The Blended Learning Pilot project at Swansea University ran from August 2017 to March 2019. A link to the final report is below alongside some key points I think are important to focus on.
This is an important statement as it is often thought that everything should be blended. Some courses/topics do not suit a blended approach but these topics may benefit from other’s being taught in a blended way.
The ABC design process is specifically designed to help convert traditionally taught modules into blended modules. It provides a quick and easy framework and methodology to support the academic and is facilitated by an experienced learning technologist/ABC practitioner. As a first step into blended learning I would recommend contacting SALT to arrange an ABC session.
The student feedback is valuable, particularly this quote:
Teaching the XXXX lecture based on the understanding that everyone had done the background reading, so that the lecture could build on details covered in the lecture notes instead of simply regurgitating already accessible information
The goal of blended learning is often to improve those face-to-face encounters academic staff have with students by putting the focus on delving into the material in detail instead of covering material that can be delivered elsewhere. Laurillard describes this as transforming information into knowledge.
Staff feedback in the report is also valuable, specifically this quote:
Do not underestimate the time taken to make your module digital-ready, and be prepared to chase students to engage with digital teaching appointments. A higher degree of student engagement is needed from the students, more than they are used to. For example, requiring students to view enhanced PowerPoints online and to take quizzes on them within a specified period each week requires students to actually engage with every lecture and take action weekly to avoid degrading their module result. This is great once it gets going, because students really engage, but at the start the ‘tail’ of chronically disengaged students are ‘shocked’ by the novel imposition of negative consequences for disengagement
A lot of the work on a blended course is front-loaded to before the students arrive. Online material needs to be ready and tested ahead of time and needs to complement any live teaching you’ll be doing. Therefore planning ahead is vital. The benefits of this time commitment is that face to face time is focussed on more substantial topics and less about delivering basic information. It is also generally a one-time commitment to extra work. Once the content is live it only requires the same amount of review as you would do annually on traditional teaching material.
Student engagement also takes time. It is therefore vital to have simple tasks built into early parts of the module to encourage the use of the online material. For example, Module 1 of the MSc Diabetes Practice course starts with tasks such as students introducing themselves using a Blackboard forum. This simple task gets them used to using the forums in preparation for an assessed task in later weeks that uses the forums. You should build your early content with student engagement in mind and reinforce the idea that the online content will complement the live content, it will not replace or be an alternative.