Quality Assurance in Blended Learning

Quality assurance is crucial in any learning environment.  Instructors are the cornerstone of any blended program.  For students to be successful, the instruction has to be of high quality and  there needs to be clear expectations of what students need to achieve by the end of the course.  It's very important that instructors organize their course well, know the content being taught, communicating with students and providing feedback.  Students who are taking courses online need more support and structure to succeed because they are working independently and have more responsibility for their own success. 

Teacher effectiveness can be measured in many different ways.  Some ways to measure teacher effectiveness are:  peer review and self-evaluation, online suggestion box, one-minute threads, polling, and focus groups. Implementing these different measures allows the instructor to adjust instruction and also to gauge students attitudes about the course.  If an instructor does not include these types of measures throughout the course, it could cause student misunderstanding and decrease motivation. 

Overall, teacher effectiveness and quality assurance for an online and face to face course are two components to that determine student success.  Being organized and providing feedback and discussions in any course is imperative. 

Blended Content and Assignments

When designing instruction, it’s not only important to incorporate objectives and assessments, but also designing content and assignments.  Assignments are essential elements of the learning experience because they are the framework and foundation of learning.  Aligning content and assignments to objectives and assessments is very critical.  If assignments are not directly related to the objectives or the courses overall outcome, then it can cause many misconceptions among learners.  Integrating activities in a blended classroom must complement each other and connect concepts that are relevant to the online classroom as well as in a face-to-face environment.  Kevin Thompson (2014) stated, “Students can be critical of blended instruction if they feel the face-to-face and time-out-of-class components of the course are not well integrated.”

 

Online materials are vital to a blended classroom.  The online activities and assignments must be relevant to the face-to-face environment.  If the blended classroom is not aligned and the activities do not complement each other, then it’s going to create confusion and the students can become disengaged and not motivated.  As an instructional designer, it’s imperative that I create tools that will complement both classrooms.  I need to use tools that complement both platforms.  For example:  students can participate in discussions online using wikis, blogs and podcasts.  This can be an extension of what was discussed in the face-to-face format.  Overall, connecting concepts and assignments that are relevant to the blended classroom, is a very important step in the design process.

 

References:

Thompson, K.  (2014).  Understanding blended learning.  Retrieved from https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course-blendkit-reader-chapter-4/

 

 

Assessments of Learning

Assessments are imperative to the learning process for any course.  An assessment allows the learner to apply what he or she has learned to new contexts.  "If learning is not transferred from the place of learning to practical application, there can be no positive return on investment of the time needed to create, implement, and evaluate instruction"(Thompson, K., 2014).  Therefore, creating assessments that are aligned with instruction is imperative.  

The types of assessments instructors can use throughout a course are: formal and informal.  Formal assessments include tests, midterms and finals, which measure a student’s progress and understanding of concepts taught throughout the course. Informal assessments can be checks throughout the course to see if students understand the concepts.  Checking for understanding, periodically allows the instructor to monitor and adjust any part of the curriculum that students are struggling or excelling at.  They can then reteach material that students do not understand or extend those students that already know the material and need an extension to keep them engaged and motivated.   

Designing informal and formal assessments is an important part of the process. Incorporating higher level thinking as well as focusing on application and synthesis, are more effective strategies for any assessment in a blended classroom.  Some examples of highly effective assessments are:  multiple choice questions that incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy, portfolios, web quests and creating visual products.  

References:
Thompson, K.  (2014).  Understanding blended learning.  Retrieved from https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course-blendkit-reader-chapter-3/

Blended Interactions

As I read through this article I made many connections to the different forms of delivering instruction.  My initial reaction was that I related mostly with the concierge learning style because of the type of approach the instructor uses when delivering instruction to students.   Providing instruction as well as allowing students to investigate and formulate their own knowledge about different concepts, creates a deeper level of understanding.  As an educator, I believe that creating a learning environment that allows the learner to construct their own knowledge based on their previous experiences, as well as guidance from the teacher, will create a more meaningful and understandable learning environment.  While I was completing my undergrad at U of M, I realized what type of educator I wanted to be.  The type of learning environment I always engaged in at U of M was a constructivist classroom.  Walking into my classes everyday was always different.  There would be times where I would walk into the classroom and on the table sat a set of directions and materials to use to try and construct knowledge about a particular concept we were going to learn about in math or science.  This allowed me to make mistakes along the way, as I was trying to answer a set of questions or complete a project.  I developed a deeper meaning of all of these concepts from this teaching style.  I used the information I already knew and used new concepts and information to form my new knowledge.  So, over the years I have tried to incorporate this type of method within my lessons and objectives and have seen much success.

As I continued to read chapter 2, I also realized there was a connection between concierge learning as well as network administrator.  The network administrator's role is to provides many connections between a variety of concepts, so that the students and their learning can become the center of a personal network.  So helping students make connections and creating networks with different concepts, helps students develop an understanding and allows them to extend their learning into a variety of different curriculum.  This form of critical thinking provides students with more opportunities to formulate and develop deeper understanding of information.  These two forms of learning are great learning environments for blended coursework.  

Blended Learning

• In what ways can blended learning courses be considered the “best of both worlds” (i.e., face-to-face and online)? 

The ways in which blended learning can be the best of both worlds are through flexibility and convenience.  Allowing students to interact with their teachers and students in a more traditional forum (face to face) gives them them the opportunity to hold discussions and interpret meaning of different content through body language and visual cues.  Extending course content through an online format increases student engagement and creates flexibility.  Online learning also allows students to collaborate in group discussions and communicate with others more freely, than that of being in a traditional face to face environment. "When properly implemented, blended learning can result in improved student success, satisfaction, and retention"(Thompson, 2014). 

• Blended Learning Design 

It's very imperative to create course objectives that are aligned to the overall course outcomes.  It's crucial for any teacher or designer to create these objectives before creating any course activity or assessment, especially for blended courses.  Providing objectives creates an outline and guides the overall development of the course.  As an educator, objectives are the foundation for any any content that is being taught in the classroom.  When a teacher designs the activities that addresses the objectives, it's important to consider the method of which he or she delivers instruction.  Some of the questions an instructor can ask while planning course instruction are: does this information need to be delivered in a face to face setting, online or can there be a bridge between both?  Creating this bridge between the classroom and online environment provides students with the opportunity to complete assignments in a variety of ways.  Modifying and differentiating instruction that fit the learners needs, provides a deeper level of understanding for every student.  "It's no longer a one size fits all approach to education" (Thompson, 2014).

In conclusion,  blended learning is unique in design.  This type of learning format reaches out to all learners.  Adaptation is one of the key aspects of any design.  Being able to tailor instruction to the needs of your students only creates a more engaging, collaborative and successful learning environment.

References:
Thompson, K.  (2014).  Understanding blended learning.  Retrieved from https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course-blendkit-reader-chapter-1/