This topic was from the beginning quite challenging to grasp, but the book Guide to BLENDED LEARNING written by Martha Cleveland-Innes and Dan Wilton helped to understand the topic. The three models of blended learning discussed in the book are interesting and I believe that model 3 is the one that suits best in these Covid-19 days. Blended learning in model 3 is described as fully online, with a combination of:
• short lecture podcasts with online resources and learning activities
• online tutorials (synchronous)
• interaction via online collaboration, discussion forums and/or group work
This is actually the model used in this Open Network Learning (ONL) course. Also, five benefits with blended learning is described. I have one big bad experience when it comes to teaching online and that is interaction. The students are as quiet as mice’s and they don’t turn the camera on when being asked to. Often the questions are sent through the chat. Simply there is no interaction. This is something I have reflected upon the reason why and this ONL course have helped to better understand this phenomenon.
The funny thing is that in our Problem Based Learning (PBL) group the degree of interaction is high. I was actually reflecting on that from the very beginning of the course. The ONL course is designed in strange way if you are not used to the approach or methodology used in this course. It has been difficult to pinpoint the reasons to way the interaction, collaboration and learning have worked smoothly. Base on the discussion in my PBL group, I guess that my group members have the same feeling. We decided to analyze the ONL course from a student perspective by using a Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. Have a look at or final result and thoughts. When we discussed and combined the material it became obvious that there are several of factors affecting the interaction, collaboration and learning. Many of these small details will I take with me as a teacher to the coming course, e.g. set of rules, the amount of synchronous and asynchronous activities, etc. The group sizes in this ONL course is maximized to eight participants plus two facilitators. This is really luxurious, and this affects definitely the interaction, collaboration and learning. Based on the experience from this course this course design works but for me the interaction problem will still remain to some extent. There are too many students taking my course and I don’t have the number of resources needed for the facilitator part. A group sizes of eight students is good number and I would need around 24 facilitators. Another question is if the groups should be static or dynamic. In this ONL course the groups are static. In a way this is good, it takes time to build trust and a casual positive atmosphere in a group. I like the idea and my group. However, if I had been in another group, what had I learned then since there is no structure how to solve the problem in the groups. Each group approach the problem as they like, and I assume that the learning outcome will be different. That was only a final reflection.
/Alwood
