Blended/Hybrid Courses

How much content is delivered online?

1. A blended/hybrid course is a mixture of face-to-face and online learning/delivery. “30% to 79% of the course’s content is delivered online” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p.5).

2. “Blended/Hybrid-Course that blends online and face-to-face deliver. Substantial proportion (30 to 79%) of the content is delivered online” (Picciano, A., & Seaman, J., 2007, p.4).

How much separation is there between the learner and the facilitator?

1. A blended/hybrid course would be considered to use the approach to distance education of different-time, same-place (DT, SP) (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p.9).

In what ways is technology used?

1. Online video lecture that is only available for certain times (McQuarrie, 2012).

2. Weekly discussions which require student to post responses by the last day of the week. Responses need to be in-depth and meaningful. (McQuarrie, 2012).

3. Online journaling regarding what the learner has retained over a certain period of time. Assists in not going off course and connect with other students and to learn from one another (McQuarrie, 2012).

4. Personally built wiki sites for group work, team projects, and to collaborate. (McQuarrie, 2012).

5. “Blended learning incorporates a wide array of learning environments and approaches to teaching and learning such as, asynchronous learning networks, web-enhanced teaching platforms, and digital online learning tools. Three main technological components required for a hybrid courses include: Technology infrastructure, Instructional technology, and Technology in learning” (Keengwe, J., & Kidd, T., 2010).

6. Blended/Hybrid courses are courses that blend “online and face-to-face delivery. Substantial proportion of the content is delivered online, typically uses online discussions, and typically has a reduced number of face-to-face meetings” (Allen & Seaman, 2010, p.9).

Pros:

1. Levels the playing field for students who are shy (McQuarrie, 2012).

2. Provides opportunities for students to interact with the entire class and develop lasting relationships (McQuarrie, 2012).

3. Hybrid classes also provide opportunities for people who have stalled out in their careers (McQuarrie, 2012).

4. Hybrid/blended courses have “unique attributes such as flexibility-anytime, anyplace-along with time for reflection and learners’ anonymity” (Keengwe, J., & Kidd, T., 2010).

Cons:

1. The students’ tendency to cram information in the last day prior to meeting face-to-face. Cramming at the last minute leads to poor retention of information (McQuarrie, 2012).

2. Students who criticize hybrid courses because of the lack of face to face time. Instructor needs to remember the important of cohort camaraderie (McQuarrie, 2012).

3. A con that is attributed to hybrid/blended learning is staff involvement and approval due to “faculty time, rewards, workload, lack of administrative support, cost, course quality, student contact, and equipment concerns as barriers to online teaching practices” (Keengwe, J., & Kidd, T., 2010).

4. Hybrid/blended courses can be less effective when there are these components: “inadequate hardware and software, slow internet connections, learners’ procrastination, lack of technical expertise among the instructors, insufficient orientation for learners, and a lack of release time for instructors to develop and design their online courses” (Keengwe, J., & Kidd, T., 2010).