Parisa Mehran
ETA-ROC 2018
Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of
an English Blended Course

Osaka University Global English Online
(OUGEO)

Instructional Design for Online Course Delivery
Photo: https://community.articulate.com/articles/10-
things-you-could-create-instead-of-an-e-learning-course

ADDIE Model
Analysis
Design
DevelopmentImplementation
Evaluation
Needs,
Requirements,
Learners’ current
capabilities
Learning
objectives,
Delivery format,
Activities and
tasks
Developing course
materials,
Piloting
Measurement of
performance,
Learning
analytics
Training
implementation,
Observation

Successive Approximation Model (SAM 1)

Successive Approximation Model (SAM 2)

Designing and Developing a Blended Course
Using SAM

Checklists and Rubrics
Photo: https://community.articulate.com/articles/your-
handy-e-learning-course-review-checklist

The Standards Checklist by
Marjorie Vai and Kristen Sosulski (2011)
The checklist contains items on:
• learning outcomes
• ease of communication
• pedagogical and organizational design
• visual design
• engaged learning
• collaboration and community
• Assessment
• Feedback
• evaluation and grading
• ease of access

Quality Matters Higher Education Course Design Rubric
Standards, Fifth Edition (2014):
“A set of eight General Standards and 43 Specific Review
Standards used to evaluate the design of online and blended
courses”

1 Course Overview and
Introduction
2 Learning Objectives
3 Assessment and
Measurement
4 Instructional Materials
5 Learner Activities and
Learner Interaction
6 Course Technology
7 Learner Support
8 Accessibility and
Usability

Detailed Analysis of the Situation

Detailed Analysis of the Situation
Needs
Analysis
e-learning
Readiness

Needs Analysis Survey
Listening
Speaking
Pronunciation
278 Japanese undergraduate students
12 instructors

Placing emphasis on EGAP  ESP courses
Having three levels based on CEFR (Common European
Framework of Reference)
Integrating all four skills with special focus on speaking
Focusing on pronunciation training
Course Design Implications

Alizadeh, M., Mehran, P., Koguchi,
I., & Takemura, H. (2018).
Language needs analysis and
internationalization of higher
education: The unaddressed factor
in Japan. JACET Kansai Journal,
20, 156–173.

When one thinks of Japan
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/com
mons/3/39/ASIMO_4.28.11.jpg

Low digital literacy among Japanese “digital
natives”
Technology has not yet been normalized in
Japanese educational settings

e-Learning Readiness Survey
Willingness
Educational
Use
Personal
Use
AccessOwnership Computer
Literacy
 299 Japanese undergraduate students
 The study focused on:

Are Japanese Digital Natives Ready for Learning
English Online?
The answer is clearly “no”!
Japanese digital natives also tend to use
their phones for gaming, entertainment, and
personal communication far more than for
educational activities (Lockley & Promnitz-
Hayashi, 2012)

Digital literacy training (e.g., typing)
Desktop computers and mobile devices
Edutainment and gamification
Learning/Teaching Implications

Sample student-generated AR-based poster 1
Code: 238935

Mehran, P., Alizadeh, M., Koguchi, I.,
& Takemura, H. (2017). Are Japanese
digital natives ready for learning
English online? A preliminary case
study at Osaka University.
International Journal of Educational
Technology in Higher Education,
14(8), 1–17. doi:10.1186/s41239-017-
0047-0

What To Do?
• Determining the course overall goals, learning objectives, and
learning outcomes
• Designing a multidimensional syllabus: skill-based and task-based
• Increasing motivation and global awareness among Japanese
learners of English
• Addressing copyright issues
• Writing the course calendar
• Designing tasks, activities, and quizzes
• Preparing tutorials and rubrics for writing and speaking assignments

English Listening
Lesson Library Online
Course Content & Copy Right issues

Global Explorers
https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/

Prototyping
• Creating a sample for demo at the Osaka
University FD Seminar
• Uploading the course content on Blackboard
• Checking the quality of the content on Blackboard
mobile applications
• Iterative review cycles to evaluate, refine, and
modify the previous process  Course labeling
• Modifying course learning objectives and
materials  Adding global concerns and issues

e-Learning Authoring Tools
Adobe Captivate iSpring Suite

Mehran, P., Alizadeh, M., Koguchi, I., &
Takemura, H. (2017). Designing and
developing a blended course: Toward best
practices for Japanese learners. In K.
Borthwick, L. Bradley, & S. Thouësny (Eds.),
CALL in a climate of change: Adapting to
turbulent global conditions – short papers from
EUROCALL 2017 (pp. 205–210). Dublin:
Research-publishing.net.
doi:10.14705/rpnet.2017.eurocall2017.680

Alizadeh, M., Mehran, P., Koguchi, I., &
Takemura, H. (2017). Learning by design:
Bringing poster carousels to life through
augmented reality in a blended English
course. In K. Borthwick, L. Bradley, & S.
Thouësny (Eds.), CALL in a climate of
change: Adapting to turbulent global
conditions – short papers from EUROCALL
2017 (pp. 7–12). Dublin: Research-
publishing.net.
doi:10.14705/rpnet.2017.eurocall2017.714

• After prototyping and applying the changes,
OUGEO was implemented in the spring semester
of 2017 (April–July).
• The iterative evaluation continued, and some
minor modifications were applied during the
implementation phase such as adding Japanese
translations to the course instructions.

An attitudinal survey: Students’
perception on the usefulness of the
course
To add an outsider positionality, the
blended course was peer-reviewed
by a certified reviewer from Quality
Matters (QM) after having been self-
reviewed by the researchers.

Students’ overall satisfaction with the course despite the
occasional technical difficulties caused by the
malfunctioning of the learning management system
The QM peer review:
First round: a score of 70 out of 99
Second round: the course currently meets all the
requirements of the Higher Education Course Design Rubric
(Fifth Edition) upon amendment.

Lessons Learned
and Advice

Be ready to
change
Designing and developing
an online/blended course
is an ongoing process
Do not forget
about OER
resources
Consider time
demands
Check for course
organization and
navigation
Instead of constantly
reinventing the wheel,
look for freely available
resources
Developing effective
online resources is often
much more time-
consuming than creating
classroom learning
materials
No matter how
professionally you have
developed and compiled
your online resources,
they will not be effective
as long as they are not
well-organized.

Care about
course
accessibility and
usability
Include information on
accessibility support as
well as technical and
academic support
services
Foster social
presence Always keep
your course
objectives in
mind
Be ready to deal
with technical
glitches
For example, simple
activities such as
introducing themselves to
the class Your objectives are the
core component leading
all your actions and
decisions
No matter how hard you
have attempted at
designing and developing
your course, there are
things that will not work
occasionally or constantly
Think of alternative
solutions

Alizadeh, M., Mehran, P., Koguchi, I.,
& Takemura, H. (2018). Evaluating a
blended course for Japanese learners
of English: Why Quality Matters.
Manuscript submitted for publication to
IALLT Journal.

parisamehran.wordpress.com

#OsakaUniversityGlobalEnglishOnline
#OUGEO

x.co/mavrsig jalt.org

mehran.parisa@lab.ime.cmc.osaka-u.ac.jp

http://sites.google.com/view/ougeo