In this section, Allamary et al’s (2014) impact model for designing blended learning are unpacked through:
- Low and medium impact suggestions for improving student-lecturer interaction
- Low and medium impact suggestions for improving student (peer) interaction
- Low and medium impact suggestions for fostering reflective learning
In this section low and medium impact activities are provided for improving student-lecturer interaction, improving student (peer interaction), and fostering reflective learning. Low and medium activities require you to add online activities to your existing face-to-face module (low impact) or replacing one or two of your face-to-face activities with an online activity (medium impact). A high impact blend, as explained in the previous section, requires a complete overhaul of your module that may take anything between 3 – 12 months. The suggestions provided in this section were specifically chosen for the minimal time investment required from the lecturer. If you are interested in redesigning your module completely (high impact blend) some suggested readings are provided at the end of this section.
Improve student-lecturer interaction
The table below provides some examples to improve student-lecturer interaction. Student-lecturer interaction implies two-way communication. It is not just the lecturer communicating with students, but also students communicating with their lecturers. While face-to-face lectures or practical sessions provide opportunities for student-lecturer interaction, it becomes more challenging with large classes. Technology provides additional opportunities for student-lecturer interaction both in and outside of the classroom
| Recommended practice | Blended learning? | Impact | Technology skills required | Approximate set up time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Add an extra online lecturer consultation hour to your existing face-to-face consultation times per week. You can use conferencing software such as Skype/ Zoom (depending on class size) or a discussion board on your LMS for this session to discuss specific questions from students about the face-to-face lecture. This way, it creates an integrated learning experience and students have control over the place from where they interact with you. | Yes. Setting up a consultation opportunity to discuss specific issues related to the content ensures an integrated learning experience. It also allows students control of the place from which they engage the activity. |  Low | Setting up a discussion board on your LMS; or Conferencing software (Skype/ Zoom/ Blackboard Collaborate – if the LMS you are using is Blackboard) | Training (once-off): 30 minutes – 1 hour Set-up (for each session): 15 – 30 minutes Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour (for each session) Does not include time that you need to be available for each consultation session |
| Use Mentimeter to allow students to ask questions anonymously during the lecture. | No. Linking to activity to the face-to-face lecture leads to an integrated learning experience. However, students do not have any control over the time, place, path or place of the activity. It is a technology-enhanced learning activity that provides additional opportunities for student-lecturer interaction. If the activity is adapted to ensure that students either have control of the pace or path, it has the potential to qualify as a blended learning activity. | Low | Using Mentimeter to allow students to ask questions during the lecture | Learning how to use the software (once-off): 30 minutes – 1 hour Set-up: 30 minutes – 1 hour Does not include the time required in class for the activity |
| Replace one of your in-class group activities with an online discussion forum on your LMS. This will require rethinking how the activity can be structured to work in an online environment. | Yes. The activity should be linked to the content covered in class to create an integrated learning experience. The discussion board can remain open for a couple of days to ensure that students have control of both the time that they participate as well as the place from where they participate. |  Medium | Setting up a discussion board on your LMS Creating groups in Bb (if Blackboard is your institutional LMS) | Training (once-off): 30 minutes – 1 hour Planning activity as replacement of in-class activity: 1 – 2 hours Setting up groups on Bb: 1 – 2 hours (once-off) (if applicable) Set-up (for each session): 15 – 30 minutes Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour (for each session) Does not include time that you need to be available to moderate the session |
| Replace one of your face-to-face lectures with an online session on Blackboard Collaborate (if your institution uses Blackboard as a LMS). Consider starting off with a revision class | Yes. Replacing a contact session with a Bb Collaborate session requires you to think through how the session will be structured to fit into your module plan and should ensure an integrated learning experience. It also allows students control of the place that the engage the activity from. | Medium | Setting up a Bb Collaborate session on Bb | Training (once-off): 30 minutes – 1 hour Planning activity as replacement of in-class activity: 1 – 2 hours Set-up: 15 – 30 minutes • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour Does not include time that you need to be available to present/ facilitate the session |
Improving student (peer) interaction
The table below provides some recommended practices to improve peer interaction. Dividing your class into into smaller groups and allocating activities or assessment tasks to each group.is often a good place to start with. An LMS such as Blackboard has the groups tool for this purpose.
Additionally, a discussion board can improve both lecturer-student, and peer interaction and is a popular tool used in blended learning. It requires students to interact with each other by commenting on others’ work but it also requires lecturers to monitor the discussion board regularly, often adding inputs and asking further probing questions.
| Recommended practice | Blended learning? | Impact | Technology skills required | Approximate set up time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open a discussion board in your module (non-graded) that students can use to post questions to each other about the module. | Yes. Set up clear guidelines for the use of the discussion board to ensure that issues related to the content are covered to create an integrated learning experience. It also allows students control of the place from which they engage the activity. If the discussion board is open for the entire duration of the module it allows students control of the time they choose to participate. | Low | • Setting up a discussion board on your LMS | • Training (once-off): 30 minutes – 1 hour • Set-up: 15 – 30 minutes • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour Does not include time that you need to be available for moderation on the discussion board. Consider setting aside time once a week. |
| Replace one of your assessments with a peer-assessment. Students can submit a group assignment electronically or on the LMS and then group members can also anonymously grade other submissions. The advantages of peer assessment include that it allows students to internalise the assessment criteria and it reduces the lecturer’s marking load (although moderation is required). | Yes. The activity should be linked to the content covered in class to create an integrated learning experience. Students have control of both the time that they participate as well as the place from which they participate. | Medium | • Using the group tool in Bb (if applicable); • Setting up an assignment on the LMS • Understanding how to set up peer-assessment in your LMS | • Training (once-off): 1- 2 hours (all tools) • Planning activity as replacement of an existing assessment: 1 – 2 hours • Setting up groups on Bb: 1 – 2 hours (once-off) • Plan and set up rubric in Bb: 2 – 3 hours • Set-up assignment: 15 – 30 minutes • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour Does not include time that you need to be available to moderate grading. |
| Replace one of your assessments with a group assignment that students have to submit electronically or on the LMS. Use either the wiki or the assignment tool. The advantage of a wiki is that it allows students to work on a live document where everyone can see everyone’s contributions. It also allows the lecturer to see the extent to which each group member participated. | Yes. The assignment should be linked to the content covered in class as well as specific outcomes that need to be achieved in the module to create an integrated learning experience. Both wikis and assignments on Bb can remain open for an extended period (a week or two) to ensure that students have control of when they work on the assignment (time control), as well as the place from which they participate. | Medium | • Using the group tool in Bb (if applicable); and • Setting up an assignment in your LMS or • Setting up a wiki | • Training (once-off): 1 – 2 hours (all tools) • Planning activity as replacement of in-class activity: 1 – 2 hours • Setting up groups on Bb: 1 – 2 hours (once-off) • Plan and set up rubric in Bb: 2 – 3 hours • Set-up wiki/ assignment: 15 – 30 minutes • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour Does not include time that you need to be available to grade assignments and provide feedback. |
| Replace one of your assessments with a group blog assignment where group members can take turns throughout the module to post an entry based on the topic/ content covered, and other group members must contribute by commenting on the entry. | Yes. The assessment should be linked to the content covered in class as well as specific outcomes that need to be achieved in the module to create an integrated learning experience. The activity can remain open for the duration of the module to ensure that students have control of when they work on the assignment (time control), as well as the place from where they participate. | Medium | • Using the group tool in Bb (if applicable); and • Setting up a graded blog in your LMS; and | • Training (once-off): 1- 2 hours (all tools) • Planning activity as replacement of in-class activity: 1 – 2 hours • Setting up groups on Bb: 1 – 2 hours (once-off) • Plan and set up rubric in Bb: 2 – 3 hours • Set-up blog: 15 – 30 minutes • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour (for each session) Does not include time that you need to be available to grade assignments and provide feedback. |
Fostering reflective learning
The Table below provides some examples for fostering reflective learning. Journaling is particularly useful for this purpose. It allows students to reflect on specific aspects of the module outside of the classroom. In addition, educational technology tools can be used to allow students additional opportunities to reflect on the module content such as assignments, Turnitin, and online surveys.
| Recommended practice | Blended learning? | Impact | Technology skills required | Approximate set up time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Add journaling activities to the module by requiring students to reflect on the content at various times. Consider a journaling activity at the start of the module and again at the end of the module so that students can reflect on how their views have evolved throughout the module. The journal tool on the LMS can be used for this or students can submit it as an electronic assignment. | Yes. Journaling actvities need to be linked to the content and outcomes of a module to create an integrated learning experience. It also allows students control of the time and place. | Low | • Using the LMS journal tool; and • Using the online marking tool linked to the journal tool (such as a Blackboard Rubric on Blackboard). | • Training (once-off): 1 – 2 hours • Planning activities: 1 – 2 hours per activity • Plan and set up rubric in Bb: 2 -3 hours • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour Does not include time spent on grading and giving feedback |
| Send out a survey at the end of the module with open-ended questions that guide students to reflect on what they have learnt in the module. You can allocate a participation mark for completion of the survey to increase response rates. | Yes. The survey questions should be linked with the content and outcomes of the module to create an integrated learning experience. It also allows students control of the time and place. | Low | • Using an online survey tool or the survey tool in your LMS (if available) | • Learning how to use survey tool (once-off): 30 minutes – 1 hour • Planning (developing survey questions): 1 – 2 hours • Survey set-up: 30 minutes – 1 hour • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour Does not include the time to go through the responses |
| Create a screencast/ video where you provide feedback to students on their performance in an assessment. The feedback can include your general impression of students’ overall performance, common mistakes as well as ways in which these mistakes could have been avoided. Video feedback allows students to watch it at their own pace and reflect on how they can improve their individual performance. | Yes. Feedback should be linked to the assessment and course content to create an integrated learning experience. Students have control of pace, time, and place. | Low | • Using screencasting software; and • Uploading a video/ content to your LMS; | • Training (once-off): 30 minutes – 1 hour (once-off) • Planning and recording the screencast: 2 – 4 hours • Uploading the video to Bb: 5 – 10 minutes • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour |
| Replace one of your assessments with a written assignment that students must upload to the LMS or submit electronically. Grade the assignment using an online marking tool such as a Blackboard Rubric (if available at your institution). | Yes. The assessment should be linked to the content covered in class as well as specific outcomes that need to be achieved in the module to create an integrated learning experience. Students have control of time and place. | Medium | • Setting up an assignment on your LMS; or • Setting up an assignment on Turnitin • Using the rubric tool in Bb/ Turnitin (or other online marking software) | • Training (once-off): 1 – 2 hours (all tools) • Planning assessment as replacement of existing assessment: 1 – 2 hours • Plan and set up rubric in Bb: 2 – 3 hours • Set-up assignment: 15 – 30 minutes • Communication with students about procedure (planning & execution): 30 minutes – 1 hour. Does not include time that you need to be available to grade assignments and provide feedback. |
Key considerations of low and medium-impact activities
Time – Do not add too many low-impact activities. Choose one or two activities to ensure that the course is not overloaded. Medium-impact activities require redesigning existing activities where the time investment is at the planning phase, so time should be set aside for redesigning some components in the module.
Blended learning vs technology-enhanced activities – Even if the activities you add or replace in your module do not satisfy all the criteria for blended learning, they may still be useful in your module. It is just important to ensure an integrated learning experience when using technology in a module.
Pedagogy before technology – None of the examples provided will achieve the goals for which it is suggested, if the activities are not designed effectively. Learning activities should be aligned with both the outcomes and assessment in a module, while assessment activities should be aligned with both the content and outcomes.
Suggested readings for those interested in a complete module redesign (high impact blend):
Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended learning in higher education: framework, principles, and guidelines (1st ed). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Stein, J., & Graham, C. R. (2014). Essentials for blended learning: a standards-based guide. New York: Routledge.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA, USA.
