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Blended Learning Tips and Tricks. Blended learning refers to the use of eLearning in combination with face-to-face teaching. Here are three simple ways to use eLearning in your teaching for a blended learning approach.
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Use discussion postings from your subject website to facilitate discussion in class. |
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Create a discussion area in WebCT for one of your topics and post a provocative or challenging question or point of view for the students to respond to. Tell students that you will be discussing this topic in the next class and encourage them to go to the discussion area and post their comments. In this way students have the opportunity to think about the issues before class and you can use their comments as part of the discussion in class. |
| 2. |
Provide online multiple choice or short answer questions to assess students' learning. |
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Use the online assessment tool in WebCT to post multiple choice or short answer questions for your students to complete. By providing students with opportunities to test their knowledge of particular topics or concepts you are providing them with feedback on their progress which they can use to focus their study efforts. |
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Build up a database of online resources for a topic using resources students have found and critically evaluated. |
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Give your students an activity where they need to find online resources relevant to a particular topic. These might include websites, multimedia presentations, videos or blogs. Have your students collate the resources they find - you can get them to do this in class or online - and to discuss and critically evaluate each of the resources. Each time you do this activity with your students you can update your database of resources with new ones that your students discover! |
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Consider incorporating "reusable learning objects" - videos, simulations, presentations etc. - available for free online in your teaching. |
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Consider incorporating "reusable learning objects" - videos, simulations, presentations etc. - available for free online in your teaching. Here are some links to website that have a whole range of high quality reusable learning objects. Have a look at what's on offer to see whether there are learning activities suitable for your students.
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| 5. |
Create a group in Facebook and post resources (e.g., photos, video, links) and set up discussions for your students. |
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Create a group in Facebook and post resources (e.g., photos, video, links) and set up discussions for your students. This social networking application is familiar to students and you may find it easier to get them to look at something in Facebook than other sites. It also has some good features and add-on applications that can be used for educational purposes. eLDSS run workshops on using Facebook in your teaching - see the eLDSS website for further information. |
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Use online games such as flashcards and crosswords to help students learn discipline specific vocabulary in a fun and enjoyable way. |
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Use online games such as flashcards and crosswords to help students learn discipline specific vocabulary in a fun and enjoyable way. Hotpotatoe is an applications that allows you to create interactive:
- Quizzes with multiple-choice and short-answer questions;
- Games with jumbled-sentences, matching/ordering and fill-in-the-gapexercises
- Crosswords (this is really cool and very easy to use!)
Students can access these games on the web (or from your WebCT site). This software is free to use for publicly-funded, non profit-making educational institutions (which means PolyU!), but see the licensing terms for details.
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| 7. |
To make the most out of your online resources, make sure you give students a reason to use them. |
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To make the most out of your online resources, make sure you give students a reason to use them. Students are more likely to look at or use an online resource if this resource is explicitly linked to a classroom or assessment activity. You should make it clear how the resource relates to the subject content, what it is that students should do with the resource and when they should do it. Unless students see a good reason for using a resource and are given some instructions about how and when it should be used, it is unlikely they will look at it just out of interest. |
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Online conferencing tools can facilitate communication and collaboration and sharing of resources. |
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Online conferencing tools can facilitate communication and collaboration and sharing of resources. There are a number of applications available now that combine video / audio conferencing, whiteboard and document sharing in the one interface. Staff can access Adobe Connect through ITS which supports a large number of online participants - contact ITS to obtain an account. Or for smaller group collaboration, you could sign up for a free vroom through Elluminate which allows up to three parties to participate in an online conference with audio, interactive whiteboard, file transfer and application sharing. These types of applications are great for when it isn't possible or convenient to meet face-to-face and are easy to use. |
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PolyU's library has a wide range of digital resources which can be embedded into your course content with just a few clicks. |
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PolyU's library has a wide range of digital resources which can be embedded into your course content with just a few clicks. These e-resources include e-books, e-journals, electronic databases, electronic references such as encyclopedias and statistical sources, e-learning programmes, electronic theses, video-on-demand and audio visual materials. For more details on what resources are available through the library, click here or contact Susanna Tsang lbstsang@inet.polyu.edu.hk Tel:2766-6858. The library also runs a workshop on how these e-resources can be embedded into course content by means of permanent links to bibliographic records as well as DOIs which enable unique and persistent identification of digital objects. By pointing directly to the URLs where the resources are, e.g. the assigned readings on WebCT, students are connected with the relevant learning resources with just a few clicks. For more details click here or contact Christina Chau lbcwchau@inet.polyu.edu.hk Tel: 2766-6872.
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| 10. |
The number one mistake that people make when using presentation software such as PowerPoint is that they put too much information on their slides, when in fact less is more. Some basic rules for designing PowerPoint slides are: |
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The number one mistake that people make when using presentation software such as PowerPoint is that they put too much information on their slides, when in fact less is more. Some basic rules for designing PowerPoint slides are:
- keep the content simple;
- use a large, simple font such as Arial for readability;
- use a consistent theme throughout your presentation;
- make sure the background to the slides contrasts well with the text colour so students can read what's on the slide;
- have 6-8 lines of text per slide - this means you need to keep bullet points short;
- don't be afraid to have empty space on a slide - you can use graphics to reinforce or emphasise your message, but too much clutter detracts from what you are trying to say;
- avoid animations or audio that have nothing to do with the presentation as they detract from the principle message.
It is also a good idea to spend some time using the slide sorter to make sure that your presentation flows properly. Remember, planning is important with all teaching activities, and PowerPoints for lectures are no exception to this rule.
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| 11. |
When providing students with online tests using multiple-choice question (MCQ) format, the quality of the feedback provided for each question is critical to how useful the test is as a learning tool. |
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When providing students with online tests using multiple-choice question (MCQ) format, the quality of the feedback provided for each question is critical to how useful the test is as a learning tool. The seven principles of good feedback practice for MCQ tests described by David Nicol of the University of Strathclyde are that it:
- helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, standards);
- facilitates the development of self-assessment and reflection in learning;
- delivers high-quality information to students about their learning;
- encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning;
- encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem;
- provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance;
- provides information to teachers that be used to help shape teaching (pg. 55).
So, for online MCQ tests to be effective learning tools requires the use of quality feedback and the integration of these tests with other aspects of the course such as a discussion forum or classroom activities. |
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Getting off to the right start is important whether you are teaching online or face-to-face, so make sure you set expectations for students both in the classroom and online. |
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Getting off to the right start is important whether you are teaching online or face-to-face, so make sure you set expectations for students both in the classroom and online. For online teaching you should give your students guidelines about:
- how often you expect them to go online for your subject
- what you expect them to do when they go online
- what they can expect from you
Setting expectations at the start helps to put things on the right track and is particularly useful for managing communications and discussion online and for ensuring students make the most of the learning activities and resources you provide for them. |
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If you need some way of helping your students collaborate online to create a presentation or report, try using a wiki. Why use a wiki? |
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If you need some way of helping your students collaborate online to create a presentation or report, try using a wiki. Why use a wiki? Well, a wiki is a type of website, where the webpages can be edited directly by anyone who has access to it. This makes a wiki a great tool for managing notes, presentations, reports - any sort of collaboration. All you need to do is set up the permissions for the wiki and then get started on your project. There are wikis you can use for free, such as Wikispaces - http://www.wikispaces.com/ - why not get yourself a wiki for your next project and try it out? |
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Improve tutorial support by establishing subject and coursework problem forums online |
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Using discussions boards to handle general subject and coursework-related questions can be a very effective way of ensuring the teacher only needs to answer common questions once. The idea here would be to inform students that all general questions should be posted to the relevant area on the discussion board, where the teacher will answer them for the benefit of the group. Students could also be required to help one another to encourage collaboration, and also reduce reliance on the teacher. |
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| 15. |
Enhance your lecturers with skeleton notes online |
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Providing very basic outline notes online in advance of lectures can help students better prepare for lectures, and provide some 'space' within the lecture for students to listen rather than simply write and take notes. Skeleton notes also provide some structure for those who are new to note-taking or need to improve their skill. Consider adding within the notes some definitions of key subject-specific terms to help students (particularly international students) who are then able to translate before, not during, the lectures. |
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| 16. |
Establish online group-working spaces |
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Establish online group-working spaces for sharing resources and documents. Students can easily establish their own shared spaces through setting up a blog or a wiki. Most Learning Managed Systems (LMS), like WebCT, Blackboard or Moodle, allow the teacher to set up private group areas and discussion boards. |
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Get the students to write the lecturers! |
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Not literally, of course, but perhaps each week a different group of students can collaborate in the LMS to research the next week’s lecture topic and then put together a short PowerPoint presentation on what they have found out, and key questions they have identified. They can easily do this in their course online discussions. This can be provided to the teacher for some feedback or can be used in its submitted format for exploring the topic during the lecture, with the teacher elaborating. |
| 18. |
Online follow-ups. |
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Encourage greater participation in subject-related discussion, particularly for those who are less forthcoming in face-to-face seminars, by having students (maybe in pairs) take turns to summarise seminar discussions, and post this summary online. The rest of the class can then be required to respond to this summary, either with key comments on what they learned from the seminar, or issues they are still unsure of. Alternatively, if the summary contains some follow-up questions, each student can be asked to provide a response. Consider using the LMS discussion forum to facilitate this activity. Have a look at the forthcoming Learning Design Templates to get some ideas on how to implement such an approach to your seminar. |
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Objective self-tests and assessments. |
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Objective self-testing is an excellent means for testing factual knowledge, including understanding of terminology and concepts. It is also ideally suite to the LMS, where the administration and marking of objective self-tests can easily be automated.? Short objective self-tests at pertinent points throughout a blended learning course also provide a very good opportunity for students to assess the development of their basic understanding as they go along.? |
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Web Safari |
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A web safari (often called a scavenger hunt) is an activity that encourages learners to find and evaluate resources available on the internet. It is an excellent activity for having the learners extend their own learning resources and materials. Here are some guidelines for designing a web safari:
- Be sure to they should find, and how to report the results. You might want them to include select a the actual url, and their own annotation of the site. The related link on the right is a copy of a rubric I developed to evaluate a web safari.
- Find a way for individuals to share their findings with others in the class. This is one activity where the collective is better than the individual. I find that posting the results in topic or question that is directly related to the content. A focused question will keep the learners on track as they locate resources.
- Be specific as to how this activity will be graded or evaluated. Make sure they know how many sites a threaded discussion allows everyone to review what others have found.
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| 21. |
Drill and Practice Resource |
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If you are interested in some drill and practice types of practice activities, there is a wonderful software program called Hot Potatoes (http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hotpot/ ) that is free and easily creates web delivered practice exercises. Below are examples of some of the types of exercises the Hot Potatoes software can create:
- crossword puzzles
- drag and drop exercises
- cloze exercises
- jumbled sentences
These exercises do "grade" the studentˇ¦s responses and can provide feedback, but there is no way to save the individual results for the exercises. So if you use them in your lessons, there is no way to document that a student actually completed the exercise. (but of course, you don't have to tell them that) |
If you need assistance with using eLearning in your teaching or would like to find out more please visit the eLDSS website or contact the 3C Project Team directly.
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