Presentation to Southampton University School Forum 6/12 with Jean Leah and Madeline Paterson

1. Blended Learning Modules
By Jean Leah, Lisa Harris and
Madeline Paterson

2. The project
• How it started
• Where we are now.

3. Background
• Flexible study option for mature students in full
time employment
• Leverages knowledge of the entire student group
who collaborate, share and produce materials with
tutor guidance
• Each module starts and ends with a half day F2F
workshop, with 8 weeks of online study in-between
• Two modules being developed for IDM Diploma
holders to extend their studies to MSc Digital
Marketing
• Can be offered to other student groups as required

4. Pedagogy (Salmon, 2000)
STAGE STUDENT ACTIVITIES TUTOR ACTIVITIES
Stage 1 Setting up system and Welcome and encouragement.
Access and motivation accessing Where to find technical support
Stage 2 Sending and receiving Introductions, Ice-breakers
On-line socialisation messages Ground rules, Netiquette
Stage 3 Carrying out activities Facilitate structured activities
Information exchange Reporting and discussing Assign roles and responsibilities
findings Encourage discussions
Summarise outcomes
Stage 4 Course-related discussions Facilitate open activities
Knowledge construction Critical thinking applied to Facilitate the process
subject material Asking questions
Making connections between Encourage reflection.
models and work-based Tutor is very active at this stage.
learning experiences
Stage 5 Reflection on learning Respond only when required
Development. processes Encourage reflection
Students become critical of the Tutor is less active and hands
medium over to the students

5. Online learning weeks
• Tutor provides text-based summary doc on BB focused
on the themes of each week, including:
– Directions for the completion of assignments
– Hyperlinks to web-based materials
– L inks to media offering additional insights
– Supplementary reading
• Discussion board participation
– Post answer to the set question
– Comment on two classroom posts made by colleagues
(with supporting evidence)
– Post a reflective summary of learning from the week’s
activities.

6. Module Activity Summary

7. Role of the tutor
• Guide the students through the 5 stage learning
process
• Answer specific questions
• Provide guidance on “netiquette”
• Encourage active participation by all students
• Provide prompt and detailed feedback on a on
going basis throughout the module
• Curate key themes that emerge from the
discussions to encourage critical reflection

8. Lisa to add screen shot from ‘live’
discussion board

9. Structuring an activity
Design (in advance) activities based on one
key topic or question to make participation
and moderation easy and effective
• Spark for discussion: motivating and purposeful
• What they should do and how long it should take
• What indicates success and how to achieve it
• How they should work together
• What the tutor’s role is and when s/he will post

10. Successful online discussion
• The smaller the group, the greater the
likelihood of cohesiveness and full
participation
– 5-7 individuals is good for leaderless groups
– 15 individuals is maximum for full participation
• Success depends on the tutor’s skills: to
design an effective task, stimulate
discussion, watch, keep emphasis on
task, summarise and keep it moving

11. Setting group tasks
A mix of task, roles, rules, procedures
Outcome: Identify and competently use three
different strategies for solving problems
Tasks: solve a given problem; monitor the strategies
involved; share findings and compare with research
evidence; draw up a classification of findings
Activities:
 individual works on the problem
 pairs compare methods and results
 whole group shares summary sheets
 group produces a single sheet with their results

12. Media: being ‘producerly’
• Media is powerful, students enjoy it
• ‘Good enough’ production values
– Sound and vision kit
– Camera and microphone setup
– Management on the day (producer)
– Editing and delivery format
• Buy-in skills for best results
Inexpensive, quality, value, student experience