Designing Blended Degree Programs: Theoretical Assumptions and Practical Experience. Jay Halfond, Tanya Zlateva, Leo Burstein

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1 Designing Blended Degree Programs: Theoretical Assumptions and Practical Experience Jay Halfond, Tanya Zlateva, Leo Burstein The 15th Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning October, 2009 Outline 1. BU History of Blended Learning 2. Definitions and Perspectives 3. Value Proposition 4. Building Blocks 5. Technology Overview 6. Future of Blended Learning 7. Q & A 2 1

2 BU History of Blended Learning Large online operation - more than 20 grad & undergrad degree programs years history - student population ~ 5,000 Blended (elive) program - Two years old - Leverages online and on-campus experience Initially struggled with definition of blended learning Promise of blended learning creating a better package 3 Definitions of Blended It All Depends Definitions based on allocating percentages Blended programs are programs where 30 to 79% of content is delivered online, while in on-campus programs all content is delivered in writing or orally. Definitions based on allocating time Blended courses are courses with reduced contact hours. Definitions using dichotomies based on: educational technologies, physical proximity, content media, learning objectives, pedagogical theories, etc. No universally accepted practical definitions! 4 2

3 Blended from School Administrators Perspective Distance Blended Learning Classroom National & International coverage Designed for selflearners who prefer flexible schedule Proven business model with high scalability Marketing partnerships Regional reach; other opportunities depending on program design Good fit for students who are working professionals who appreciate flexibility Attract distinguished non-local faculty Defensive strategy against local competitors; Innovation while maintaining school brand Opportunity to increase faculty efficiency with reduced contact hours (???), reusable online content, recordings, etc. Challenging business model, with initial investment and associated risks, complex implementation framework (Khan s Octagonal). Requires local residency Designed for students who prefer F2F interactions 5 Blended from Faculty Perspective Distance Blended Learning Classroom Typically large classes Online content development Working with IDs Indirect interactions guiding TAs More work; significant out-of-classroom participation; online office hours (time and technology aspects). Develop online content AND new classroom activities (students come prepared) Smaller (comparing to DE) classes Easy to follow-up on absences Choice of teaching modalities, e.g. combining spontaneous classroom and in-depth online discussions Directions not always clear Increased opportunity to explore (distributed) teamwork, real-life projects, decision making. Typically smaller classes "Death by PowerPoint" 6 3

4 Business World Realities Manager, Director Sr. Programmer, Consultant, Project Lead, Subject Matter Expert Jr. Programmer, Jr. Analyst, Jr. Researcher MS Degree MS Degree + Practical Skills (Certificates) MS Degree + Practical Skills + Core Business Competencies 7 Information Age Realities Fish Teach how to fish Teach how to learn to fish 8 4

5 Blended Learning - The Students Perspective Academic Foundation Blended Learning Student View what students need to succeed 9 REASON FOR EXISTENCE Exceeding Comparability Empower Teachers: enhance the variety of teaching approaches design programs for multi-modal delivery use multimedia and new collaboration technologies streamline course logistics create a sense of community for students and faculty o more than just making content available online; create new learning opportunities by combining classroom activities with independent study and working in virtual teams o optimal blend of online/classroom modules based on taxonomy of learning objectives (come prepared for F2F meetings!) 10 5

6 Exceeding Comparability (cont.) Broaden the Audience: Increase student quality and diversity Meet student expectations Provide flexibility and choice - accommodate different lifestyles and personal preferences Support for new communication paradigms - welcome digital natives ) Maintain workplace relevance 11 Instruments for Building an Effective Blended Program Structure Course materials, well defined activities, schedules, etc. DE Answer is an area and depends on student s independent learning ability F2F 0 Moore s TD Theory Maintain optimal transactional distance using both structure (CMS-supported) and dialog (both async and sync communications). Dialog f2f sessions, online discussions, video collaboration 12 6

7 Technology Landscape Blackboard Vista Course Info Angel Moodle Sakai Mobile Academy Learning Gateway October 2009 Video Flash Silverlight Animations Voiceovers Podcasting itunesu ipod, Zune, MS Office Dreamweaver Expression Studio Google Tools Respondus Camtasia DRM PHP, Ajax 2009 Boston University Metropolitan College Discussions Blogs, Wikis SharePoint, Groove Webinars Video conferences Citrix/app sharing Social Networking Second Life 13 Technology Architecture Abstract vision and the reality (over) 14 7

8 Technology Architecture (cont) Assessments, Articles, Links Surveys Exams Lecture Notes, Discussion Assignments Syllabus Boards Online Office Recorded Video Animation Hours (Introduction) Recorded Live/Sync Slide Recorded Video Lectures Collaboration Presentation with Slides w/slides Online Labs, Simulation Group Projects Real-Time Audio Notes Webcasts Content/Activity MS Office Headset Online Meetings (Wimba) Webcam, headset Training Video Collaboration (IOCOM) Phone/WebEx Classroom Presenter Webcam, headset, laptop Camtasia Camera kit Service or Instructions Echo 360 Station Service Audacity(?), Microphone Lab Development Authoring Adobe Photoshop Dreamweaver Respondus Flash Build QA Copyright Edit Update check Adobe MS Acrobat Office LMS Designer Kit Edit and Encode Premier Pro Embed LMS Deploy Stream Server Deploy itunesu Deploy podcasting server Lab Development and Deployment Send Link ERT Internal technologies: * Procedures * Workflows * Instructions * Templates * Documentation * Collaboration SharePoint Processing Classroom LMS (Vista) CD/DVD Open Source LMS Live Video Podcast ITunesU Silverlight Virtual Environments Group Projects Social Networking Delivery Education Technology Research, Boston University 15 Technology Wish List - Low cost - match business model (open source is good, but remember TCO) - Ubiquitous - routine use to preserve cognitive focus for faculty & students - Supported - delivered through well defined services You will know when you are successful! 16 8

9 Structure Need more structure comparing to F2F Use of CMS to structure content and deliverables a must You are successful if: - Faculty beyond CS department start using the system - No complaints about inability to change content in a timely manner 17 Dialog Need more dialog comparing to Distance programs (and typical f2f programs?!) - Introduce sync elements in off-campus weeks Use lecture/mini-lecture recording (async) frozen dialog - useful to ensure flexibility, but split into modules - use appliances to minimize overhead You are successful when students start inviting others to listen to their presentations! 18 9

10 Motivation for Using Video Collaboration Challenge: maintaining learning momentum and the connection with the students when offcampus ( an energy conduit ) Synchronous video conferencing closest to face-to-face communication In addition to Moore, other researches indicate the importance of distance for communication in general and learning in particular and give indirect support for VC. Classic work by Tom Allen on communication patterns in the 1970s: frequency of communication diminishes with increased distance and that this holds true for all types of communication (phone and ) important decisions tend to be made in face-to-face meetings Pay close attention if you plan for international programs! 19 Video Collaboration Examples 20 10

11 Virtualization 21 Virtual Lab Example ix vi x vi iivv vi Network Aplication Client Certification Protocol Server Workstation Authority Analyzer VirtualizationLayer i HardwarePlatform i Example: online banking scenario (simulation of a distributed computing environment in a Cryptography/PKI Lab, linking to crypto algorithms, network protocols and security models) 22 11

12 Business Aspects Organizational placement: DE/CET/School, business ventures, serendipity. Staffing with students: content development, administration, technology. Integration. started out of necessity but observed great enthusiasm from students assisting with content and lab development. 23 The King is Dead. Long Live the King! Online banking and blended banks? What is flexibility? Our blended future 24 12

13 Questions and Answers October Boston University Metropolitan College 25 13