Blended Learning in a Faculty Learning Community

1. Blended Learning in a Faculty Learning Community Educause 2005 Conference Norm Vaughan, PhD & D. Randy Garrison, PhD Learning Commons, University of Calgary nvaughan@ucalgary.ca

2. Faculty development issues related to educational technology integration Faculty learning community on blended learning Lessons learned Overview

3. Reflecting on Faculty Development Examples Processes Faculty DevelopmentPrograms Issues Advantages

4. Program examples? Program issues? Faculty Development Issues

5. One off workshops – faculty come to a workshop – get excited about using educational technology but then go back to their offices and do not have the time to put their new ideas into practice Educational technology project development work (semester or academic year) - lack of opportunity for faculty to share their ideas and concerns with others who are also going through the same development process Educational technology institutes – positive in a sense that there is time to clearly link theory to practice (good mix of discussion and hands-on sessions), sense of community and sharing among participants – disadvantage, the lack of follow up connections often prevents extensive implementation of the projects Issues with previous faculty development initiatives related to educational technology

6. A FLC consists of “a cross-disciplinary group of 5 or more faculty members (8 to 12 is the recommended size) engaging in an active, collaborative, yearlong program with a curriculum about enhancing teaching and learning and with frequent seminars and activities that provide learning, development, interdisciplinarity, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and community building”. (Cox, 2003, p.1) Faculty Learning Community (FLC)

7. Lack of time to participate in face-to-face faculty development activities Perceived uptake of educational technology by faculty…..BUT…..concerns about workload: are faculty “layering” the technology on top of everything they’ve always done and continue to do? Challenges in Higher Education

8. The thoughtful integration of face-to-face classroom (spontaneous verbal discourse) and Internet based (reflective text-based discourse) learning opportunities An opportunity to enhance the campus experience and extend learning through the use of Internet information and communication Traditional classroom contact hours are restructured to accommodate the properties of online learning and appropriate activities Blended Learning

9. 80% of all American higher education institutions and 93% of doctoral institutions offer hybrid or blended learning courses (Arabasz & Baker, 2003) 85% of faculty surveyed in British higher education institutions believe learning technologies are improving access to education and 94% think that a mix of online and classroom-based teaching is more effective than classroom teaching alone (Marquis, 2004) Blended Learning

10. The Three “P” Drivers Purpose– The successful redesign and implementation of undergraduate credit courses in a blended learning format Process – series of biweekly face-to-face sessions (discussion and computer lab) combined with facilitated online activities between sessions Product – intended outcome of the community is that all members will have a fully functional Blackboard course site, combined with the necessary teaching and educational technology skills and experience, to support a blended mode of course delivery Funding: Provincial Grant (Access Fund) Faculty Learning Community on Blended Learning

11. FLC on Blended Learning Program Outcomes Curriculum Design Teaching Strategies Teaching excellence and innovation in support of student learning Educational Technology Integration

12. Curriculum Design A curriculum redesign plan of an existing credit undergraduate course for blended learning. This plan involves the: Formulation of a blended course vision and learning outcomes Development of a course syllabus Creation of assignments based on the identified learning outcomes FLC on Blended Learning – Program Outcomes

13. Teaching Strategies The acquisition of effective face-to-face and online teaching skills & strategies such as: Facilitating online discussions Stimulating online communication Managing group work Assessing online work Directing students to appropriate support personal and/or resource documentation for time management and study skills FLC on Blended Learning – Program Outcomes

14. Educational Technology Integration The acquisition of educational technology skills such as: Managing a Blackboard course web site Trouble shooting basic student technology issues FLC on Blended Learning – Program Outcomes

15. Focus on Course Redesign Identifying key learning outcomes Designing integrated face-to-face and online learning activities Developing a course assessment strategy Creating a learning centered course syllabus and redesign plan Developing a course module prototype Leveraging the use of digital learning object repositories Faculty outcomes – completed course redesign plan, course syllabus (objectives, assignments, assessment plan, grading criteria) and a functional Blackboard shell with one prototype module Fall Semester - Sessions

16. Focus on Course Development & Teaching Strategies Developing your own digital learning objects Advanced Blackboard Tools Facilitating online learning Integrating face-to-face and online activities Learner support strategies Piloting and course evaluation strategies Faculty outcomes- a redesigned course, a Blackboard web site, and the necessary teaching & educational technology strategies and skills to create a successful blended learning environment for their students Winter Semester - Sessions

17. Community of Inquiry Framework Social Presence The ability of participants in a community of inquiry to project themselves socially and emotionally as ‘real’ people (i.e., their full personality), through the medium of communication being used. Cognitive Presence The extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse in a critical community of inquiry. Teaching Presence The design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes. Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000)

18. Inquiry Process within a Blended FLC

19. How can digital technologies be used to support an inquiry process within a blended faculty development context? Think Pair Share Supporting a blended community of inquiry

20. Ideas: Using digital technologies to support a blended inquiry cycle

21. Before face-to-face (FTF) session During FTF session After FTF session Preparing for the next FTF session Using digital technologies to support a blended inquiry cycle

22. Blended FLC Model

23. Stage One: Before a Face-to-Face (FTF) Session

24. Pre-readings

25. Self-assessment quizzes(knowledge probes)

26. Before FTF Session Communication Announcements section of your course web site Group email feature Posting or linking to pre-reading assignments U of C Library - Electronic Indexes and Abstracts http://www.ucalgary.ca/library/gateway/indabs.html Digital learning objects Learning Object Repositorieshttp://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/adc/adc_learningobjects.htm Self assessment quizzes Test manager tools Anonymous surveys Survey manager tools Examples of digital tools to support inquiry-based learning

27. Stage Two: During a FTF Session

28. Quiz & survey feedback Display quiz & survey results

29. Digital learning objects/resources

30. Displaying assignments/faculty work

31. During FTF Session Displaying quiz or survey results Online grade book results (for anonymous surveys) Overheads of information printed out from the Blackboard online grade book Displaying digital learning objects and resources Objects uploaded to the course web site and links to external learning object and resource sites (e.g. animations, video clips, PowerPoint presentations) CAREO – www.careo.org Displaying assignments and faculty work Assignment folders within course site which contain the assignment handout, tutorial, resources and examples of past faculty work Examples of digital tools to support inquiry-based learning

32. Stage Three: Between the FTF Sessions

33. Anonymous end of session survey

34. Online discussion forums

35. Project support and development

36. Links to projects

37. After FTF Session Anonymous feedback surveys Communication Announcements section of course site for faculty “to do” list Group email feature for the faculty “to do” list Individual email feature for individual faculty questions or clarification (try to put common questions into a Frequently Asked Questions discussion forum) Online discussion forums to facilitate faculty moderated discussions Virtual classroom tools for synchronous sharing sessions among faculty-student groups Individual and Group Project Work Assignment folders within course site which contains the assignment handout, tutorial, resources and examples of past faculty work Groups work area within learning management systems which contain communication tools (email, discussion forum, virtual chat) and a digital drop box for sharing documents Opportunities for further exploration External links section within Blackboard for enrichment resources Examples of digital tools to support inquiry-based learning

38. Stage Four: Next FTF Session

39. Anonymous survey feedback

40. Archive survey feedback

41. Focus of inquiry Triggering events Exploration Integration Resolution/application Leadership Lessons Learned

42. Connection between one’s teaching practice and student learning Potential for a “transformational shift” in approaches to teaching – from disseminating information to creating learning environments where students construct their own knowledge Role of technology – shift from the packaging and distribution of information (content) to being used as a “tool set” to enable students to collaboratively construct their own knowledge Focus of Inquiry

43. Redesign of an existing course – making one’s implicit assumptions about a course explicit Triggering of new ideas and perspectives about teaching and learning Support – community members realize they are not alone in experiencing a particular issue or concern (importance of participation and shared understanding which leads to a sense of “trust and risk taking” within the group) Importance of community and face-to-face (physical) presence in this stage Triggering Event

44. Importance of: experiential learning opportunities – being immersed in a blended learning environment as a student sharing experience with other teachers and students – different discipline perspectives sharing of stories (power of narrative) online discussion forum to capture the sharing faculty mentors – people with previous FLC experience Exploration

45. Importance of: a project focus – forces one to make tentative course redesign decisions (reification) faculty regularly presenting project artifacts and/or issues to the community in order to get feedback from other members and to help confirm their own understanding piloting portions of the projects with the student members of the community Integration

46. Importance of: intentionally engaging in a scholarship of teaching and learning process getting ethics approval (early) to formally evaluate the course redesign project collecting quantitative and qualitative data regarding student learning outcomes and perceived satisfaction related to the redesign dissemination of results beyond the community – departmental, institutional and external presentations and publications Resolution/Application

47. Outside and inside the community essential ingredient due to the lack of formal accountability structure (participation is often on a volunteer basis) Outside the community (but within the organization) sponsorship and legitimacy is vital (also important for removing barriers and hierarchy) Inside the community nurturing is the key (ecology of leadership) need to develop a core group so that the nurturing role does not rest with just one person people taking on different responsibilities and roles within the community sign of maturity when others in the community are willing to take on the nurturing role (shared responsibility) Leadership

48. Key Dimensions of a Community of Practice (Wenger, 2005) Leadership Sponsorship Domain Participation Nurturing Community Practice Support

49. What is your “key” take-away from this session? What doesn’t make sense (muddiest point)? Reflections

50. Questions, Comments, Discussion PowerPoint Slides Available at: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~nvaughan/norm/presentations.htm