(Topic 4)
Flexibility is probably one of the most coveted properties of online and blended learning. With online learning, there has been a change in the roles of both teacher and students. In blended learning students are being offered to make choices between different assignments and materials When students get the feeling they can contribute to the design of the course, their engagement and performance in the course improves (1).
Flexibility means that students are being offered different options on participating in studies and completing tasks (2). Flexibility allows to take into consideration different preferences of students. Some students might prefer studying in groups, while other students rather work individually. Some prefer face-to-face meetings while others are content with meeting solely online. For different activities, different modes of contact are more suitable or preferable. Group work might be more effectively carried out with the whole group working synchronously in the same physical space. For individual tasks working completely online might be enough.
Personally I have thought a lot about giving feedback to students. Especially in these times, when personal contact is minimal, I try to use every possibility to contact individual students to make them feel seen and not forgotten about. Often even a small comment or piece of feedback seems to be appreciated: many students have answered my message with a happy thank you, wishing a good week, or with a smiley.
Provision of feedback can be used as a means to adjust the learning process. Feedback can be given to the group as a whole or individually. Online there are several different channels through which feedback can be provided: traditional e-mail for personal feedback, a blog or forum for feedback for a larger group.(2) I myself use the message application of the learning platform for sending personal messages to individual students with comments on the assignments they have completed. I started contemplating different means of giving feedback and their suitability for different kinds of feedback and different individuals as well. Some students might prefer to receive feedback face-to-face, at least in a video meeting with cameras on. For others it might be easier to have it online, to be able to reflect on it by themselves before eventually replying or posing further questions. Giving personal feedback “live” face-to-face might seem more “honest” when both parts can see each other’s immediate reactions. Giving written or recorded feedback online gives the receiver the possibility to decide when to take part of the message, and doesn’t reveal immediate reactions. A saved message or recording also gives the recipient the chance to later turn back to the response. Naturally, negative feedback should be given in private.
With the flexibility a blended learning environment offers, students could be offered to choose in which way they want to receive feedback: online by a written message, online in a video meeting, or in a face-to-face meeting with all parts present. It might even happen that during the course, the way in which a student prefers to have contact changes from e.g. written messages online to personal meetings in class.
References:
- Cleveland-Innes, M. (2021). Blended and online teaching and learning: Identifying pedagogical change in higher education. ONL211 topic 4 Intro video (9:35 min). https://youtu.be/HlIbs3EFnIM
- Boelens, R., De Wever, B., & Voet, M. (2017). Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 22, 1-18.
