategies The acquisition of effective face-to-face and online

teaching skills & strategies such as:– Facilitating online discussions– Stimulating online communication– Managing group work– Assessing online work– Directing students to appropriate support personal

and/or resource documentation for time management and study skills

FLC on Blended Learning – Program Outcomes

• Educational Technology Integration The acquisition of educational technology skills

such as:– Managing a Blackboard course web site – Trouble shooting basic student technology issues

Fall Semester - Sessions• Focus on Course Redesign

1. Identifying key learning outcomes2. Designing integrated face-to-face and online learning

activities3. Developing a course assessment strategy4. Creating a learning centered course syllabus and redesign

plan 5. Developing a course module prototype6. Leveraging the use of digital learning object repositories

Faculty outcomes – completed course redesign plan, course syllabus (objectives, assignments, assessment plan, grading criteria) and a functional Blackboard shell with one prototype module

Winter Semester - Sessions

• Focus on Course Development & Teaching Strategies

7. Developing your own digital learning objects8. Advanced Blackboard Tools 9. Facilitating online learning10.Integrating face-to-face and online activities11.Learner support strategies 12.Piloting and course evaluation strategies

Faculty outcomes - a redesigned course, a Blackboard web site, and the necessary teaching & educational technology strategies and skills to create a successful blended learning environment for their students

Community of Inquiry Framework

Social PresenceThe ability of participants in a community of inquiry to project themselves socially and emotionally as ‘real’ people (i.e., their full personality), through the medium of communication being used.

Cognitive PresenceThe extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse in a critical community

of inquiry.

Teaching PresenceThe design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose

of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes.

Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000)

Inquiry Process within a Blended FLC

Sphere Description Category/Phase Indicators

Inquiry Process

(cognitive presence)

The extent to which faculty are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection, discourse, and application within a critical community of inquiry.

1. Triggering

event

2. Exploration

3. Integration

4.Resolution/

application

1. Inciting curiosity and defining key questions or issues for investigation

2. Exchanging and exploring perspectives and information resources with faculty colleagues

3. Connecting ideas through individual project construction

4. Applying, testing and evaluating new ideas directly within one’s teaching practice

Supporting a blended community of inquiry

• How can digital technologies be used to support an inquiry process within a blended faculty development context?

1. Think

2. Pair

3. Share

Using digital technologies to support a blended inquiry cycleIdeas:

Using digital technologies to support a blended inquiry cycle

1. Before face-to-face (FTF) session

2. During FTF session

3. After FTF session

4. Preparing for the next FTF session

Blended FLC Model

Stage One: Before a Face-to-Face (FTF) Session

Sequence Event Purpose Use of Technology

1. Before session

• Individual pre-reading assignment or activity on a specified topic or issue

• Followed by a Web-based self assessment quiz or survey.

Faculty members

• Create a triggering event that stimulates connections with prior learning experiences

FLC Coordinator

• Determine participants’ prior knowledge or experience with the topic or issue

• Pre-reading or activity can be Web-based (for example, a digital learning object such as an animation or video clip)

• Construction and utilization of a Web-based self assessment quiz or survey

Pre-readings

Self-assessment quizzes (knowledge probes)

Examples of digital tools to support inquiry-based learningBefore FTF Session• Communication

– Announcements section of your course web site

– Group email feature • Posting or linking to pre-reading assignments

– U of C Library - Electronic Indexes and Abstracts http://www.ucalgary.ca/library/gateway/indabs.html

• Digital learning objects– Learning Object Repositories

http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/adc/adc_learningobjects.htm

• Self assessment quizzes– Test manager tools

• Anonymous surveys– Survey manager tools

Stage Two: During a FTF SessionSequence Event Purpose Use of

Technology

2. During session

Roundtable discussion (face-to-face)

• Dialogue with FLC Coordinator and faculty members about the specified issue or topic

Computer lab

• Sharing of existing project examples and resources

• Mini-tutorial followed by hands-on time for project building related to topic

• Anonymous exit survey: What did you learn? What are you still not clear about?

Roundtable discussion

• Defining the triggering events (key questions)

• Beginning to explore the questions

Computer lab

• Further exploration and a start toward tentative integration through the ability to connect theory to practice

Roundtable discussion

• Display the community results for the self-assessment quiz or survey

Computer lab

• Display project examples and resources

• Software resources

• Anonymous exit survey

Quiz & survey feedbackDisplay quiz & survey results

Digital learning objects/resources

Displaying assignments/faculty work

Examples of digital tools to support inquiry-based learningDuring FTF Session• Displaying quiz or survey results

– Online grade book results (for anonymous surveys)– Overheads of information printed out from the

Blackboard online grade book• Displaying digital learning objects and resources

– Objects uploaded to the course web site and links to external learning object and resource sites (e.g. animations, video clips, PowerPoint presentations)

– CAREO – www.careo.org

• Displaying assignments and faculty work– Assignment folders within course site which contain the

assignment handout, tutorial, resources and examples of past faculty work

Stage Three: Between the FTF SessionsSequence Event Purpose Use of Technology

3. After session

Week One

• Summary and follow-up from FTF session

• Member of the FLC moderates the online discussion (choice of activity)

• Individual members schedule project development time

• Summary of the discussion created for next session

Week Two

• Individual pre-reading assignment or activity on the next topic or issue, followed by

• Web based self-assessment quiz or survey.

• Further exploration and tentative integration

• Announcements feature within a LMS

• Online discussion forum

• Group area within the LMS

• Web links to FLC projects

• Pre-reading or activity can be Web-based (for example, a learning object)

• Construction and utilization of a Web based self assessment quiz or survey

Anonymous end of session survey

Online discussion forums

Project support and development

Links to projects

Examples of digital tools to support inquiry-based learningAfter FTF Session• Anonymous feedback surveys• Communication

– Announcements section of course site for faculty “to do” list– Group email feature for the faculty “to do” list– Individual email feature for individual faculty questions or clarification (try to

put common questions into a Frequently Asked Questions discussion forum)

– Online discussion forums to facilitate faculty moderated discussions– Virtual classroom tools for synchronous sharing sessions among faculty-

student groups• Individual and Group Project Work

– Assignment folders within course site which contains the assignment handout, tutorial, resources and examples of past faculty work

– Groups work area within learning management systems which contain communication tools (email, discussion forum, virtual chat) and a digital drop box for sharing documents

• Opportunities for further exploration– External links section within Blackboard for enrichment resources

Stage Four: Next FTF SessionSequence Event Purpose Use of

Technology

4. Next session

Roundtable discussion (face-to-face)

• Review anonymous feedback survey

• Review of online discussion activities

• Individual or group presentations

• Final group thoughts on first topic or issue

• Begin the dialogue for the next topic or issue by reviewing the weekly online quiz results

• Integration and tentative resolution

• Cycle begins again

Anonymous survey feedback

Archive survey feedback

Lessons Learned• Focus of inquiry

• Triggering events

• Exploration

• Integration

• Resolution/application

• Leadership

Focus of Inquiry

• Connection between one’s teaching practice and student learning

• Potential for a “transformational shift” in approaches to teaching – from disseminating information to creating learning environments where students construct their own knowledge

• Role of technology – shift from the packaging and distribution of information (content) to being used as a “tool set” to enable students to collaboratively construct their own knowledge

Triggering Event

• Redesign of an existing course – making one’s implicit assumptions about a course explicit

• Triggering of new ideas and perspectives about teaching and learning

• Support – community members realize they are not alone in experiencing a particular issue or concern (importance of participation and shared understanding which leads to a sense of “trust and risk taking” within the group)

• Importance of community and face-to-face (physical) presence in this stage

ExplorationImportance of:

• experiential learning opportunities – being immersed in a blended learning environment as a student

• sharing experience with other teachers and students – different discipline perspectives

• sharing of stories (power of narrative)

• online discussion forum to capture the sharing

• faculty mentors – people with previous FLC experience

IntegrationImportance of:

• a project focus – forces one to make tentative course redesign decisions (reification)

• faculty regularly presenting project artifacts and/or issues to the community in order to get feedback from other members and to help confirm their own understanding

• piloting portions of the projects with the student members of the community

Resolution/ApplicationImportance of:

• intentionally engaging in a scholarship of teaching and learning process

• getting ethics approval (early) to formally evaluate the course redesign project

• collecting quantitative and qualitative data regarding student learning outcomes and perceived satisfaction related to the redesign

• dissemination of results beyond the community – departmental, institutional and external presentations and publications

Leadership• Outside and inside the community

– essential ingredient due to the lack of formal accountability structure (participation is often on a volunteer basis)

• Outside the community (but within the organization) – sponsorship and legitimacy is vital (also important for removing

barriers and hierarchy)

• Inside the community – nurturing is the key (ecology of leadership) – need to develop a core group so that the nurturing role does not

rest with just one person– people taking on different responsibilities and roles within the

community – sign of maturity when others in the community are willing to take on

the nurturing role (shared responsibility)

LeadershipKey Dimensions of a Community of Practice (Wenger, 2005)

Domain

Community Practice

Sponsorship

NurturingParticipation

Support

Reflections• What is your “key” take-away from this session?

• What doesn’t make sense (muddiest point)?

Questions, Comments, Discussion

PowerPoint Slides Available at:http://www.ucalgary.ca/~nvaughan/norm/presentations.htm

ResourcesArabasz, P., & Baker, M. B. (2003). Evolving campus support models for e-learning

courses. Educause Center for Applied Research. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ecar_so/ers/ERS0303/EKF0303.pdf

Cox, M.D. (2003). Faculty Learning Communities: What Are They? . http://www.units.muohio.edu/flc/index.shtml

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., Archer, W. & Rourke, L (2004). Communities of Inquiry Web Site. http://communitiesofinquiry.com/

Marquis, C. (2004). WebCT Survey Discovers A Blend of Online Learning and Classroom-Based Teaching Is The Most Effective Form Of Learning Today. WebCT.com. http://www.webct.com/service/ViewContent?contentID=19295938

Novak, Greg (1999). Just-in-Time Teaching. http://webphysics.iupui.edu/jitt/what.html/

Wenger, E. (2005). Communities of Practice Web Site. http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm