Teaching and learning modalities in higher education institutions
Face-to-face learning and technology-enhanced learning
Distance education and virtual learning environments
BLearning modality and multidimensional hybrid learning environments
Dimensions of the blend (Singh, 2003) | Dimensions of the blend (Galvis, 2017a) |
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Offline (face-to-face) and online (virtual) learning environments | Spaces (face-to-face, online, autonomous) and time (synchronous, asynchronous) for student-teacher-content interaction |
Self-paced (learned controlled) and live, collaborative learning (among many learners) | Pedagogy (conventional, inverted) and locus of control (teacher, students, group) |
Structured (formal) and unstructured (informal) learning | Media to attain knowledge (expository, active, interactive media) |
Custom content (adaptive, flexible) and off-the-shelf content (generic) | Learning experiences (formal, non-formal, informal) |
Learning (before a new job-task), practice (using job-tasks or simulation models), and performance support (Just-in-time coaching) | Learning environments (personal / networked, at work / at home, virtual classroom / physical classroom) |
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➢ Recognizes that education occurs in formal (e.g., classroom), non-formal (e.g., work, communities of practice) and informal learning environments (e.g., media, websites), building on the strengths of each learning environment.
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➢ Highlights the fact that both human facilitators and digital technologies can play a key role in education; a selective combination of these means can be the basis for rich, sustainable and expandable learning experiences.
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➢ Recognizes alternative and complementary paths for learning, promoted by individuals but also by collective efforts. A well-conceived combination of learning paths can lead to curriculum plans that allow for education, personal growth, and productive life to align.
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➢ Accepts that interaction with content stored in repositories can complement interaction with facilitators and co-workers or peers, by physical or digital means; a combination of exchanges that considers the nature of what is learned and the desired level of expertise, which can lead to the creation of rich, flexible, effective and sustainable learning experiences.
Focus and conceptual framework
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How can sound pedagogical, operational, and organizational conditions for bLearning to thrive in HEIs be created?
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How can strategic institutional thinking about bLearning programs and courses in HEIs be developed?
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How can tactical decision-making processes behind the implementation of bLearning strategies proposed by a given educational organization be supported?
Strategic thinking about bLearning programs
Set of Questions #1. Strategic thinking about the bLearning initiative | |
• Mission. What is the fundamental purpose of the bLearning program? What should its products or services be like? Which stakeholders should the program serve and under what conditions? • Success indicators. What variables should be revised to determine success in fulfilling the mission? • Identity. What would make this program unique? What would distinguish it from similar programs? What should be the unmistakable trademark of this program? • Desirable blend. How can the differences among similar programs be increased in terms of their functionality, taking advantage of the multi-dimensional opportunities of blending? Which dimensions are subject to innovation given the available strengths and opportunities? • Integration. Is it convenient to make alliances or subcontracts to handle some of the elements of the value chain or the support chain? What elements cannot be delegated and must be addressed directly by the program? • Vision. What is the desirable state of the medium-term program? What is the medium -term expected perception from beneficiaries? |
Leadership and rationale for adoption and institutionalization of bLearning
The rationale behind offering a bLearning program/course
Reasons leading to the use of blended learning environments
Institutionalizing the use of blended learning environments
Factors that influence the bLearning initiative
Aligning the blended modality with the institutional strategy
Board level commitment with the bLearning modality
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➢ Using the teacher’s time as authors, course directors, facilitators, or evaluators as part of their academic load, or compensating them when their contribution to the program is not part of their teaching responsibilities;
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➢ Relying on sufficient and appropriate financial resources to design and implement the program, and then to implement, replicate or expand what has been designed. (A medium-term investment recovery can be expected);
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➢ Rethinking fundamental processes present in the chain of educational value and aligning technological, administrative, and financial support processes with these fundamentals according to the desired dimensions for the blend.
Socio-technical adjustment towards bLearning
Maturity stages of a blended modality program or course
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➢ BLearning Normativity. According to Allen et al. (2007) the bLearning modality must offer between 30% and 79% of contents online, thus reducing face-to-face time. From this perspective, it is possible to consolidate the bLearning program according to worldwide standards for a blended modality program accreditation. This will depend on whether it is a national or international accreditation body and how these establish the guidelines and percentages for online content. Institutional level regulations could also exist, insofar reducing face-to-face interaction for the sake of virtual interaction is accepted.
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➢ Face-to-face distribution and media literacy. The distribution of educational opportunities (Mason & Rennie, 2006), that is, the amount of opportunities on site and synchronous for the face-to-face component, and the amount of opportunities that can be accessed from anywhere and asynchronously for the virtual component, can also be evidence of maturity for bLearning. This considers the possibility of conducting face-to-face sessions for groups that are geographically dispersed (known as face-to-face distribution), as well the teaching staff and the participants making use of different sorts of media to access content. Depending on the program’s geographical scope, it may be necessary to have one or more locations for the face-to-face component, either directly operated by the institution offering the course or program, or operated in association with local institutions. Media literacy for the virtual component cannot be taken for granted. Depending on the program participants, those who have already taught or learned with ICT support have probably acquired necessary skills, but otherwise, it is necessary to promote and teach media literacy in the face-to-face session in which the program begins.
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➢ Media culture in teachers. Depending on the intended goal and the medium’s specificity, it is possible to combine active, interactive, and expository media (Forté & Wentland, 1998) to support diverse learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) (Bersin, 2004), and to promote the achievement of different types of learning outcomes (information transmission, cognitive abilities, motor skills, attitudes). The maturity of this dimension has two complementary edges: the instructional and the institutional one. When the educational culture in media usage is very conventional, using predominantly expository means for teaching, the support for the hybrid modality is elementary. Nevertheless, when the educational culture in media usage is different and also aims at a diversity of objectives and ways to reach knowledge, the level of maturity is higher.
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➢ Media usage support. Institutionally speaking, the level of maturity is related with the support given to teachers and students for the use of different types of media (Solar et al., 2013). If maturity is limited to addressing access and functionality problems of each media, there is little maturity from this perspective. If it includes strategies to support an adequate use of media through which knowledge is attained, there is a high level of maturity.
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➢ Learning control schemes: Pedagogically speaking, maturity to support learning in mixed environments is determined by the control scheme’s mindset. It may be centered on the teacher, who transmits knowledge, on the learners, who build knowledge, or on groups, who share and reconstruct knowledge (Forté & Wentland, 1998). When the program design seeks a balance of emphasis according to the type of results and processes it leads, higher pedagogical maturity is required in the environment designers and in teachers; when the educational paradigm allows everyone to make use of their own teaching style without a pedagogical model guiding the process, less maturity is required.
Focusing learning programs on blended learning environments
Desired scope for a bLearning program
BLearning program interest groups / stakeholders
Needs that should be met with offers in bLearning environments
Desired market niche(s) for a bLearning initiative
Characteristics of the program’s potential beneficiaries
Outlining the educational model in a bLearning program
Tactical decision-making for bLearning initiatives
Educational model for bLearning environments
Set of Questions #2. Blending environments, modes of interaction, resources and learning times | |
• Learning environments: In this course, or program, which learning environments are the best to take advantage of? Are the physical and virtual classrooms usually included in the bLearning offer sufficient? Is there interest in fostering experiential learning from what is done at work, and/or from what happens in the physical environment close to the learner, and/or in field trips? • Interaction modes and resources: In each of the chosen learning environments, different modes of interaction can be used to attain knowledge. Interactions can take place through the use of various types of media: interactive in which users engage with each other; active, which are organically engaging; expository, which transmit messages. Considering what one wants to achieve and the chosen learning environments, which learning resources are relevant to the environments and modes of interaction applicable to your case? • Learning times and environments: Build a timeline with the maximum duration of a course, defining each of the planned face-to-face / virtual cycles. Define the schedule for the combination of virtual / face-to-face environments. Keep in mind that you want to take full advantage of each environment’s potential. Be sure that the times and activities for each learning cycle are enough to achieve the proposed objectives. |
Set of Questions #3. Pathways to reach knowledge | |
• Desired/convenient pedagogy to be implemented: If the course or program is aimed at having characteristic trademark, define whether conventional or active pedagogy is to be promoted in the learning units; otherwise, give the author freedom to define how students should be encouraged to learn.3 • Type of classroom setting to be operationalized: The blended modality can be used with conventional or active pedagogy, but also with conventional classroom practices (students go to the classroom to learn and then consolidate and generalize) or with flipped classroom approach (students learn before attending face-to-face sessions and then consolidate and generalize). Define if the educational model will impose some type of classroom type, or if it is the educators’ choice to decide how to conduct their course. |
Set of Questions #4. Content structuring and development | |
• Define how to organize the course’s content. Use fine approximations such as: weekly distribution; using the book’s core chapters; modular approach around linked to fundamental concepts, also called big ideas. In any case, it is expected that the learning cycle (motivation, acquisition, reinforcement, and generalization) will be achieved in a sequence that best fits the chosen pedagogy. |
Mixing learning environments, modes of interaction, and resources
Type of media | Formal Learning Setting (Classroom) | Informal Learning Setting (Workplace) | ||
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Physical classroom | Virtual classroom | Virtual Office | Physical office | |
Human-based, offline | ICT-based, online | ICT-based, online | Human-based, offline | |
Interactive media (allow learning through interaction and collaboration between people) | Discussion groups Case discussion Problem-based learning Expert consultation Role playing | Online forums / discussion groups Interactive case discussion Interactive problem-based learning Online expert consultation Collaborative games / simulations | Distributed learning communities (LC) •Task-based LC •Practice-based LC •Knowledge-based LC Online consultation •With colleagues •With experts Collaborative tools •Productivity •Knowledge management | Local learning communities •Task-based LC •Practice-based LC •Knowledge-based LC Consultation •With colleagues •With experts Mentoring Peer coaching Retreats |
Active media (allow learning by inquisitive exploration of learning objects or tools) | Exercises Field trips Games Simulations Functional models Sensors Working tools Physical search | Drills + feedback/reinforcement Web quests Stand-alone e-games Stand-alone e-simulations Digital models + data capturing Digital sensors + data capturing Productivity tools Digital search / Internet / Portals/ | Knowledge Management •Individual syndication / blogs •Group / syndication / blogs •Organizational / data bases Just-in-time active learning tools Personal support tools •Help system, wizards Productivity tools, Working tools Search / Internet / Portals/ | Knowledge Management Individual Handbooks and manuals Physical search |
Expositive media (allow learning by transmission of knowledge) | Demonstration Lecture Video conference Audio conference Digital video Digital audio Books, magazines | Digital-demo e-Tutorial Video conference Audio conference Digital video / video casting Digital audio / pod casting Portals, eLibraries, Group websites Shared personal portfolios | RSS Syndication from •Search agents •Watch lists •Productivity tools •Social networks •Peer produced content •Blogs •Pod casts •Video casts •Personal portfolios | Subscription to •Magazines •Reference services Non formal learning events •Invited lecturers •Brown bag lunches •Seminars •Conferences •Video conferences •Audio conferences |
Time distribution and academic workload in blended learning environments
Week 0: Face-to-face meeting to create community, develop a sense of belonging, appropriate the use of ICT, and program introduction. Four academic cycles, each: Weeks 1, 2, 3 per academic cycle I (I = 1..4): Self-paced online individual or small group academic work, to appropriate / explore / produce knowledge. Academic charge of 4 h per week per credit. Week 4 per academic cycle I (I = 1..4): Face-to-face session, small / large group work, to deepen / debate / exchange knowledge with professor and classmates. One hour per credit |
2-credit course | Face-to-face | Week 1 | Week 16 | ||
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1 H / session | 50% | 1PC | 1VC | 1PC | 1VC |
1 H / session | 50% | 1PC | 1PC | 1VC | 1VC |
2 H / session | 50% | 2PC | 2VC |
3-credit course | Face-to-face | Week 1 | Week 16 | ||||
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1 H / session | 66% | 1PC | 1PC | 1VC | 1PC | 1PC | 1VC |
1 H / session | 66% | 1PC | 1VC | 1PC | 1PC | 1VC | 1PC |
1 H / session | 66% | 1VC | 1PC | 1PC | 1VC | 1PC | 1PC |
1.5 H / session | 50% | 1.5PC | 1.5VC | 1.5PC | 1.5VC | ||
1.5 H / session | 50% | 1.5VC | 1.5PC | 1.5VC | 1.5PC | ||
3 H / session | 50% | 3PC | 3VC |
Ways to achieve knowledge favoring the program’s defined blend
Content structure and development
Operational model for teaching in a bLearning modality
Set of Questions #5. Define the normative framework for the chosen program or course. | |
• Official program registration. If it is a program, does the official registration or qualification already exist? What is the standard on the bLearning modality to be used? If not, what do you have and what does it take to achieve it? • Course curricular plan. When referring to courses, what defines the curricular plan in which students are immersed? What guidelines for course virtualization are being considered? • Program management. Is there a curricular management committee for the program to be offered in mixed mode? Who are the committee members? What requires their approval? |
Set of Questions #6. Organize and articulate procedures of the value chain and support processes | |
• Program adscription. To which organizational unit does the program in blended modality belong? • Management of the value chain components. What elements of the value chain will be assumed by the organizational unit “owner” of the program or course? Which ones will be made in alliance with other organizational units? Which ones are going to be outsourced and to whom? • Working teams. Which working teams will be involved in the development of processes along the value chain? How will these teams be coordinated? What experience do you have with multidisciplinary team management and what lessons have you learned? • Knowledge management. How do you plan to do the knowledge management which is associated with the value chain? Will there be a shared repository to store information about the design, development, monitoring and evaluation of the complete program and each of its components? What are the guidelines for systematizing information in the repository? • Resource management. What is planned for the resource management (financial, human, physical, technological, documental, authorship) of the components for the program or courses to be offered in blended learning modality? Is there an integrated management system with other programs or courses of this modality? Who is responsible for each task and how do you monitor the flow of management processes? • Dissemination. What is planned for marketing, communications and social media for the components of the program or courses to be offered in bLearning modality? Is there an integrated management system with other programs, or courses, of this modality? Who is responsible for each task and how do you monitor the flow of dissemination processes? |
Set of Questions #7. Formulate or refine strategies to produce materials for the program or course | |
• Production of materials. What is decided about the production of materials for the program or course to be offered in bLearning modality? Will materials be created within the organization? Will this production use resources created by others? • Production times and costs. What are the budget ceilings and deadlines for the production, acquisition or adequacy of materials? • Strategy for original production. If production is going to be handled in-house, will this be in a handcrafted way, according to each author’s criteria? or will it be done on a professional level and be handled by specialized groups? • Adjoining production strategy. If this process is going to use open access materials created by others, what repositories of Virtual Learning Objects (VLOs) and Virtual Learning In vironments (VLEs) have been consulted, or do you plan to consult? Who will select and curates resources? If it is necessary to adapt or locate them, who will do it and when? • Materials purchase strategy. If commercially-owned materials will be bought or adapted, who are the suppliers of these resources? What are the terms of use? • Quality assurance guidelines. Which guidelines will be used to ensure the quality of materials and learning environments for education? They may be internal to the organization, may be international standards. What is planned in this regard? • Copyright guidelines. What are the organization’s copyright guidelines? How will ownership of online or physical works that arise from the program or course be certified? |
Set of Questions #8. Define how to monitor and manage students along the value chain | |
• Knowledge of the beneficiaries. Have you characterized potential students? What findings condition, or influence, the preparation and implementation of the program or course? If this information is not available, when, how and who will get it? • Introduction to the modality and to the program or course. How do you plan to introduce the bLearning modality and to the program or course? Who is involved, when and for what reason? What means should be used to ensure the friendliness and quality of this process? • Counseling / coaching services. Will there be these kinds of services for students in bLearning modality? What organizational unit will provide them? What will be the virtual / face-to-face nature of these services? What will the counselors’ functions be? How integrated are the counseling information systems expected to be with the student management system of the program or course? • Academic tutoring. Will these services be available in the courses of the modality? What kind of background, training or certification must be demonstrated by those who provide this service? Are these tutors organized by course, by group of courses, or by program? What follow-up is done, or should be done, to the performance of the tutors and who is responsible or should be responsible for this? • Achievement evaluation and certification. What should be considered for the evaluation of learning and certification of achievements at course level? Do any institutional guidelines exist? or can each course creator(s) define this according to their own criteria? What policies need to be met in relation to academic achievement information at certain times in the academic calendar? • Feedback information. How is the student’s opinion recognized throughout the program? Who gives feedback to those responsible for the various elements of the value or support chain based on findings about student opinion? |
Policy framework for programs and courses in blended learning environments
Articulation of processes in chains of support and value
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➢ Study of training needs: A document stating what policy guidelines and what normative, perceived or comparative needs are the basis of the desired program or course.
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➢ Educational strategy to apply: A document that makes explicit what makes this program or course unique, what differentiates it from similar initiatives and what is expected to make it attractive to the target population.
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➢ Program or course curricular design (macro level design): A document that establishes the characteristics of the program or course to be offered in bLearning modality. These traits should be in accordance with the applicable rules, whether they are international, national or institutional.
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➢ Instructional design (micro level design): Documents that specify each of the course units in the program to be offered. This design seeks to provide clarity about the purpose (needs), contents (topics and objectives), proficiency (evaluation system) and methods and resources for each course’s learning units.
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➢ Learning objects and study guides: These are the resources that will make it possible to acquire the knowledge, including those that the student must interpret (learning objects) as well as those that give the student guidelines about how to carry this out this interpretation (study guides).
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➢ LMS Learning Management System: This is a digital system where it is possible to create virtual classrooms and repositories that allow the course participants to learn using the resources that have been organized by subject and articulated. Through this platform it is possible to use each of the tools chosen to support the process and leave evidence of learning.
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➢ Accompaniment: There is usually a course director in charge who focuses on and monitors course activities. Tutors, one per 20 to 25 students, provide support to academic processes. Counselors per cohort of students help to solve non-academic problems affecting the learner.
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➢ Certification of achievements and course and program evaluation. Each course has a learning evaluation system that allows instructors to collect evidence of achievements. Using these, the institution can certify the results of any given course or program. The evaluation of these academic services are embedded in the course and serve as a basis for making appropriate decisions to adjust the course or program.
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➢ Resource management: This ensures the availability of resources that intervene in the development of a bLearning program. Without neglecting the traditional administrative efforts of every organization (financial, human resources, physical infrastructure), it is crucial to ensure that the others (digital systems and technologies, libraries and collections, copyrights) are effective.
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➢ Marketing, communications and social media: These act as the face of the programs and manage the interaction with the outside world through audiovisual, social and interactive media.
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➢ Knowledge management (KM) associated with the value chain: This element is an internal process that provides the guidelines and supports for the organization of knowledge around the educational innovation. It is very important to articulate KM with the processes in the value chain because it plays a role in institutional learning in that it systematizes and disseminates knowledge generated by the various processes of the value chain.
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➢ Functional specialization: Academic units related to the nature of each bLearning program ensure the pertinence of the content, timeliness and organization, management of the teaching-learning processes and evaluation of lessons, as well as monitoring the program and its components. Besides, the educational innovation requires that the value chain processes be completed and thus there is a need for an entity or organization that offers pedagogical, technological and evaluative accompaniment and direction to the development of these processes.
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➢ Finding a place for the educational innovation unit in the organizational structure: Depending on the desired level of outreach in the bLearning initiative, and of the desire of those seeking external connections around education innovation and related research, it is convenient for the education innovation unit to be part of the institutional staff. This can be as a unit of service (as is the case of computing services, libraries) or as part of the academic vice-rectory staff in which case the unit is seen as a business partner for each of the faculties or departments.
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➢ Execution of value chain processes: A golden rule for this is to self-execute the processes that give competitive advantage or are linked to one of the key success factors. Subcontracting specialized groups can be done under appropriate supervision. Those processes that other parties can competently complete at reasonable prices and times, without destabilizing the key factors of success can be contracted (e.g., creating dependency on a supplier). The manner in which the processes of the value chain are executed can determine personnel in the educational innovation unit.
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➢ Work teams: Formal and informal higher education programs have a disciplinary or multi-disciplinary nature. Most of the processes in the value chain are methodological (pedagogical or evaluative) or technological (computer-based or audiovisual). Therefore, it is important to create work teams to carry out each process. Leadership of the bLearning program can be carried out by a coordination team, while each course requires its own production unit.
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➢ Internal coordination of processes and resources: For a bLearning program or course to be offered on time and with the expected quality, it is important to do detailed planning, programming and monitoring of each of the processes in the value chain. This requires articulating times, resources and deliverables within each working team.
Production strategies of bLearning program materials
Student management throughout the value chain
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➢ It begins with the characterization of the target population including the recognition of their current learning environments, their stage of life. This provides a context in which to design programs and courses, produce materials and organize the virtual learning environments.
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➢ When materializing the program offer, student management is related both with orientating students to the modality and also to accompanying them through advising and feedback from the program’s counselors and course tutors.
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➢ It is key that students develop a sense of community (Rovai, 2002) for their interaction in both virtual and face-to-face spaces.
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➢ It is also important to maintain continued supervision of their participation in individual and group activities, which can be done with learning analytics offered by the LMS, as well as with the use of alerts.
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➢ These follow-up systems are valuable for the facilitation of participatory processes, where accompaniment with indirect light by facilitators makes a difference in the processes of inquiry and participant interaction (Collison, Elbaum, Haavind, & Tinker, 2002).
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➢ Likewise, proper and well-defined feedback on learning processes and products, either by peers or by facilitators, can truly enhance participation.
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➢ At the end of each course, and at the close of the program itself, student management includes the certification of student achievements.
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➢ Student management also implies considering what has been gathered in the grading system, as well as the learners’ feedback about their experience through surveys and/or focus groups. This can improve future processes based on the customer’s response.
Business model for bLearning programs
Set of Questions #9. Calculate costs for the participant in a bLearning program or course | |
• Tuition fees. What is the program’s tuition fee and what is included in this payment? Consider the cost of academic guidance and counseling, teaching and certification services; also learning digital resources, such as e-books, digital videos, exercise simulators and games. Consider digital services such as virtual libraries, laboratories equipped with computers, research kits, laptops, tablets or portable digital equipment and Internet connection. • Costs to be paid by the student. What costs should the participant assume? Consider the digital technology required for each of the learning environments, the costs of attending face-to-face meetings (direct costs, such as travel and lodging expenses; opportunity costs, such as unpaid leave), and expenses derived from objects of study that are not included in the program’s tuition fee. • Financial challenges for enrollment. Consider the beneficiary’s characteristics and the funding systems or scholarships available. Do they make it possible to expect effective demand, considering the costs of enrollment and personal costs for participating in the program? What challenges are expected in the program’s offer to make it financially attractive to the target population? |
Set of Questions #10. Determine internal costs associated with program development | |
• Cost-changing factors. Considering the blend of media defined for the program, what are the major cost factors? What production or acquisition strategies are suitable to rationalize costs without risking differentiation? • Models to produce different types of materials. Which production model should be used for the different types of materials and what are the associated times for each resource type? Consider the course syllabus, study guides, texts, exercises, simulators, games, video clips, audio clips, and websites. What type of materials should an author-editor model use and what are the associated costs? Which media should be produced by a multidisciplinary team and what costs does it entail? In case you have established metrics for each type of material, what do these metrics say about the time required to prepare each type of material? • Production: internal or outsourced? Considering the offering plan for the blended modality program or course, is the installed capacity sufficient to produce materials, or is it necessary to subcontract? If the latter is necessary, for which parts of the program or course? How efficient is the organization when handling outsourcing processes? • Program’s lifespan. To ensure the program’s viability, what lifespan should it have? How many cohorts are needed to ensure the investment recovery? In case of open access throughout the year, how many students are needed to reach the break-even point? |
Set of Questions #11. Internal costs associated with the program offer | |
• Management costs. What is the institutional overhead on income for the program or course to be offered in blended modality? Is it possible to request that it not be applied as until the program reaches the break-even point? What has not been included in this surcharge that could be a potential expense for the program or course? • Costs of technological services. What is the added cost of the program or course to be offered in blended modality from the perspective of platform and technological services, access to databases and digital library services? Are these costs included in the institutional overhead? • Marketing costs. Using the marketing structure that is the most cost-effective for your organization, what are the marketing costs associated with each of the areas of the program or course that you want to offer in bLearning modality? To what extent can these costs be shared with other programs using the same modality? • Flow of human and technological resources. Given the course offering plan and strategies for student management, what human and technological resources will be required to address student management throughout the program? • Staff hiring policies. What is the policy for hiring course directors, tutors, counselors and what are its strengths and weaknesses? How can the teaching load of the academics (course directors, tutors) who take part in the course offer in bLearning mode be balanced? Is the background knowledge of graduates or retired teachers being exploited in any way? What estimates should be made regarding graduate assistants and professionals with less experience? What budget forecasts does this entail? • Resources for management, monitoring and evaluation. What human and technological resources are needed for the management, monitoring and evaluation of the program or course to be offered? Is it desirable for the program or course to have its own management, monitoring and evaluation systems, or are these better done in conjunction with other programs in the same modality? |
External costs of a program in bLearning modality
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➢ It is key to pay attention to the costs of enrollment and of learning objects (materials and digital collections) when these are not included in tuition. Likewise, it is key to explore and share the possible options to cope with costs (scholarships, loans, personal funds), as these charges, and how to deal with them can be a decisive factor in attracting and retaining potential participants.
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➢ It is appropriate to estimate the participant’s operating costs. These might include travel expenses and possible work permits to attend face-to-face sessions, availability of computer equipment, and communication systems to participate in virtual sessions or marginal costs for their use.
Internal program costs in the creation phase
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➢ Production of materials according to their type. Depending on what is most convenient type of media to use in a bLearning program, more or less specialization and effort are required for production. A study by Arizona Learning Systems (ALS, 1998, p. 13–14) quoted by Rumble (2001, p. 7) showed that the most cost-effective way to produce materials is to only produce the program including its study guides and assessments. If the program wishes to produce text, audiovisual, or interactive materials such as exercises, games, simulators or virtual reality applications, production costs can be significantly increased in a proportion from 1 up to 150 between the lowest and highest cost option. Audiovisual and interactive materials that make good use of the potential each media has require participation of multidisciplinary teams, which demand important investments. One way to reduce these costs, and eventually production times, is by doing adjoining production. This consists of selecting and adapting resources that match the requirements. These can be either open access (available in digital repositories of open resources), or copyrighted (available through an organization owner of the copyright).
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➢ Production costs and strategies to reduce them. As for the effort involved in the materials development, in addition to the ALS findings already mentioned (ALS, 1998), Rumble (2001, p.79) reviews a study by Sparkes (1984, p. 219) who states that an academic needs between 2 to 10 h to prepare a conference, 1 to 10 h to prepare a small group session, 3 to 10 h to prepare a video recording, 50 to 100 h to prepare a text, around 100 h to prepare a live TV session, 200 h to prepare a tutorial and about 300 h to prepare an interactive software, not counting the time of the technical staff supporting the process. Many faculty would agree that these figures are not far from current ones, being the expertise of the academic and the possibility of repurposing available resources what makes the difference. Rumble points out that one way of keeping production costs within an acceptable range is by using an author-editor model with advisors supporting the author, rather than having permanent staff in charge of producing materials. He also states (p. 80) that because the quality of materials is critical, to achieve cost-efficiency, it is better to seek savings in recurrent costs such as course promotion.
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➢ Technologies that will be used to support learning and management of a bLearning program. Having this kind of technology makes a difference and it is worth studying the best way to use it from the beginning of the program or course production. It is possible to pay the license fee for the use of LMS or CMS systems and have support for the operation, or to subcontract related services. The chosen option must ensure the best cost-benefit scenario. Security, completeness and interoperability of the information should be insured. Since these systems are often institutional and non-exclusive to bLearning programs, it is necessary to determine the bLearning marginal costs, unless the intention is to include them within the overhead costs, as can be the case with library costs and digital collections.
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➢ Program expected lifespan. Investment costs of materials are amortized over the program’s lifespan, which must be established to estimate the feasibility and return of investment.
Program internal costs in its execution phase
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➢ Program revenue overhead. The central management of educational institutions usually covers their expenses by adding an extra cost to tuition fees or services paid by clients and sponsors. Infrastructure is often included in these costs, which makes it possible to offer programs, such as classrooms, auditoriums, technologies, digital document collections, information and communication services, maintenance and security. If any of the central services required by the program or course in bLearning modality is not included in the overhead, it is necessary to include it in the budget. Creating programs in bLearning modality can be included within politics of institutional development, so it should be considered if the overhead can be applied only after reaching the financial break-even point.
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➢ Marketing of the program or course. The materialization of a blended learning modality offer depends on obtaining a sufficient demand so that the income is not inferior to the expenses. For this reason, it is very important to establish how many cohorts are needed to ensure the return of investment, as well as the way to reach the target population and potential sponsors. Marketing has a cost and takes time, so it is important to decide whether it should be done by an internal or external specialized department or if it is the program’s responsibility. In any case, it is necessary to establish what the cost and time associated with this task for each program or course offer is.
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➢Number of simultaneous beneficiaries in courses per program. Usually programs are organized by cohorts, and the size of these indicates the magnitude of learning support services (mentoring, course leadership) and management (counseling, face-to-face meeting logistics). These are important parameters for the respective costing.
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➢ Number of courses to be produced simultaneously. A program’s offer can be structured by cohorts and likewise the production of the materials. If what must be produced exceeds the installed production capacity, and if time is a pressing matter, it is possible to subcontract. To decide if this course of action is possible, it is important to compare the internal production costs and times with those that are external, considering market prices, hiring pace and the ability to follow up and test what is produced or subcontracted.
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➢ Quality vs Costs. As for the course offering, costing is challenging, due to the pressures to ensure quality and reduce costs. Rumble (ibid., p. 82) states that usually, pressure is put on developers to achieve low teaching costs in the virtual component. Since digital technologies lead to increased interactions rather than reducing them, institutions are tempted to replace teachers (expert level) with assistants (lower expertise level), thus taking care of the cost but not necessarily ensuring the quality of the service. Universities with courses including large numbers of students at a time (thousands of students per course), such as the Open University of England, have employed the division of labor among those who develop the course, those who teach it and those who evaluate it to ensure quality. Unsurprisingly, tutoring and evaluation are done by personnel with service contracts. This model does not apply to institutions with a restricted number of students per course. Another solution to the quality vs. cost problem is to hire retired professionals with huge disciplinary experience, provided they are fluent in the use of technology and online accompaniment. If they are not, giving them proper training and advice for the fulfillment of their functions is an option.
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➢ Working charge per tutor. Another critical issue to consider in the course offering with virtual component is the working charge per tutor. According to Rumble (ibid., p. 81) in the US it is accepted that a group of 25 to 30 students demands 10 to 12 h per week from the tutor, meaning that in a full-time period, he could accompany 100 to 120 students. This means that the tutor knows about content and facilitation. Thus, it is convenient to train those who assume this role (Collison et al., 2002). Proposals for online facilitation have been very successful in this regard.
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➢ Replacement of academic staff functions to reduce costs. Within this perspective, it is possible to increase the teaching load of academics at the expense of other functions, such as research and extension, or to increase the graduate assistant staff and assign professionals with less experience to support experts.
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➢ Staff hiring policies. While the production of materials and course management should be done with faculty members as a factor of differentiation, other tasks can be done by people with service contracts (e.g. scripts, designs, tutoring, job qualification, etc.)
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➢ Management costs of technology-supported programs are the least studied, but as proposed by Rumble (ibid., p.83) these are the ones with a greatest cost-effective potential and least cost documentation. The use of digital materials, the possibility of an automatic work flow of online academic and administrative processes, and the implementation of e-commerce practices with virtual or blended programs are opportunities that can be exploited. However, the costs of edu-commerce are not low and should be included within the development of virtual or blended learning universities rather than within the costs of their programs. Furthermore, Rumble sates that none of the studies reviewed adequately analyzes overhead costs. Here, two factors can be critical: equipment costs and management costs. Computer equipment and associated licenses are often considered, yet the costs of maintenance or replacement of networks and equipment are not. The same happens with project planning and evaluation costs, particularly when the virtual or blended programs are new to the institution.
Strategy of change towards bLearning
Current state of implementation and adoption of bLearning
Transition between bLearning institutionalization stages
Theme | Description |
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Strategy | Addresses issues relating to the overall design of BL, such as definition of BL, and policies surrounding it |
Structure | Address issues relating to the technological, pedagogical, and administrative framework facilitating the BL environment, including governance, models, scheduling structures, and evaluation |
Support | Address issues relating to the manner in which an institution facilitates the implementation and maintenance of its BL design, incorporating technical support, pedagogical support, and faculty incentives |
Factors influencing adoption of bLearning by faculty members
Conclusions
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➢ Making well-informed, strategic decisions provide focus for the best course of action concerning the integration of bLearning modality as a complement to other learning ecologies. These decisions should build on the institution’s identity and strengths, its potential allies, and the curricular, pedagogical and technological opportunities. A shared vision between institutional academic decision-makers should lead the blended-learning innovation effort.
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➢ Sustainable and expandable bLearning initiatives in HEI, require institutional commitment with this way of teaching. It is vital to be clear about the role that blended modality can play as a differentiating educational factor, as an element that adds value to the learning process, or as an element that ensures an enduring, competitive advantage for the organization; these definitions gain commitment by the part of the HEI authorities.
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➢ Pilot testing this way of teaching and learning at the course level helps gain institutional knowledge and commitment; if this is not possible, critical success factors established from benchmarking studies such as (Galvis & Pedraza, 2013) become very important to consult. Proof of concept for bLearning is particularly needed when bLearning programs are to be offered using multidimensional blends that seek to transform educational practices and/or expand academic services to new or larger and/or disperse audiences.
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➢ bLearning requires creating appropriate ecologies for faculty to (re)design and offer courses that get the best from face-to-face and virtual learning environments, initiatives that transform educational practices with support of technology. Teacher’s time as course authors, course directors, learning facilitators or course evaluators should be considered, with the corresponding costs. Pedagogical and technological support for course and/or program creation, for curricular materials development with quality control, should be available. Financial resources to design and implement good quality initiatives should be ensured as a medium-term investment. Alignment of the educational value-chain and the corresponding administrative and technological support-chain processes for bLearning is a must.
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➢ Student-centered teaching using flexible learning environments usually implies deep changes both in faculty and in learners, as well as in academic administration practices. This cultural change requires taking into consideration the learning curve in shifting to a hybrid educational model. Depending on its level of maturity for bLearning, HEIs may require a transformation of their educational, operational, and/or business models.
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➢ An educational model is related to each set of elements that make it possible for beneficiaries of a bLearning program to participate in it, and to learn and become certified if applicable. Its components are the program’s backbone and include the: (1) characterization of the blended learning environments, modes of interaction, and applicable resources; (2) examination of options to reach knowledge; (3) decisions about knowledge organization. These elements do not follow a pre-established order and there is much interaction between them, so adjustments in one component can modify another.
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➢ An operational teaching model refers to the set of elements that make it possible to implement the educational model. It includes decision-making processes related to the program and its courses, organizational structure to articulate processes, strategies to produce materials, student management throughout the course creation value chain, ICT management for the program, marketing and communication, management of tutorials and accompaniment, evaluation of effects, and impact and follow-up with graduates.
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➢ The business model for a program in bLearning modality includes aspects that must be considered to make it a viable and sustainable offer. Building on Rumble’s (2001) proposals on pricing of online programs, this study suggests that the business models for bLearning programs should take two elements into account: 1) variables that can be controlled and that have an influence on costs; 2) cost factors associated with the development of materials, the courses offerings and program management.
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➢ The careful conception and development of educational, operational and business models can help to reduce the uncertainty related to the understanding and development of bLearning initiatives. However, for this modality to go from being practice exclusive of innovative teachers to being adopted at an institutional level, it is essential to implement strategies for change towards bLearning. This includes finding out the level of maturity towards the institutional use of the modality, as a framework to build bridges for the transition between institutionalization stages, as well as for the adoption of blended learning by faculty. The first one does not prosper without the second.
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➢ Decisions concerning the educational, operational, and business models are interrelated and frame the design of programs and courses in bLearning modality. They serve to align technologies, organizational structures, and change strategy with the desired bLearning vision.