School B.S. M.S. M.B.A. Ph.D. Psy.D.

Business and Technology XXX

Human Services X X

Psychology X XX

Education X X

Undergraduate Studies X

The Handbook of Blended Learning

In this respect, Capella's fundamental perspective toward online learning is very different from the perspectives offered in the literature on blended learning. Some of the literature reveals a strong bias in favor of face-to-face instruction and relegates online learning to a supplemental and inferior role. This bias is true even for those scholars who advocate blended learning as a way to benefit from the unique strengths of online learning, such as the ability to deliver knowledge at a distance. Osguthorpe and Graham (2003), for instance, write that as " students share questions, insights, and perplexities they not only experience higher levels of mastery, but they open themselves to redefining and repositioning themselves in the world.... This is the ultimate purpose of a liberal education—to help indi­viduals see themselves in a new light, to help them relate to others in new and more productive ways.... Purely distance delivery systems limit this kind of so­cial contact, while blended environments enhance the possibilities" (p. 231'). Osguthorpe and Graham continue by saying that face-to-face environments " bring learners together in an environment where they can question, experiment, anc enjoy the energy and enthusiasm of group learning. This interaction occurs be­tween learners as well as between learner and teacher" (p. 228).

The comments above reveal an assumption that face-to-face contact is some­how necessary to helping students redefine themselves and " see themselves in a new light." This assumption would not survive exposure to well-designed online courses. Faculty at conventional universities who are exposed to online course-, such as the Augsburg College faculty who teach in Capella University's online un­dergraduate programs, are frequently struck by the quantity and quality of the online interaction. In Capella's case, this is far from accidental: the universitv-mission to extend higher education to working adults means that Capella specif­ically designs courses that facilitate and emphasize both learner-to-learner and learner-to-faculty interaction.

Capella University faculty members work closely with instructional designei-to develop all Capella courses. Faculty members with expertise in a particular sub­ject perform the initial work of course formulation: identifying course goals anc aligning them with broader program objectives, selecting appropriate course re­sources such as books and Web sites, writing requirements and assignments such as discussion questions, conceiving course content, and developing guides for grad­ing learners. Instructional designers then join the faculty expert to ensure that the course adheres to the pedagogical principles used by Capella and by other higher education institutions, as well as to refine the course content and perform partic­ular tasks such as Web page design. Key to our course design and development is a commitment to value the knowledge and experience of our adult learner-This is done by requiring them to share ideas and accomplishments with one another and create a highly interactive learning environment.

A Different Perspective on Blended Learning

When a new course has been drafted, it is presented to department and fac­ulty leadership for approval and subsequently revised, if necessary. On receiving this approval, school leadership assigns qualified instructors and formally opens die course for enrollment. Instructors, who are drawn from the full-time (core) and adjunct faculty, use the course schedule, discussion questions, assignments, and due dates to structure the course. With approximately six hundred online course sec­tions offered each quarter, instructor adherence to the course schedule and resources is key to guaranteeing that learners enjoy consistency across all courses and instructors. Instructors can post new material such as questions or commen­tary to discussions, and they can always recommend changes to the course.

Many observers worry that students engaged in online education like Gapella's will be overly focused on " book learning" and will miss the opportunity to acquire knowledge that can be learned only in other ways, from the nonverbal cues of fel­low discussants in an undergraduate seminar to the professional comportment of a doctoral-level mentor. It is true that face-to-face communication involves ver­bal comments as well as nonverbal cues. But an example from beyond the acad­emy calls into question the assumption that nonverbal cues are more important than thoughtful online interaction: in recent news reports, medical doctors and patients who regularly communicated by e-mail reported that their interchanges were superior to office visits because both parties had time to formulate their thoughts and thus more richly share ideas, questions, and answers (McKenzie, 2004). This begs the question of whether tacit or nonverbal communication is actually more important than effectively expressing ideas in writing.

Capella University courses put clear, concise written communication in the foreground. Discussion and assignment questions, posted by the instructor and germane to particular readings or other resources, require every learner to care­fully formulate thoughts and clearly express them in writing. Such writing can then be posted online for other learners (and the instructor) to read and discuss. Cer­tainly nonverbal cues will be missing from the posted writing, possibly detracting from the communication or even creating situations in which some learners (say, those who are already very comfortable with the written word) are overly em­powered, while others (say, those for whom English is a second language or those for whom writing is a painful chore) are silenced.

Certainly the written word does allow the more forceful expression of the un­derlying ideas and eliminates many nonverbal complications that can otherwise impede expression or reception of those ideas. This may be why online learning typically draws in more women than men and disproportionately high numbers of racial/ethnic minority groups. And for these reasons, Capella expects to find that some students express an increasingly clear preference for online learning as it continues to evolve and expand. At the very least, Capella expects to see the

The Handbook of Blended Learning

range of higher education options expand to incorporate traditional and blended learning methods as well as entirely online methods. Face-to-face may make some learning easier, but that is different from face-to-face being essential for the learn­ing to occur. Some students have style preferences that make face-to-face not only a preference but a requisite part of their learning. Online is not for everyone. But conversely, some students thrive in the online environment and even prefer it over face-to-face settings. Inevitably learners' preferences, institutions' comfort with any or all three forms of education, market forces, and other factors will lead learn­ers to self-select a particular mode of learning or choose different modes at dif­ferent times and for different purposes. This does not mean one medium is superior to the other or that either medium is merely a supplement to the other.

It seems important to state this outright because the bias of the existing lit­erature on blended learning seems to be that online learning can offer only a few limited advantages, such as flexibility as to time and place and the ability to free physical classroom space. These limited advantages necessarily led university administrators and faculty, corporate human resource departments, and others to view online learning as a compromise that requires balancing against face-to-face or blended methods. Many theoreticians and practitioners are working to deter­mine the right balance of methods or the kind of knowledge best conveyed online.

Capella too is interested in achieving the right balance, but, as indicated earlier, its administrators and faculty come at the question from a completely different angle. Because we serve adults who live and work all over the country, even minimal face-to-face requirements present our learners with a stiff challenge and one that, if not mitigated, might deter them from pursuing the education they desire. In response, Capella continuously challenges itself to understand and ex­plain why a particular face-to-face requirement, including the mandated residency for doctoral and master's learners, is necessary for effective learning. Rather than begin with the assumption that face-to-face learning is best and then ask how on­line can supplement it, Capella asks, " When is face-to-face absolutely necessary in the first place? What kind of learning cannot be done online and must be done face-to-face? "

There may be some things that demand face-to-face interaction, but our experience tells us that little, if any, learning cannot be delivered online. The includes even the development of soft skills, such as acquiring professional values and engaging in a transformative re-visioning of oneself and the world. Capella holds that acquiring these skills is far more dependent on the quality of the in­structor or mentor than on the milieu of the skill acquisition. For that reason. Capella ensures that every member of its faculty is well trained, comfortable, and skilled with online teaching. Faculty development activities, for instance, occur not only when new instructors are hired or when an online instructor moves up to

A Different Perspective on Blended Learning

become a doctoral thesis mentor, but throughout an instructor's career at Capella. All online instructors are continuously reviewed by their faculty chairs, who offer coaching and assistance in honing their skills for virtual instruction.

This concern with the quality of online instructors positively affects not only the quality of online, course-based interaction but also the activities that help build a sense of community among faculty, staff, and learners at Capella. Of course, universities relying primarily on online delivery cannot ignore the potential that this delivery format may create feelings of isolation in some learners. This serious concern is partially overcome through high-quality instruction and the design of engaging online courses. And, of course, Capella recognizes that online learn­ing is not for everyone. Some students may be more comfortable in a face-to-face environment, and others may lack the motivation to succeed in a self-directed online course. Those who need the reassurance of face-to-face interaction find a way to attend that type of program, trading the convenience of online educa­tion for the structure or in-person community of traditional education.

Having said all this, Capella University uses face-to-face educational oppor­tunities in the form of week-long residential colloquia as important supplements to online course work in all doctoral programs and many master's programs. Three such colloquia are required for doctoral students. Faculty and students gather at locations around the country, including Atlanta, Chicago, Orlando, Scottsdale, and the greater Washington, D.C., area. The week consists of classes, formation of cohorts that work together during the week, group and individual advising, and the provision of intensive support (writing, for example). Face-to-face instruction is provided, especially in experiential programs such as counseling, and learners find numerous opportunities to present and defend ideas with peers and faculty. In addition, there is instruction on research methodologies and writing for publication.

At the doctoral level it is clear that the colloquia serve to orient students to doctoral education and help them to complete their comprehensives and disser­tations—in other words, less delivering discipline-specific content than building community and providing support to promote program completion. (These efforts resemble dissertation " camps" that have been described recently in the press.) The most important outcomes of the colloquia are the development of new relation­ships and networks that lead to mutual support among students, intense faculty advising and committee selection, and the creation of informal affinity groups, especially for minority students. These events are intense and exciting and very important to our work. But, again, we view them as supplemental to our basic online delivery mode.

Capella University retains its doctoral-level residency requirements less because they provide discipline-specific pedagogical opportunities (which are

The Handbook of Blended Learning

usually met through the programs' online courses) than because they provide extra-educational or social elements to the programs. Residencies are a powerful way for Gapella learners, faculty, and staff to communicate with each other in less for­mal ways than online classroom interaction or telephone conversations. Faculty and staff learn a great deal from learners, and learners feel a greater sense of meaningful connection to their university. In addition, residencies offer a conve­nient " one-stop-shopping" opportunity for advanced doctoral students to seek out mentors and committee members.

Of course, learning does occur in these face-to-face residencies. Each event in­cludes an array of workshops on matters as wide ranging as properly citing refer­ences and choosing a dissertation topic. Certainly learning is occurring in the social interactions with other students and faculty. Certainly die process of selecting a men­tor and committee is important. But even these kinds of opportunities need not be done face-to-face, and, in fact, many are conducted online as well. Learners fre­quently use their online course experiences to identify faculty members they feel might serve well as a mentor or member of a dissertation committee.

There is no question that this model may be troubling to those with much ai stake in the traditional face-to-face environment. There is great comfort for some in traditional classrooms, at least partly because the conventional classroom is liter­ally and figuratively built to focus attention on the instructor, even when adult learn­ing is the goal. The blended approach described in the literature only partially departs from this earlier model by mediating it with technology, thereby perpetuating this time-tested and comfortable role for the face-to-face classroom.

Nothing about online learning means that the " faculty-centricity" of tradi­tional education will soon end. In fact, online courses can be as readily focused as face-to-face courses on the instructor. At Capella, administrators and faculty are striving to develop an educational model with active learning at the center. But it may be unsettling for some to imagine giving up the comfort of face-to-face components. Those who subscribe to the idea that face-to-face social contact is absolutely necessary for liberal education would be troubled by the idea that such learning can occur online.

As with any other innovation, blended learning mixes the new (computer-mediated delivery methods, for instance) with the old (an instructor-focused learning model). This mixture makes it difficult to separate the advantages of blended learn­ing from those of traditional higher education. We wonder if blended learning, as de­scribed in the current literature, is taking advantage of the potential pedagogical opportunities presented by the computer-mediated portion of a blended approach. We are concerned that computer-mediated delivery may be relegated to merelv presenting information in a different mode rather than getting at more fundamen­tal pedagogical issues. Is blended learning important to the conventional, campus-based approach to education and corporate training? We believe that it is. Is blended

A Different Perspective on Blended Learning

learning intrinsically better than purely face-to-face education? No, but it is difficult to say when blended or online or face-to-face/'learning is superior to the alter­natives. On the other hand, can online-only courses lead to effective learning? Adamantly, yes.

Capella's experience indicates that those concerned with higher education— as administrators, as faculty, or as students—should consider their ultimate goals, which can range from freeing classrooms to flexibly earning an advanced degree, and then choose the medium accordingly. Capella University is confident that these intelligent choices will lead us in time beyond the first generation of education, that of traditional face-to-face instruction, and beyond the second generation, which includes blended learning, to a completely new third generation in which the option of online-only instruction is accepted alongside face-to-face and blended models.

References

Allen, E., & Seaman, J. (2004). Entering the mainstream: The quality and extent of online education in

the United States, 2003 and 2004. Retrieved March 1, 2005, from https://www.sloan-

c.org/resources/entering_mamstream.pdf. McKenzie, J. (2004, May 24). Virtual visits. ABCNEWS.com. Retrieved June 30, 2004, from

https://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/MedicineCuttingEdge/email_doctor_

visits_040524.html. Osguthorpe, R. Т., & Graham, C. R. (2003). Blended learning environments: Definitions and

directions. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 4, 227-233.