For many, it’s back-to-school this week (or maybe a few weeks ago) or back to the office if...

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For many, it’s back-to-school this week (or maybe a few weeks ago) or back to the office if you’ve been on summer vacation. Or perhaps it’s simply back-to-routine. Whether you’re a student/learner, their support system, or an instructor/facilitator/educator, you will likely find that learning has significantly transformed over the last few years. With a shift to a new normal, learning will be supported by face-to-face instruction, fully online, and blended learning models (with synchronous and asynchronous elements).

 

If you’re transitioning to a blended model, here are 3 tips to help you out:

 

1.      Curate materials and design activities to meet learning outcomes.

The Internet is full of materials, and so many of them are credible and mostly on topic. It’s also important to curate them, so they’re in alignment with your learning outcomes. If every reading, activity, and resource were included, a course could get really long quickly. Avoid the course-and-a-half phenomenon!

 

2.      Make sure online and in-person content is equally valuable.

Should your content be online or in-person? Pause a moment before answering this one. Now, take a step back. What learning objective does the content support? (On what level of Bloom’s Taxonomy does it reside?). Knowing your goal can help you fairly evaluate how the content should be taught.

 

3.      Assess learners in creative ways.

Tired of the same assessment types? With the blended modality, you have some creative options! Online tests can include video-based responses. Learners can create and submit podcasts or blogs. In-person presentations can have online follow-up discussions or polls. Or, ask your learners to create their own creative assessment submissions.

 

What are your favourite tips for designing blended learning experiences?

Karen.McCloskey886

My favourite thing to do in a blended class is to bring the online into the face-to-face so the two parts of the course work together seamlessly. By having learners prepare online before coming to expand on a particular idea in class, you can get deeper learning and scaffold where needed. Plus, learners see the value of the online work when you emphasize it in class.