46 - Doug Colbeck

Title

Blended learning, advancing perceptions and practice

Author(s)

Doug Colbeck*, Tasmanian Institute of Learning and Teaching (TILT), Curriculum & Quality, Division of the DVC (Students and Education)
Beverly Goldfarb*, Faculty of Arts/Tasmanian School of Business and Economics (TSBE)
Kevin Lyall, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics (TSBE)/Faculty of Health

Subtheme

Blended Learning

Presentation Type

Poster

Room

Foyer

Time

12.30-13.20

Abstract

Blended learning has been a key pillar for the University of Tasmania since its adoption in 2013. This year, the UTAS Building E-learning Community of Practice (CoP) held a two-day workshop (funded by a Career Development Scholarship) to unpack the concepts supporting blended learning practice and to review how it is being implemented across UTAS and Australia. This poster explores an emerging framework of perceptions as maintained by the Building E-learning Community of Practice members in regards to the UTAS Blended Learning Model and their understanding of the concept of blended learning in general.
Significant activities conducted during the workshop underpinning this framework included:
* a keynote address on how blended learning is being approached by other Australian Universities;
* a “provocations-style” discussion in order to ascertain a current understanding of how the adoption of blended learning is developing within UTAS;
* a presentation on how blended learning is influencing the Australian higher education sector;
* discussions led by a Senior Teaching Fellow on how best to put a blended learning model into practice;
* a sharing of expertise and resources, such as case studies and activities supporting better practice, within a café-style discussion forum to gain a consensus of what does and does not work, and by so doing increase efficiencies and facilitate; and
* discussion around the semester 2 rollout of the new “Daylight” LMS interface and how the CoP and its members might best work together to support teaching and professional staff leading into 2017 and beyond.
This poster will appeal to two major groups within UTAS. Firstly, teaching staff who want to see what some of their colleagues have been doing within their blended units to enhance their teaching. Secondly, those support staff who wish to collaborate and share ideas on how best to support teaching staff and further develop pedagogical solutions for recognised problems within online or blended learning and teaching.
References
Ali, A. (2015), Integrating Blended Learning in Higher Education, The Proceedings of 5th World Conference on Learning, Teaching and Educational Leadership Volume 186, 13 May 2015, pages 600-603.
Ko, S., Xingyi, L. & Wachira, P. (2015), Assessment in Online and Blended Learning Environments, Information Age Publishing, ISBN: 1681230445 9781681230443.
Magill, C., Money, J., Walsh, B. & Nixon, S. (2015), Can a Blended Learning Approach Enhance Students’ Transition into Higher Education? A Study to Explore Perceptions, Engagement and Progression, International Journal of Advancement in Education and Social Sciences, Vol.3, No.2, 1-7.
McCutcheon, K., Lohan, M., Traynor, M. & Martin, D. (2015), A systematic review evaluating the impact of online or blended learning vs. face-to-face learning of clinical skills in undergraduate nurse education. Journal of Advanced Nursing 71(2), 255–270. doi: 10.1111/jan.12509.
Montero-Fleta, B., Pérez-Sabater, C. & Pérez-Sabater, M. (2015), Microblogging and Blended Learning: Peer Response in Tertiary Education, The Proceedings of 6th World Conference on educational Sciences Volume 191, 2 June 2015, pages 1590-1595.
Zacharis, N. (2015), A multivariate approach to predicting student outcomes in web-enabled blended learning courses, The Internet and Higher Education, Volume 27, October 2015, pages 44–53.

Resource

Download presentation (requires University of Tasmania login) (PDF)