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Similar to Communication Considerations in a Blended Course (20)
Communication Considerations in a Blended Course
- 1. Fostering Collaboration and Interactivity in a Blended Course
- 2. Guiding PrinciplesCommunity should be part of face-to-face as well as online components of a courseThe collaborative activities and products resulting in either environment should be connected (integrated) so the sense of community naturally extends between both environmentsSize of class, level of students (e.g., undergrad vs. grad), course discipline will impact choices made for creating communities and developing activities to foster collaboration and communication
- 3. Building CommunityF2F Without CommunityThink about the strategies/activities you use in F2F to foster community? What are the benefits of establishing community?What strategies/activities could be used online to foster community and collaboration among students? (Group Brainstorm)Online Without Community
- 4. Communication Tools to Foster Online CommunityE-Mail1-1 and 1-many communicationAnnouncements; reminders; share filesDiscussion Board1-many threaded communicationAllows time for participant reflection and follow-upSynchronous Chat1-1 and 1-many communicationLive, interactive, builds sense of connectionConversations archived for future reference Frequency
- 6. RedundancyList of Collaborative Online or F2F ActivitiesGroup discussionCase studiesDebatesPanels and student-moderated discussionStudent-led supportGuest speakersCollaborative writing/presentationRole playingGamesDemonstrationsActivities should meet course or module objectives and enable students to transition between F2F and online environments.
- 7. Discussion BoardIntroduce concepts before a F2F class—students share preliminary research and/or experiencesContinue conversations or concepts discussed in class—students build on ideas introduced and/or reflect on conceptsKeys to success: Strong question that will prompt engaging conversationReasonably-sized group responding (4-7, no more than 10) Clear timeline (deadline for original post affords time to respond to posts of others) Payoff (grade supported by a clear grading rubric)Summative feedback from instructor(s) (online or in F2F class)part of integration strategy
- 8. What Is the QuestionWeak question:Identify 3 poetic devices and provide an example of each.How could this be turned into a question that will prompt conversation among students? How, Which and Why questions, as they apply to feelings, experiences or research tend to elicit much more powerful and engaging responses.Stronger question:Which of the poetic devices that have been discussed in class and in your readings has the most powerful impact on you as a reader? Provide an example and describe how the impact of the poem would change if the device was not used or a different device replaced it.Respond to the reflection of two classmates according to the requirements of our DB rubric.
- 9. Team Building for CollaborationMust overcome student push-back on group work (many have had bad experiences)Which best describes your experience with student team work?I have used successfully (from instructor & student point of view)I have used successfully, but students don’t likeI have used, but they are too much work to be usefulI have never used themI would use them if I could figure out how to do so effectivelyTeam work doesn’t fit well with my course
- 10. Tips for Successful Team-buildingLimit size to 4-7 members (use Group tool in ELMS)Allow students to self-select group membership (use Sign-up tool in ELMS)Provide clear milestonesProvide low-stakes team-building exerciseRequire development of team contractsProvide rubrics for students to evaluate each other and to understand how their “product” will be evaluated
- 11. The key:Design activities so that the face-to-face and online collaboration and communication each reinforce and elaborate the other
- 12. Integration, How? Example 1: If you show a video in class, can students then discuss relevant aspects of that video online using Discussion Board?
- 13. Integration ExamplesExample 2:Debriefing: either use the face-to-face class to “debrief”an online discussion.Or use the online discussion to debrief the face-to-face class
- 14. Example 3: Students are completing a team project. Can they benefit from online discussion on various project aspects before they make the actual team presentation in class? Integration Examples
- 15. Example 4: You have conducted an online collaboration sessionusing Wimba Classroom. Students can then in face toface Session: discuss and clarify the difficult and complex concepts presented in the Wimbasession.
- 16. address the challenges and problems occurred in Wimbacollaboration. Integration Examples
- 17. ResourcesOnline Teaching Activity Indexhttp://www.ion.illinois.edu/resources/otai/Web Resources on Active Learning Strategies http://cte.umdnj.edu/active_learning/index.cfmPreparing and Teaching Hybrid Courses: Creating Your Course Activitieshttp://clt.odu.edu/ofo/hybrid.php?src=prep_activities_onlineHybrid Courses: Obstacles and Solutions for Faculty and Students http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/03_72.pdf
Editor's Notes
- #3: It is the instructor’s role to create a sense of community in both the f2f and online environments that enables students to interact readily and predictably with both the instructor(s) and with one another. In a community, students feel safe to learn—to ask questions, to support one another, bring more of themselves—their experiences,ideas, concerns—to the learning process. Many of the techniques for creating community lend themselves well to providing hooks into either environment. The trick is to integrate these activities in such a way that they are seamless extensions of the online world into the traditional classroom and vice versa. They shouldn’t appear to be extra layers whose purpose aren’t clearly a part of objective of the learning unit.
- #4: Show quick video; give participants 5-7 minutes to come up with a list; ask for one or two examples of use
- #5: This should be recap of ideas generated by group; touch on those that might have been missed. Stress the principle that successful communication must happen frequently, in predictable places and ways, and provide some redundancy (e.g., e-mail reminders of information in announcements or module deadline checklists; set up syllabus with details about communication expectations—where should students contact, how long should they expect to wait for response.
- #6: Compare this list to items listed by participants
- #7: Discussion Board is an excellent tool for integrating the activities of the classroom to the activities of the online environment. Provide participants with take-aways for various rubrics for assessing D.B. contributions
- #10: Provide handout on “Teaching with Social Networks: Establishing a Social Contract”; show UTAP group project/team evaluation; share UTAP PPT module redesign