Character Formation in Online Education: A Guide for Instructors, Administrators, and Accrediting Agencies by Joanne J. Jung

Author:Joanne J. Jung [Jung, Joanne J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, pdf
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2015-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

PREMIUM BLEND

The Hybrid Course

If teaching is largely about faculty-student interaction, then

we have to recognize that human interaction is changing.

José Antonio Bowen, Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology

Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning

Whether you are considering entering the world of teaching online by starting with a hybrid course or whether you’ve landed on conducting hybrid courses, you have discovered a highly successful format for learning in online education. Those teaching a completely online course may choose to skip to chapter seven, but then you might miss being surprised by the suggestions that can be used — with simple modifications — to further student learning in wholly online courses as well.

Hybrid or blended are terms used synonymously to describe courses where traditional face-to-face time complements online learning activities or experiences. Hybrid courses take advantage of the best features of both face-to-face and online learning. José Bowen states, “The best education of the future will be hybrid. There is value in physical contact with teachers, but there is also potential learning and real convenience in online coursework. . . . [For] most institutions, the primary question will be one of balance between face-to-face interaction and online resources.”30

The professor, with the help of the course designer, determines what elements of a course translate best from a traditional to an online format. Hybrid courses do not treat the online component as an add-on to a traditional class or use the classroom time to repeat what is learned online. Much of the course content is provided online, and students interact and submit related assignments online as well. In a typical online hybrid course, students are first exposed to the course content through reading assignments and video lectures. They respond to this content in discussion threads and written assignments. The learning sequence continues with abbreviated on-campus sessions. These sessions further build the learning community and allow students to interact over the content learned. Because hybrid classes reduce seat time or classroom time in a brick-and-mortar facility, they can alleviate an institution’s classroom shortage problems.

There are a number of effective ways to schedule the face-to-face classroom component of a hybrid. You may require weekly sessions, periodic sessions, or sessions at the beginning or end of an intensive course. If you schedule an in-class session at the beginning or end of the course, you should augment it with regular video conferences with students.

When a class meets in person, these are prime opportunities as a larger group to address student questions and facilitate interactive discussions. In addition, the professor can maximize student interaction and learning by incorporating activities designed to engage students and reinforce their learning, emphasize application of the course content, and build the learning community. (Some suggested activities are found shortly, in the “Bright Ideas” section.) The interaction establishes and generates excitement for learning and for learning within a given community.

To these on-campus sessions, the professor inherently brings his or her emotion and style of interaction.31 As explained in chapter four, our emotions connect with our thought (mind) and behavior (will).

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