Why
Develop Hybrid Courses?
The hybrid
or blended model of instruction, where a significant amount of the course
learning activity has been moved online, making it possible to reduce the
amount of time spent in the classroom, allows students and faculty members
to combine the best of face-to-face and online interaction. The goal of a
hybrid class is to blend the best features of in-person instruction with technology-enriched
online experiences to create an educational atmosphere that promotes active
participatory learning. By supplementing traditional in-person methods with
web-based activities and resources, the course is made more accessible and
interactive and cultivates increased student interest and self-exploration.
What does the research say about Hybrid Courses?
New
teaching opportunities:
- Faculty can teach using a variety
of online and in-class teaching strategies, which make it possible to achieve
course goals and objectives more effectively.
- The hybrid model allows faculty
to develop solutions to course problems and to incorporate new types of
interactive and independent learning activities that were not possible in
traditional courses.
Student engagement:
- Instructors report that they
feel more connected with their students and are able to get to know them
better since they communicate both online and face-to-face.
- Hybrid environments have the
potential to increase and extend instructor-student and student-student
connectivity and to build relationships even more so than in traditional
or online courses.
- Discussions started in class
are continued online and online interaction often carries over into the
traditional face-to-face classes.
- Integration of out-of-class
activities with in-class activities allows more effective use of traditional
class time.
- Students who rarely take part
in class discussions are more likely to participate online.
Increased student
learning:
- Faculty believes that their
students learn more in the hybrid format than they do in traditional class
sections.
- Instructors report that students
write better papers, performed better on exams, produced higher quality
projects, and were capable of more meaningful discussions on course material
when reflecting online.
- Students are better able to
master concepts and apply what they have learned compared to students in
sections of their traditionally taught courses.
- Students may develop higher-order
skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to apply theoretical
models to real-world data.
New pedagogical
approaches:
- Learning to teach a successful
hybrid course leads to using more participatory and student-centered learning
activities.
- Teaching a hybrid course transforms
the teacher-student relationship to be more centered on student learning.
- Instructors found that their
role as teacher changed from being the "sage on the stage" to
become more facilitative and learner-centered.
Documenting the
process as well as the product of learning:
- Many instructors report
that their course management system has increased their pedagogic efficiency
because of its ability to organize the course and automate some basic activities
such as quizzes, grading, and surveys.
- All the discussion
threads, course documents, announcements, and grades are easy to find, refer
to, and print if necessary.
- It's far easier to
document online group work and participation for purposes of assessment.
Jeffrey B. Larson, Ph.D
Dean of EICCD E-learning Enterprise
Eastern Iowa Community College District
Kahl Educational Center - Suite 801
326 West Third St.
Davenport, IA 52801
563.336.5237 (O)
563.271.4801 (C)
jlarson@eicc.edu
http://www.eiccdonline.blogspot.com/
http://www.eiccdonline.net/Elearning/
