Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. Michelle Estes
Description
Project Description – Blended learning: Teacher vs. Student
Blended Learning is commonly referred to as “a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through the online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace” (Horn & Staker, 2012). This means that learning can take place virtually anywhere with increased supervision at a coffee shop, a public library, or any other educational setting that allows connectivity to the internet. The constant development of technology permits the inclusion of content through various forms of blended learning and online delivery techniques in both K-12 and higher education. Effectively arranging various methods of online learning involves considerations that traditional instruction may not require. As institutions of higher education, state departments of education, as well as K-12 educators become increasingly familiar with innovative blended learning initiatives, the need for modern strategies to design and deliver quality instruction is evident. Therefore, educators capable of implementing successful online instructional strategies are becoming increasingly essential to the field of education.
The blended teacher. I designed an asynchronous learning module about online teaching for Content Teaching Academy participants at James Madison University. To do this, I used gamification strategies as the framework to not only keep learners engaged, but to also enable participants to gain tools to successfully incorporate gamification into their own instruction.
As the Instructional Designer, I analyzed potential needs based on the intended audience and designed unique instructional materials to accommodate for a diverse set of learners. Each concept provided in this module allowed learners to gain access to cited research, definitions, examples (using videos or images), and provided opportunities for further content exploration. A variety of strategic materials were developed which allowed content within each module to offer instruction based on various aspects of planning, implementing, and evaluating instruction.
The blended student. This international, distance-education internship with Bath Spa University allowed me to collaborate with a faculty member, to redesign a module in Blackboard VLE (Minerva) intended for blended learning use. This experience enabled me to effectively redesign a Graduate level course, while collaborating with a real client, (via e-mail or Skype) on a weekly basis. As the Subject Matter Expert (SME) and the instructional designer, I immersed myself in the contents of each topic to develop appropriate course materials for international, graduate students. After conducting thorough planning procedures using the ADDIE model, not only were Instructional Design Principles applied, but effective visual design and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles were addressed as well. Various forms of multimedia were used to create seamless, engaging content to ensure learner success. Some examples of this included: creative PowerPoint presentations, Microsoft Mix, videos, and even interactive simulations. In these cases, modules were utilized to increase the rigor of learning content using diverse learning activities. These collaborative experiences empowered me to conduct my final research project based on the topic of blended learning.
Blended Learning: Teacher Vs. Student
Project Description – Blended learning: Teacher vs. Student
Blended Learning is commonly referred to as “a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through the online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace” (Horn & Staker, 2012). This means that learning can take place virtually anywhere with increased supervision at a coffee shop, a public library, or any other educational setting that allows connectivity to the internet. The constant development of technology permits the inclusion of content through various forms of blended learning and online delivery techniques in both K-12 and higher education. Effectively arranging various methods of online learning involves considerations that traditional instruction may not require. As institutions of higher education, state departments of education, as well as K-12 educators become increasingly familiar with innovative blended learning initiatives, the need for modern strategies to design and deliver quality instruction is evident. Therefore, educators capable of implementing successful online instructional strategies are becoming increasingly essential to the field of education.
The blended teacher. I designed an asynchronous learning module about online teaching for Content Teaching Academy participants at James Madison University. To do this, I used gamification strategies as the framework to not only keep learners engaged, but to also enable participants to gain tools to successfully incorporate gamification into their own instruction.
As the Instructional Designer, I analyzed potential needs based on the intended audience and designed unique instructional materials to accommodate for a diverse set of learners. Each concept provided in this module allowed learners to gain access to cited research, definitions, examples (using videos or images), and provided opportunities for further content exploration. A variety of strategic materials were developed which allowed content within each module to offer instruction based on various aspects of planning, implementing, and evaluating instruction.
The blended student. This international, distance-education internship with Bath Spa University allowed me to collaborate with a faculty member, to redesign a module in Blackboard VLE (Minerva) intended for blended learning use. This experience enabled me to effectively redesign a Graduate level course, while collaborating with a real client, (via e-mail or Skype) on a weekly basis. As the Subject Matter Expert (SME) and the instructional designer, I immersed myself in the contents of each topic to develop appropriate course materials for international, graduate students. After conducting thorough planning procedures using the ADDIE model, not only were Instructional Design Principles applied, but effective visual design and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles were addressed as well. Various forms of multimedia were used to create seamless, engaging content to ensure learner success. Some examples of this included: creative PowerPoint presentations, Microsoft Mix, videos, and even interactive simulations. In these cases, modules were utilized to increase the rigor of learning content using diverse learning activities. These collaborative experiences empowered me to conduct my final research project based on the topic of blended learning.
