Hybrid Course Success: Continuity and Learning Community Strategies for

Guiding Students between Face-to-Face and Online Environments

Steven N. Pyser, J.D.Temple University, Fox School of Business and ManagementSNPyser@temple.edu

Ron Costello, M. Ed.Penn State University, Abington Collegerjc35@psu.edu

Faculty of the Future ConferenceFriday, June 3, 2011

Agenda – Learning Objectives• Describe foundational elements

necessary to transition seamlessly between the classroom and online environment.

• Explore methods to achieve cohesive, scalable and sustainable working learning community in the online environment.

• Identify key shared values necessary to create an open collaborative online learning environment.

• Identify what inquiry Circles and Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) look like in practice in face-to-face and online environment.

• Identify potential pitfalls that can hinder establishing an open collaborative online learning environment, and offer solutions.

Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks. The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what

the student does to learn.HERBERT A. SIMON, one of the founders of the field of Cognitive Science, Nobel Laureate and University Professor (deceased) at Carnegie Mellon University.

The “Hybrid Dichotomy”

Photo By: Gilles Guerraz

Expectations Hybrid ExperienceCommitment and Time Communication Accountability

Success?

Interdependent Mutual Obligations between

Faculty and Students in Hybrid Environment

Expectations & Agreements –

Establish Norms

FVCA with Graphic Syllabus

LNRA – Class 1; CyberCafe; Student

Information Essay (SIE)

Low Stakes Individual Activities

Weekly Reflection Journal

Voice Board/Voice Threading; Peer

Review of Projects; Final Journal

Project/AI

Graded Multiple Small Group Activities &

Presentations

F2F and Computer Mediated

(WebEx/Wimba) – 2 and 5 member

groups

CSRwire WSJ Morning meeting; Destination Singapore; Workplace

Lesson Plan

Co-create Continuity and Learning Community

How we join our actions with the actions of other people • Within conversations people • Coordinate and establish meaning• Identify with each other • Making socials worlds

How we make sense out of what we’re doing Choice: we can go on in practice together with or go away from each other (Holmgren, 2004, p. 92).

Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) Continuity between Classes

Education as Social Experience through CMM

•two people interact socially construct meaning of their conversation (Barnett Pearce, personal communication, December 28, 2007).

•individuals comprised of interpersonal system to explain actions and reactions

•people in conversation first want to understand

•apply rules to figure things out

•rules decide action to create understanding (University of Twente, 2010).

Inability to communicate effectively or receive criticism

New work environment, collaborate with veteran team members; seek advice and support

Represent 35 percent of the U.S. workforce

Influence in the workplace continues to grow based on their technology savvy and diversity skills

Simulating Future Work Environments for Millennials

Born after 1980 or, more specifically, between 1977 and 1995.

Source: http://www.diversity-executive.com/article.php?in=1187

(Wenger, White, & Smith, 2009, p. 153)

Learning Agreeme

nts

Course Schedule

Graphic Syllabus & Acknowledgments Weekly

Journal - Reflectio

n

Virtual Office Hours

Infrastructure for Hybrid Learners

See, www.timelinemaker.com for more information, including a 50% discount for qualified educational users.

Don't ignore the small things -- the kite flies because of its tail. -- Hawaiian Proverb

The optimist pleasantly ponders how high his kite will fly; the pessimist woefully wonders how soon his

kite will fall. -- William Arthur Ward

Promoted discovery/active

learning

Responsibility for one’s own learning

Strengthened student

motivation

Built student-teacher

relationships

Promoted peer communication

Increased capacity for connection

Observed Hybrid Outcomes

Learning in the presenters’ c lassrooms occurs in a metaphorical “terrarium”

Photo: V. Tobin

The goal is to create a sustainable learning community consistent with the elements of a natural ecosystem.

We endeavor to achieve the seamless transition between the face-to-face classroom experience and

the online learning environment.

The Inquiry Circle is an effective tool of dialogue that can be deployed in the face-to-face or online learning environment.

Delivering The Content

Don’t Spend Too Much Development Time On

“Absorb” related content

Online Interaction

I learned so much from your post!

Q & A

Reference

Holmgren, Allan (1994). Saying, doing and making: teaching cmm theory. Retrieved June 2, 2011, from http://www.pearceassociates.com/essays/documents/documents/84954_Holmgren.pdf

Nilson, L. B. (2007). The graphic syllabus and the outcomes map: Communicating your course. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

University of Twente, (2007). Coordinated management of meaning. Retrieved January 20, 2011, from http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Language%20Theory%20and%20Linguistics/Coordinated_Management_Meaning.doc/

Wenger, E., White, N., & Smith, J. D. (2009). Digital habitats stewarding technology for communities. Portland, OR: Cpsquare.