On 4th March, LTU ran its first #BoldChat session, on the topic of blended and online learning development. The Tweetchat was inspired by having taken part in other Tweetchats like #LTHEchat which takes place on Wednesday evenings, 8-9pm UK time. Sarah and I wanted to try this bitesize CPD approach for staff at Glasgow interested in blended and online learning, over a whole day, constituting a ‘slow chat’. The exercise was to encourage staff to reflect on their own teaching practice while connecting with other educators engaged in technology-enhanced learning, across and outside of the university.
In just over 12 hours of the timed slow chat, we had 36 legitimate participants (occasionally Tweetchats attract a small number of other individuals using the same hashtag in an unrelated way) and 241 tweets (265 in total). Responses to the questions have been collated to summarise the key outcomes.
Q1. Why is blended and online learning important to you?
Participants expressed their enthusiasm for blended and online learning in relation to improving courses, providing learners with flexibility, and providing a way to engage a global learning population. While blended learning made education accessible to some who could otherwise not participate, other issues around accessibility emerged, including the difficulty of learners in healthcare settings having restricted internet access.
Q2. What are the hallmarks of a ‘good’ online course?
A ‘bad’ online course was viewed as one that simply translated face-to-face resources without thinking carefully about the underpinning learning design. Constructive alignment and effective sequencing of activities were seen as essential. Accessibility was raised again; for example, providing transcripts of audiovisual resources. Other recommendations included promoting peer learning activities and opportunities for communication and regular feedback, as well as not restricting access to parts of the course (for example, through Moodle completion tracking).
Q3. What are the hallmarks of a ‘good’ blended course?
A good blended course was viewed as an optimal, complementary mix of online and face-to-face learning, to ensure a positive student experience and effective learning outcomes. Active learning spaces were considered important when designing blended learning.
Q4. What are the pitfalls to avoid in online or blended learning?
Making assumptions about learners’ digital literacies was seen as a pitfall to avoid. Others included not managing learner experiences about the amount of independent study they would be expected to engage in, versus the support they could expect to receive from staff. There was a recognised misconception that blended and online learning might reduce staff workload; however, participants commented on the importance of investing time in online learning and encouraging students. Staff need to be supported by their managers and given time to effectively engage in online and blended learning; however, the time required to develop effective online and blended courses is often underestimated.
Q5. How do you learn about good practice in blended and online learning?
Professional online networks were considered useful, including ALT (Association for Learning Technology) and Jisc networks and events, particularly the DigiFest event. Enthusiasm was expressed at the possibility of an institutional DigiFest event to connect stakeholders across the university, as some other institutions have done. Being a distance learner was also seen as an illuminating experience in terms of identifying good (and bad) practice.
Q6. What blogs & Twitter accounts about blended/online learning would you recommend others follow?
Recommended Twitter accounts included a number of individual accounts including @S_J_Lancaster @sensor63 @Danceswithcloud @VanessaVaile @RonSamul @RossKGalloway @Annakwood @Mannerings69 @suebecks @chrissinerantzi @Chris_Wiley @Cat_jisc @DrPaulKleiman @HalaMansour @timbuckteeth and @stevewheeler who has a complementary blog at http://www.steve-wheeler.co.uk/. Participants were also encouraged to follow institutional e-learning accounts such as @GlasgowUniLTU @UWLTEL @IOE_LTU @TEL_St_A @UCLDigiEd . @SussexTEL and @qmulelearning. Other recommendations included organisational accounts such as @Jisc, @JiscScotland @jiscdigital and @A_L_T.
Q7. What books or articles about blended/online learning would you recommend others read?
Siemens et al (2015) ‘Preparing for the digital university’ was highlighted by Sarah as a good starting point, which includes a detailed literature review. Other relevant literature was shared by Sarah in her blog post. Other authors whose books were considered useful and informative included Diana Laurillard, Helen Beetham & Rhona Sharpe, and Steve Wheeler. In relation to blended learning, the Handbook of Blended Learning by Bonk and Graham, and other works by Charles R. Graham and D. Randy Harrison were recommended.
Tweetchat visualisation and archive
A graphic depiction of our conversations created using Martin Hawksey’s TAGS tool is available here, and the original tweets have been curated in Storify.
Next #BoldChat
The next #BoldChat will be held on Friday 1st April, between 9am and 5pm UK (BST) time.