Figure 26. 1. Rick Effland's VIsual model of hybrid or blended courses.

Blended-Flexible Time

Online Time

Off-Line Time

" students were conditioned to time, perhaps more so." Effland adds that we are har­nessed to a structure for learning that has less and less relationship to time.

According to Effland, the first thing to be done in creating blended courses is to deconstruct time. To achieve this, he began offering " Open Fridays, " a class­room-style forum where students voice their questions or concerns that had ac­cumulated over the week. " Open Fridays were the connective times, but I initiated the connection—the students didn't." However, Effland says he soon doubled his work time for more connection with students: " I break away from time by re­defining my relationship to it. As soon as I went to an Open Friday, I was able to escape the time schedule constraint."

Effland even set up collaborative chatrooms for cooperative learning projects, but the students would still turn in their presentations as individuals, not collab­orators. " The Open Fridays may have allowed me to serve three or four times more students through this blended arrangement from online courses, but I felt I was doing twice the amount of work. So I achieved a blended course, but I created twice my teaching load, " says Effland:

After looking at my allocation of time, I had not thought of looking at all the hours, whether they were lecture or online. I discovered that I could use them for facilita­tion, guidance of learning [and] content expertise on my part at the right learning moment and any variation of pedagogy and method I wished to implement.

This epiphany came suddenly. Among the three time modes of the trian­gle, I could use all three in any combinations I wished. I discovered that the more I mixed these time models, the less constricted I was by old inductive models; seat-time structure became less of a burden. I dumped off seat-time and found that by introducing learning objects on the Open Fridays, I could give concept building so students could exchange, chat [room]] explore, try out interpretations of single learning objects.

From Analog to Weblog

An example Effland described was the learning object of the concept of God-King, ubiquitous in anthropological and archaeological content. Understanding how the deification of leaders assisted control and consolidated power and divine authority, students could link the concept of divine right of kings. " They grasped this concept better than if I delivered their learning as I might do online or through print distribution or even lecturing, " adds Effland.

Open Fridays became enriching learning events. Effland believes that in the last third of his courses, students began taking control of their own learning. Trans­mitting content by the instructor gives way to facilitation of learning. Students are guided rather than taught, according to Effland: " As the students tie their concepts together through dialogue, collaborative papers, and the suggested Internet links, we find blended learning puts us all in the position of learners, including me." He continues, " The next stage of growth is that I have all of the hours of the assigned credit to use for such facilitation. I can go back to straight online, back to open facilitation, back to leading students to their own collaborations, and I even can go back to the occasional but less frequently used lecture. I am liberated."

In Effland's case, another feature of blended courses is that students will blog from concept formation, suddenly linking together two or three concepts. Once the students have their " aha! " moment, the blogging commences. This capturing of synthesis and integration of concepts is a very exciting process to watch; Effland and other instructors say it would not be possible in a lecture or a fully online course. " Hybrid or blended courses deliver what we have always only idealized and dreamed about as student learning behavior, " concludes Effland.

Shelley Rodrigo: English Department, Instructional Design, Innovator, and Blended Course Advocate

Like most other instructors teaching blended courses, Shelley Rodrigo describes herself as on an exploratory journey. Our definition of blended courses differs as we become more immersed into the process of both redesigning and teaching these courses. " I am now more prepared to offer a visual schema, " states Rodrigo. " Before, we sort of jumped in, not knowing or realizing what activities were merg­ing, separating themselves out, or even expiring in a blended course."

Rodrigo offered this way of looking at the distinct elements of her blended courses: " They may not help others, but they are the way that allows me to con­ceptualize courses." According to her, hybrid courses are technologically medi­ated; technology is ancillary; there is seat-time (not face-to-face; possibly fully online); and there is no (or very little) face-to-face time.

Rodrigo likes to design courses using the whole spectrum of possibilities. Most instructors think " online" means exclusively Web based. Unfortunately, this

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368 The Handbook of Blended Learning

concept has betrayed good pedagogy. Instructors have flocked to online course as­signments, but have also abandoned online efforts for several good reasons, such as " exhaustive preparation of work, " or " I miss the faces, even the little social­ization we had." Many never considered a blended option in the beginning, because it was not in our early mental models of online course delivery. " You were online or not, " adds Rodrigo.

Rodrigo uses the entire spectrum, feeling that the combinations are not set in stone; rather, the elements shift and change to match learners' needs and evolve with her aim as an instructor. It can also be changed depending on the content as well. For example, if the instructor is teaching political science, G-Span links to congressional debate may enrich one syllabus, whHe a chemistry lab experiment may be hugely technologically mediated. " You cannot always tell—or prescribe a simple option, " says Rodrigo. Blended learning exudes variation. Rodrigo thrives on the designing process, so blended learning fills her needs better. She is also a highly conceptual thinker.

Early experimenters jumped in too quickly perhaps, according to Rodrigo. " Teachers went online and felt 'this is it.'" Rodrigo emphasizes that there is a deli­cate balance between technology and a sensitivity to what is really working. " I have tried to start with having students come to think about what he or she can do to learn more about this subject." Relying on the online protocol between instructor and stu­dent does not facilitate learning: " I want the student to think, go to a chatroom with other students; go to a link on the subject; wait for a discussion or class meeting; design my own learning activities with a collaborative group or with friends."

Rodrigo believes that the ultimate hallmark of a successful blended class learner is self-direction through the navigational tools and resources. " This self-direction may not occur until late in the course, " Rodrigo emphasizes. This is not unlike Rick Effland's observation that students take control of their learning in the last third of a blended course.

Rodrigo was not hesitant to look out on the horizon, naming some of the issues policy leaders and faculty must confront:

• There will be more and more hybrid courses because students want more face-to-face, but on their own terms (matching work life, family obligations, etc.)

• Much better administrative support, e.g., more reassigned time for course planning and rewarding experimentation, even if it falls short.

• Much more technology support for students and faculty. Students don't ac­quire sufficient memory resources or are limited by various bandwidths at home.

From Analog to Weblog

• Making students aware that the courses they have selected are blended courses. Students need to know this, as they may expect to be either online or in a lecture classroom.

• The majority of classes in the future will be hybrid. This trend can and prob­ably will eclipse institutional technological preparations and support.

• Access to technology must be improved for faculty as well as for students (per­sonal computers are still prohibitively expensive for many).

• Inadequate support for adjunct faculty as community colleges and universities rely on the use of part-time faculty.

• Course hour and calendar issues; we need to deconstruct credit from the clock hour.

• More emphasis on learning objects and movements toward certification.

• Confronting the possible reality that what is not hybridized may not be around any longer.

Richard Felnagle: Author, Long-Standing Media and Online Advocate

Richard Felnagle emphasizes that the classroom still supports closer interaction for many students. Although he feels that blended approaches are the trend of the future, students who have become reliant on lecture-style teaching will feel some disorientation without the classroom contact.

Felnagle maintains there are a number of students who prefer cyberdomi-nated delivery. They enjoy it, thrive on it, and have no burning need to attempt the blended experience. Other students desire contact, welcoming the blended modules' collaborative experience in a class. Having said that traditional class­room instruction is preferred by many students, the reality seems to indicate that good interaction reaches only a few in a lecture mode. Most students stay passive, so traditional courses reach fewer students, and engagement is not constant.

Hybrid approaches encourage more individual interaction and engagement. According to Felnagle, " This is the reverse of many students' perceptions of cybercourses, which carry the perception that online courses are impersonal, detached from the instruction. From an instructor's point of view, not only is there more contact via blended methodology, it is much more work and time consuming— just from e-mail alone." Like other teachers with whom we have talked, e-mail is read every four to five hours just to keep up with student needs—contact not character­istic of lecture classes.

Felnagle believes that the future is blended courses and that the conventional semester should be discontinued. " Five weeks would be better... we don't need to keep students in 15-16 week patterns just to use a traditional calendar, " he stressed.

The Handbook of Blended Learning

Other improvements Felnagle envisions would be to better prepare help desks to manage learning assistance and student problems. According to Felnagle, fac­ulty carry this burden almost entirely because they are more learning based and centralized: " Many students turn back to us when help desks fail to help, even with ordinary problems."

Felnagle also feels that colleges and their students must confront the vari­ability of equipment that students own; many of the cheaper PCs do not carry the capacity for document searches and the downloading that is required. Mesa Community College's technology offers many public ports and student work­stations, but students must question the suitability of their own equipment. Some have weak Internet service providers; others have state-of-the-art con­nections. Some improvement has occurred through building-to-building wire­less, but the students without significant financial resources are not as well positioned for online commerce, for which faculty increasingly assume students are prepared.

Since Felnagle's background is in media production and communications, he predicts " video streaming, more digital media content, and more varied and richer links" as future trends. Both faculty and students have to be technologically pre­pared and supported for this blended learning approach.

Donna Gaudet: Chief Instructional Designer, Center for Teaching and Learning, Mesa Community College

Donna Gaudet supports the faculty who experiment with and implement blended learning. According to her, methodology is derived by the availability of time and of technology. As an instructional designer, Gaudet predictably emphasizes one feature: design. She also presupposes that faculty should be allowed exploration within a safety zone. Urging faculty to try an activity that would be manageable, she insists that " baby steps are okay! "

Gaudet believes that Mesa Community College has several " go-go" online in­structors who were early innovators. She now sees them returning to face-to-face interaction protocols, " de-cybering" their approaches to find a comfortable blended mode of teaching.

Blended courses make the perfect transition for faculty development. Having faculty work with the blended course vision legitimizes the role of the instructional designer. " We are now really needed. More than any previous time, we may be more valued than ever as a supporting agent to faculty. This is a good era we are entering, " adds Gaudet.

To support blended learning, Gaudet emphasizes that we work from the instructional objectives. The learning objective drives the mini-intercessions that

From Analog to Weblog

support the online delivery that makes blended course development so exciting. Gaudet adds that hybrid is the ideal, with heavy emphasis on design. " This is sort of 'designer's heaven, '" adds Gaudet.

When asked what is needed at the GTL to support her work, Gaudet suggests two areas:

• Faculty bring an important reality to the GTL. The faculty should have more internships here, more fellow-type arrangements. When the experimental classes and labs are filled with faculty, it creates a new buzz and energy.

• We need to do more online learning and dissemination from the GTL, better Web resources, links, and simple help. We do that well in interactive sessions, but the GTL hopes to step up online services for those who need blended online help in their courses.

Naomi Story: Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Mesa Community College

Naomi Story has a long history of supportive learning. She directs the GTL and is a tenured faculty member. Her training and professional preparation is in instructional design.

When asked about the GTL's philosophy on blended learning, she listed several characteristics that are integral to the mission of the center. She acknowl­edges that the CTL cannot be all things to all people; instead, Story sees two roles for the CTL to support the development of blended learning.

The first area involves extended discussion and learning about the blended learning movement. The center provides ways to explore issues like the redefini­tion of time, frequency of contact, breaking down content, and establishing an intermittent formula. To facilitate this exploration, the GTL provides experimental classrooms. The goal is simple: test it, evaluate it, and tweak it as blended method­ology components. " We try to reward interesting failures as well as triumphs, " says Story. She maintains that there is not just one formula for blended learning. Like Gaudet, she believes the combinations of blended approaches are infinite.

The CTL's main philosophical approach has been nondoctrinaire; it advo­cates outside-the-box thinking, but it may not always involve technology. When it comes to blended learning, where so many faculty members are experimenting and adapting, the CTL supports " proof of concept." Story believes this encour­ages her and her impressive team to avoid template solutions:

Inventing our own way may be the reason we foster greater faculty engage­ment. We try to deemphasize template solutions. What works for the learner

The Handbook of Blended Learning

and the faculty should govern the nature of the blend.... The faculty for years have examined elegant off-the-shelf commercial products, but often learn that they can't use them. We think their exploration, their design, their engagement—with a variety of options for blended learning—has caused blended learning to become the movement that it is. We could not have done that as an organizational development or staff development intervention alone.

When asked what an ideal situation for the CTL would be, both Story and Gaudet said they can always use more time and money. Both were clear: blended learning is best based on design, not templates. Even elegant computer-based instructional programs like Plato and Ticket never achieved the wide participation and engagement that blended learning has accomplished.

Story, like Gaudet, would opt for a fellows' program at the CTL: with more faculty, mentors, and experimenters, enriching our energy and aligning our innovation with realities only faculty can bring.

Final Note

We have been on a trajectory of technology adaptation. We evolved from distance education alone to our current environment: an open and exciting blend of online and off-line learning. It has all been innovative and valuable, but blended learn­ing heralds a new age of deeper and wider engagement of more teachers and learners. The progression from analog to Weblog is a continuing story.

References

Bleed, R. (2001, January—February). A hybrid campus for the new millennium. Educause Review, 36(1).

Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction. (2004). Hybrid courses. Retrieved September 23, 2004, from https://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/hybrids/index.php.

Yohe, R. (2002). Experiencing the best of both worlds by teaching a hybrid course. Unpublished manu­script. Mesa, AZ: Maricopa Community Colleges.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN