Face to face, blended and online learning
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Face to face, blended and online learning CAP Digital Learning Project March 2014 DLP (Digital Learning Project) is committed to help academics who are interested in moving some of their courses in a blended/online mode. This document serves to explain some of the terminology involved to facilitate clear communication about the plans and possibilities. Definitions We are all familiar with face to face (or “in person”) teaching – it has been the main staple of delivering learning in an educational setting for a very long time. Typically students attend on campus lecture and tutorials with materials delivered in hard copy (textbooks, handouts, reading bricks, etc). Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) or Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL) have been around for a while now. In fact these terms have been used to describe the use of technology to facilitate/enhance/promote learning a second language since the early 90’s. See here for more information. There has been an interest in utilizing technology to deliver some of the instruction and/or content via technological methods, from CD-based resources in the early days to the internet and a Learning Management System1 (LMS) in more recent years. Blended (or “flexible”) learning is this kind of learning – the idea is to integrate the traditional face to face instruction with technology-based asynchronous activities and resources that students access and use in their own time. In many cases students come on campus to participate in lecture and tutorials and this is supported with learning materials, self- marking quizzes, etc in a LMS. Online learning (or “distance education”) is the next step in TELL or CALL where there is no on campus component to the course. The course is primarily conducted through the LMS using the resources and activities often present in a Blended course plus synchronous “virtual classrooms” – live tutorials or lectures using webcams and microphones. This approach allows students to conduct communicative activities (similar to those normally present in a face to face situation) but from places other than the classroom. Technology is moving rapidly in this area and with the introduction of 1 such as Wattle
“virtual worlds” it is also now possible to create learning instances that closely match
real life situation.
In CAP we have been referring to courses with a blended learning or online learning
design as “digital courses”.
Wiki articles on blended and online learning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_learning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance_learning
What are the benefits of using blended/online course designs?
These are just some of the comments of academics using the blended/online approach
in CHL:
McComas Taylor
“More flexible - can reach students all over the world, boosts enrolments,
students can access content asynchronously - where and when they want - can
access on mobile devices , can review whenever they want, free from tyranny or
distance and time”
Carol Hayes
“In my language teaching, students are introduced not only to textbook based
learning but to authentic material drawn from a variety of media such as
literature, film, internet, songs, TV and other popular media. I encourage my
intermediate Japanese language learners to step from a controlled text-based
environment to a more open ‘real’ exposure by providing easy access to such
authentic listening/viewing material. In my area studies courses, I emphasise the
importance of grounding commentary about Japanese society and culture in
primary sources, such as literature, film and popular cultural production (songs,
fashion).
Blended learning allows me to drawn on this wealth of 'real' material to create a
more up-to-date and flexible teaching and learning space that encourages
students to look up from the nuts and bolts of their textbook learning and to
take a more holistic view which focuses on the exchange meaning and the
‘cultural envelope’ that surrounds that meaning.
Blended learning, including both face-to-face teaching and access to such digital
activities as online listening and video viewing, voice recording, online quizzing
with immediate feedback, allows me to create an intensive Japanese language
program for studying ‘out-of-country’ in Australia.Blended learning allows me to achieve learning outcomes over and beyond the
possibilities of the traditional classroom. For example my students participate in
an online simultaneous e-chat with university students in Japan, they record the
conversation and transcribe it later to review and reflect on their own language
use and the language used by their Japanese partner. In another task after
reviewing a TV news item, students are asked to interview respondents and
record their responses to the issue under discussion and to then incorporate
segments of these recordings into their in-class analysis group-
presentations. This are just two examples of the multiple modes I employ in my
teaching delivery to engage different learning styles: in-class, face-to-face, one-
on-one, pair-work, group work, debates, in-class presentations, on-line
discussion (both written and voiced), online quizzing, live eChat, self-study and
course site interaction. Online tasks allow students the flexibility of working in
their own space at their own pace, and to re-listen to the conversations or
dialogues. Further through feedback and modelling tasks in the online
environment, as class time is more limited, I am better able to better develop
understanding of pronunciation issues and voicing techniques.
Blended learning provides student autonomy and as Larry Vandergrift
notes, “language programmes emphasizing autonomy will likely foster student
motivation, since perceptions of freedom of choice and perceived competence
are linked to more self-determined forms of motivation” (Vandergrift, 2005: 73,
"Relationships among Motivation Orientations, Metacongnitive Awareness and
Proficiency in L2 Listening" )
Chintana Sandilands
My experience has been that the time taken to create resources and activities
for my Thai courses using a blended/online approach has translated into time
saved in preparing and marking later on. Each subsequent year I save time in
preparation. I can build on what I have already created in my courses, and my
students have more varied resources as time goes by. My technology skills are
also improving as I work on my course site and materials. I now feel more and
more comfortable using technology in my teaching.
How much time will it take to make my course a blended/online offering?
Time depends on the kind of resources and activities you will build within the LMS and
what currently is available in your course already. Our experience has been that with
some courses, if everything is created from scratch, it can require you using anything up
to 10/12 hours each week for a semester to do this with DLP support and in some cases
additional personnel resources. But once the material is done it can be used over andover again. In other cases, where pre-existing materials can be re-purposed, the time investment might be half that. Time also depends on the level of technical expertise of the academic working on the project but the DLP is happy to support/train to achieve a basic level of self sufficiency. In talking about time we also need to point out that the time “invested” to say create self marking quizzes (for example) is then time saved in marking and often the same quizzes are used year after year, lectures pre-recorded is also extra time that you can use in other activities with your students. How much will it cost? The cost developing a digital course varies a great deal according to the technologies chosen, the amount of pre-existing material that can be re-purposed, and the expertise and experience of the teaching staff. Courses in development with the Digital Learning Project vary from $5K to $15K. The cost of teaching staff, teaching relief for the course coordinator, and language specialist teaching assistants are borne by CHL, and the cost of software and equipment, plus educational design and technology advice and development is covered by the Digital Learning Project. Examples of technology supported language courses for you to explore: Language Learning Space http://www.lls.edu.au/ Chinese virtual world to learn Chinese http://www.experiencechinese.com/index.php/sl Open Culture Language Online http://www.openculture.com/freelanguagelessons Spanish MOOC http://spanishmooc.com/ Chinese Language and Culture Open to Study Courses https://www.open2study.com/courses/chinese-language-culture The Big Welsh Challenge (a big thank you to McComas for showing us this one) http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/learnwelsh/bigwelshchallenge/
Virtual Worlds in learning – example of Second Life to learn Chinese http://www.experiencechinese.com/index.php/sl
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