Topic 4

In this topic, we discussed about the blended learning, especially in Covid-19 situation. I started by watching Dr. M. Cleveland-Innes’s video [1], from which I saw the question she proposed for blended learning. ‘How to design effecive online blended learning?’.

Most of teachers have heard about thte blended learning, however, few of them use blended learning actually. From my group discussion, I think it is probably because we don’t use 100% blended learning. Some of my group members already use variaous teaching methods and tools in their classroom, for example padlet, zoom, Canvas, and so on. The challenge is we may not use it effectively.

In order to design effective blended learning, it is necessary to be equipped with the theroy of blended learning. Some available theories are, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) [2], Key challenges in blended learning [3], and relationship between student characteristics/background, design features and learning outcomes [4]. My find my own interest on the assessment of blended learning, which can be also related to the above theories. By looking at literature [5], there are several aspects on the assessment of blended learning, including the Formative Assessment, Summative Assessment, and Course Evaluation.

The formative assessment for blended learning could be using check-in ticket, exit ticket, Kahoot, Menti, Padlet, or other samll piece and attactive assessment. This meets the theory from CoI on the social, teacher and cognitive presences. For example Kahoot provide a social environment for students where they can interact with teacher and other students. Check-in and exit ticket provide a gradually learning process for students and the design of Kahoot and such check-in and exit ticket should be teacher’s main duty. The summative assessment could be oral presentation for blended learning, because it can stimulate students to reflect their thoughts and discuss with the others. i.e. more interactions.

The above two mentioned assessments are all for students, for blended learning, it is also important to evaluate the coruse, because it could give some constructive comments on improving the blended learning. Under the online education environment, the course evaluation could be done based on bloom taxonomy, pedagogical expectation fromm student, and also teacher’s domain-specifi knowledge. In general, there is no universal assessment tool for the blended course. Diversity and mixture is along with the blended learning. Thus, as a teacher, it is always good that we can design the course based on our own situation, and most of the effective design can be relied on the theory.

Reference

[1] Cleveland-Innes, M. (2021). Blended and online teaching and learning: Identifying pedagogical change in higher education. ONL211 topic 4 Intro video (9:35 min).

[2] Garrison, D.R. and Arbaugh, J.B., 2007. Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues, and future directions. The Internet and higher education, 10(3), pp.157-172.

[3] 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.

[4] Kintu, M. J., Zhu, C., & Kagambe, E. (2017). Blended learning effectiveness: the relationship between student characteristics, design features and outcomes. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), 1-20.

[5] https://vocal.media/education/blended-learning-collaborative-learning-and-intercultural-communicative-competence