Design for online and blended learning

A few weeks back, when I was asked to be a part of a teaching team which is responsible for designing and launching an online course, I was caught off guard. Even though the idea seemed interesting, I was not prepared for the task and doubted if I would make a reasonable contribution. Attending an online course where educators from different countries across disciplines did sound a good idea. Reflecting on the discussions I had within my PBL group and the ONL 181 forum, I have gotten rich information about online learning and how it works. More importantly, I have learned a lot about the motives, and drives of my fellow participants. Even though we share the ‘common goal’ learning something new, one cannot deny the fact that we all have come with different expectations and learning objectives in mind. This made me question if online learning is the right arrangement for me to achieve the specific goals I have.

Educators and other stakeholders, the media, and researchers acknowledge the influence of online learning particularly in higher educational settings. For instance, Garrison and Kanuka (2014) argue that online education has compelled educators to re-examine their existing assumptions on the teaching-learning practice. It is no surprise that considerable attention is given to the designing and provision of online learning given the proliferation of information and communication technologies. 

However, looking back to the three topics and going through the literature, I have noticed that no single learning method (face-to-face, or online) can be considered effective by its own. For instance, recent developments in the transformation of learning environments have raised the significance of introducing different approaches to teaching and learning. Here, I concur with Young (2002) for calling blended learning “the single greatest unrecognized trend in higher education today”. I recognize that a transformation in the learning environment can only be achieved when we combine the benefit of learning together and apart. As I mentioned in my last blog, studies have shown that online learning arrangements such as collaborative online learning bring a long list of challenges for learners and educators alike.  However, the increasing introduction of a combination of text-based asynchronous Internet-based learning with face-to-face approaches—also referred to as blended learning.

After spending some time reading about both online-, blended, and face-to-face learning, I found myself entangled with the long list of merits and shortcomings of these learning methods. In the end, I have come to notice that the benefit of each of the learning approaches come from how robust the design is in terms of helping students achieve their learning goals. I have to admit that I am leaning more towards the blended learning approach. 

For those interested to read more about the different learning approaches and how they should be designed, I suggest the following articles :

·      Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education

·      Designing Blended Learning Space to the Student Experience

·      Designing Online courses

·      Designing Online courses: A taxonomy to guide strategic use of features

·      Online vs blended learning: Differences in instructional outcomes and learner satisfaction

·      Why blended learning?

·      Designing blended learning focused on knowledge category and learning activities

References

Garrison, D. R., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. The internet and higher education, 7(2), 95-105.

Milne, A. J. (2006). Designing blended learning space to the student experience. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7286/561ce6ea71318a7879cd3e0492e19b19ee5c.pdf [Accessed: 2018-11-19]

Young, J. R. (2002, March 22). ‘Hybrid’ teaching seeks to end the divide between traditional and online instruction. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A33. http://www.anitacrawley.net/Resources/Articles/GarrisonKanuka2004.pdf  [Accessed 2018-11-20]

Collaborative learning: what is it and how should we go about it?

‘Collaboration’ is not a new term in my dictionary but I have never taught of it in reference to similar but different terms used in the academic context—for instance, cooperation, and group work. Going through the assigned literature for topic three (Learning in communities – networked collaborative learning) and watching the webinar, I see that the conceptualization of “collaborative learning” is understood differently by many. The discussion I attended with my PBL group demonstrated to me how it is difficult to recognize some elements of collaborative learning from what we call “traditional learning”.

We attend courses, seminars and other academic events with the intention of achieving a common goal—learning. However, the intended learning outcome and what we end up learning from the participation of a course might be different. The Mentimeter™ response from the participants of the ONL181 demonstrates this. In my opinion, traditional learning is an arrangement when a student is in the classroom in an attempt to learn something new. Here a student will follow a lecture delivered by a teacher, read the assigned literature/watch videos, do assignments, and take exams. Of course, traditional learning might also involve such activities as group works and seminars. However, there are important points here. First, in traditional learning settings, a student has his/her goal which might be different than what is the intention of other participants. For instance, two students taking a research methodology course might have different interests (case studies, ethnography, data collection, data analysis, etc.) and learning outcomes in mind. Second, the students work individually towards achieving their goals of learning.

Collaborative learning, on the other hand, is a form of learning where individuals go about gaining knowledge about a particular issue together with others—participants with the same/similar goals. It is no surprise that individuals working for the same purpose often find it beneficial to work together. I found a definition of collaborative learning (Dillenbourg, 1999, p. 1) that captures the main essence of collaborative learning: “'collaborative learning' is a learning situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together.” This arrangement is different from the other term closely associated with collaborative learning. From the discussion in my PBL group and the webinar, I see that many participants use the term cooperation as a synonym in the context of online learning. However, I agree with the characterization of the subtle but important difference between the two terms as presented by Siemens (2002). The author argues, even though both collaboration and cooperation entail people working together the goal and motivation is different. Cooperation happens when people work together towards achieving their own individual purposes. Collaboration, on the other hand, is the sharing of ideas and resources towards a common end.

I truly acknowledge the benefit of collaborative learning as it improves our understanding of a specific topic through the facilitation of interactive-  and deep learning. Here, I conquer with Brindley et al. (2009) for their assertion which confirmed the significance of collaborative learning and its association with high learner satisfaction and retention that comes probably as a result of the sense of community during the collaboration process. As Dillenbourg (1991) and Brindley et al. (2009) put it, the fundamental requirement of a collaborative learning is that particular forms of interaction among people are expected to occur which in turn triggers effective learning mechanism. However, it is also worth mentioning that the success of collaborative learning is the function of many factors. I was surprised when I watched the webinar for the third topic. It looks like the list of factors affecting the outcome of ‘online collaborative learning’ is too long. Indeed, good communication, good facilitation and scaffolding, understanding of collaboration as well as the motivation of team members, and good software tools are ranked to be at the top of this list.

On the other hand, the importance of ‘bringing the right people in the team’ did not attract the attention of many garnering only 10% of the vote. In my opinion, the cornerstone of collaborative learning is the common learning goal of participants. Even though we have all the necessary tools, facilitation and communication, I am confident that the effort put to assemble the right people is important. As Capdeferro and Romero (2012) put it, a collection of individuals with unshared goals, commitment imbalance defeats the purpose of collaborative learning. I do also agree that the significance of symmetry of knowledge (Dillenbourg, 1999) which refers to the extent to which the participants of a collaborative team possess a similar level of knowledge. There is nothing more discouraging than a group dynamic which results in one student playing 'catch up' while the other is not challenged enough.

In conclusion, even though collaborative learning has become to be the norm in today’s educational environment, it is worth exploring the many factors affecting its effectiveness. I find the literature to be too much concerned with the issues of online platforms and tools for collaborative learning while little attention is given to on creating a situation where groups are formed with the right people possessing similar levels of commitment, shared goals as well as a similar level of knowledge.

References

Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M., & Walti, C. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 10(3), 1-18.

Capdeferro, N., & Romero, M. (2012). Are online learners frustrated with collaborative learning experiences? The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(2), 26-44.

Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by 'collaborative learning?'. In Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches, 1-19. Elsevier: Oxford

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), January 2005. (Accessed:  2018-11-04) from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/index.htm