Blended Delivery

Recently, I've been picking up on a trend in DL that is worth noting. A number of schools are experimenting with "blended delivery" wherein students meet their faculty face to face during some part of a course and work on-line at other times. For example:

1. University of Michigan Flint has a new MBA called "Netplus". The program starts with a day of class, followed by six weeks of on-line learning, a two day class meeting, another six weeks of on-line learning and one final day on-site.

2. The Chronicle of Higher Education had an interesting article this week about Marvin Druger, a well regarded biology prof at Syracuse. For 40 years he has been teaching introductory biology - both on-ground and to distant students. The later, however, get face to face time: "but he fears that students who work solely from books, cassettes, or on a computer will miss out on the sensory experience of the classroom and experimentation. His distance-education students spend four or five days on campus at the start of each course to get acquainted with him and each other, and to learn firsthand the basics of the lab work they will do on their own. In the science kits they take home, they perform experiments equivalent to those they would do on campus. They even get a fetal pig to dissect, just like his classroom students." (Chronicle, May 10th, 2002).

3. Other programs mentioned here - such as NSU - have long required short residency combined with email or web based learning.

Although the idea isn't really new, the observation I'm making is that blended delivery seems to be an emerging trend. Some areas, such as the sciences may really need this approach.

There would certainly seem to be many advantages - the ability to form closer connections (and "emotional bonds") with peers and faculty, the ability to implement academic integrity in exams and more. As a skeptic of DL (even though I teach in it), blended approaches seem more agreeable than straight on-line learning.

I'm sure some in this NG will say - "but I don't want to have to go to class!" For some who travel or live in remote areas this is understandable to a point. But for many, would going to class two weekends a term really be all that bad? When dealing with one's education is the convenience of on-line so important that people give up the benefits of face to face learning?

I'm also wondering if the push to "blended" DL approaches may be a way for traditional, higher quality schools (such as Syracuse above) to differentiate themselves from the pack of totally on-line programs.

Thanks - Andy

 

I like the concept of blended delivery.

But here's a case where the availability of both face-to-face and online course material was counterproductive: Digital Lectures: If You Make Them, Will Students Use Them? Constraints on Effective Delivery of Flexible Learning Systems.

In this example, lectures were available both face-to-face and on CD-ROM. Attendance at the face-to-face lectures decreased but unfortunately was not adequately balanced by the number of people using the CD-ROM lectures. A snippet:

• ... We hypothesise that by making lectures available at any time, we removed the need for students to attend the live lecture. Normally, the live lecture is a one-time event, and if students miss it, they cannot benefit from it. Most disconcerting to us was that the students never fulfilled their intention to access the digital media. ... Because lectures were freely available to the students, they were able to postpone viewing the lectures because ''they'll still be available tomorrow." As it often happens ... these intentions are sometimes postponed until it is too late to take advantage of the opportunity.

I recognize that this mixed model is not the same as the "blended delivery" that Andy discusses. But it does indicate that care has to be taken if both face-to-face and distance methods are to be used. Otherwise one can get the "worst of both worlds" rather than the hoped-for "best of both worlds."

 

Argosy is starting to use blended delivery as well. Even for on-line courses in the DBA program (and the other programs I would assume) students must attend an orientation meeting. Supposedly if the person is over 100 miles away there are other arrangements, but I keep getting different answers. Also, the school (at least in Orange) is moving to a 4 hour proctored comprehensive exam- on campus. I am in the last group that will have the off campus comps (I just received my questions today WHOOSH!).

UoPhx is also doing something like this as well, but I have not looked into it much.

 

The basic model at the University of New England is what you are calling blended delivery. In theory it operates thus:

1. Material for on campus and off campus students is identical - whether paperbased or on line.
2. All research students must spend a set time on campus for seminars or colloquia
3. Each term/semester break you are expected to spend 4 days per subject on site in intensive lecture/seminar sessions.

Due to pressure this has weakened to 'preferred' rather than 'mandatory' plus the location is 1,400 KM from where I live and likewise for many interstate students.

In my MAcc [same as their present 72 unit MEc] I attended in the first year, and in the second year as I was doing research, groups of us communicated and met regularly, and had faculty visit us.

In my MEd [48 unit], I remained institutionally based, and we made up active learning groups from the various students there.

Preference? - I'd take the MAcc route every time. I have done DE since 1961 [accountancy, engineering] but have always been working in the field - NOT studying in isolation to the application of what I am learning, and similar to the CPA/CMA/CFM programs currently in US.

In one of my positions I write and tutor Accounting, Economics and Law DE courses for a college in its 128th year that has just been bought out by the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. We have students right across Australia and the Pacific. Many do not even have internet, and I am very conscious of their special needs, and endeavour to meet this by phoning and emailing where I can. Any form of blended delivery is impossible, but knowing the benefit of some form of f2f contact I endeavour to make up for it to the extent that i can. In these cases I try to enforce active learning within their workplaces as most are studying whilst employed.

Those who do straight DE - no f2f, no bleded delivery, no cellegiality with fellow students in the workplace - can have a tough road, if not a deterimental educational experience.