• • Home
  • Goals
  • Spotlight
  • Projects
  • Courses
  • Briefing: Blended Learning
  • Research Publications
  • Contributors
  • Links
• • Log in / create account

From COHERE

Contents 1 New Initiatives in Blended Learning and Redesign at University of Calgary 2 Blended Learning Case Studies 3 Canadian Studies Consortium 4 Centre for Higher Education Research and Development Monograph 5 Learning Design Research

New Initiatives in Blended Learning and Redesign at University of Calgary

The University of Calgary has initiated a course redesign and enhancement project focused on Inquiry and Blended Learning. Thirteen course redesigns across disciplines demonstrating true innovation have been awarded $10,000 each to incorporate inquiry as a defining feature, while integrating the best of face-to-face and online learning. Course redesigns will be expected to be offered in the 2005-06 academic year. The Learning Commons will provide sustained support and guidance through its Inquiry Through Blended Learning program.

Blended Learning Case Studies

Conducted in spring 2004, this project consisted of case studies that examined blended learning practices at all eight COHERE universities. The research questions explored the type of blended learning strategies and pedagogical approaches used, how instructors and students viewed blended learning, how the blended learning experience compared to traditional formats, and what policy and support issues emerged from the use of blended learning in university courses.

Overall, we found that instructors blended their courses because they wanted to put together a more flexible, efficient, accessible, and varied learning experience for their students. One particularly valuable outcome for instructors was that they felt they got to know their students better in the blended format than they otherwise would. Over sixty percent of students surveyed in the study said that they would take another blended learning course; however, student satisfaction seemed highly dependent on the level of interaction with instructors and with other students. This suggests that online interaction should be a core issue when designing blended learning courses; not only for student satisfaction but because both instructors and students saw online discussion as a means to encourage critical thinking and to contribute to their understanding. Institutional support for blended learning was found to be weak at most universities. Therefore, clear policy, direction, and support of blended learning is essential if its positive benefits are to be realized.

The full report is available at http://www.yorku.ca/irlt/reports.html

Canadian Studies Consortium

Several COHERE partner institutions are working together to develop and deliver a collaborative first-year course in Canadian Studies. Building on the shared values of COHERE institutions the online materials will be peer reviewed for both excellence in scholarship and pedagogy. Scholars from across Canada will develop and teach modules in their respective area. Learners from member institutions and beyond will participate in a pan-Canadian online classroom, interacting with scholars and learners from across Canada. Materials will be developed and available on a COHERE Canadian Studies website located at Simon Fraser University.

Centre for Higher Education Research and Development Monograph

Advances and Challenges in elearning at Canadian Research Universities

This monograph is a collection of six papers written by faculty leaders actively involved in the integration of technology into the scholarship of teaching at their respective COHERE partner institutions. The purpose of the articles is to provide a better understanding of online learning and the key components necessary for its successful integration in a research-intensive environment. This monograph will be published by the Centre for Higher Education and Research, and may be ordered through their website at http://www.umanitoba.ca/centres/cherd/

Learning Design Research

The IMS Learning Design specification (www.imsglobal.org) offers tremendous potential for providing sharable, interoperable resources for instructors and instructional designers, in the form of reusable designs for units of learning that meet a wide range of instructional goals. For this power to be realized, however, more effort needs to be focused on developing conceptual documentation and tools for instructors to use in accessing, adapting, and in further developing such reusable descriptions and designs. At the University of Waterloo and the University of Alberta, we are extending the existing formal representations for instructional models, as aids to knowledge exchange, knowledge mobilization and community development for instructors.