The first would be to use instructional design, and I think
that goes for any class, whether it's face-to-face, online, or blended.
So, thinking about what are the objectives of the course,
and then working backwards. Will your assessment measure whether
or not the students have met the objective? And then, how are you
going to have the students engage? So, that would be the very first thing.
And then, after you have that laid out, then start thinking
about, well, what are some of the ways that students can connect
with each other, how will these assignments look in a blended
environment, and be creative, because maybe you're teaching
a methods course and you need to observe students in an environment
working with kids. Well, that looks very different when you're teaching
the blended course versus a face-to-face course. But, it can be done, you
just have to be creative and it's not going to look the same,
and it shouldn't look the same as a face-to-face class.
Take risks and don't be afraid of failure, because, inevitably, the
technology is going to fail at some point on someone's end.
So, whether it's you're hosting a web conference and
all of a sudden you can't share your screen, that's going to happen.
So, just be flexible and look at those failures as an opportunity
to problem solve and model that problem solving for students.
Have fun and be creative. I think you can do a lot of things in a blended
environment that perhaps you couldn't do in a traditional classroom.
So, thinking about, how can students use different technology tools
to represent their knowledge and how that might give an advantage
to students who have traditionally struggled with our traditional
assessments of writing and speaking in public.
Think about how you can build community. It's really easy
for students in a blended class to be isolated on the weeks that
you're not meeting face-to-face. Also know that some students,
maybe it's their first time in a blended class, and they may not like it.
So, you might be dealing with that frustration and that might not necessarily
be your teaching, but it's them getting used to a different format.
And then, thinking about assessment practices, so, sometimes we forget
to consider how much time assessment will take. We think,
"Oh, this is going to be a great way to measure learning outcomes,"
and then we realize that it was a terrible idea because we're
checking the discussion board every waking minute of our life.
So, just say, be conscious of the assessment practices that you use.
How much time is it taking from the instructor? How much time
is it taking of the students? Because, again, in a large class, the worst
thing that can happen in a discussion, to me, is that I'm working
all week, I don't have time to get to the discussion board, so I
post at the last minute, but I have nothing else to say because,
already, 100 posts have happened. And so, not only do I have to read
those 100 posts and think about them, but try to find
something unique to say. So, really thinking through the assessment
is critical. Again, the time for instructors, the time for students, as well
as what the assessment will look like.
I also think that you have to be exceptionally organized.
So, in a face-to-face classroom, sometimes you can come in,
you're not quite as prepared, and you can pull it off and kind of
elaborate as you go, and be more precise during the class, but in
an online and blended environment, you really have to be organized
and clear in your communication.
Know that it's going to take a lot of time to develop.
So, you may not have the perfect class the first year,
you may not have the perfect class the second year.
You're always going to be tweaking it and the technology
is going to always change, so you might be redoing a couple things,
but it just takes a lot of time, but it's worth it.
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