What is Blended Learning?Blended Learning courses employ both face-to-face learning and learning in an online environment. Instead of augmenting courses with online portions, blended learning courses move some portion of the course that would normally take place in a face-to-face context to an online environment. A general description of the blended learning initiative at the University of Maryland is presented here.How will the blended section (BL01) be structured with respect to class time, independent study time, time commitment,etc.?BL01 will have significant online content (video lectures, third-party videos, tutorials, databases, online quizzes and web sites) instead of one class meeting per week. We will meet in the classroom on Thursdays but not on Tuesdays. In addition to the regular in-class exams (all exams will be held in class, on Thursdays), students will have to take a brief online quiz to verify that they have mastered each week's content.Online content will be broken up into units, and each unit will have four parts: Every effort will be made to make the total effort equivalent. For the blended class, the in-class time will be about half (one 75 minute in-class session per week) and there will be significantly more independent study time. My expectation is that we will meet once each week, and that will be Thursday. However, it could be Tuesday, and I would like people to be available both days (in order to provide flexibility). The final schedule will be announced soon (Jan. 5 or so). Do I have to be online at a specific time?No! All online activities will be flexible with respect to time (but they will have deadlines, which will usually be Tuesday at noon).Would you recommend this class to a certain type of student, or to all students?A student with limited access to technology should probably not take the blended section. Although any student should be able to fulfill all requirements using public computer labs, students with their own laptop and/or desktop computer, and students who have high-speed internet where they live, will find it easier. Students who find it difficult to do work on their own schedule (i.e. chronic procrastinators) may find this course harder (because will they need to review the online content on their own), but they may find it easier (because we will have weekly online assignments to verify and gauge progress). We will be interested in hearing what you think about your experience.Why have Blended Learning courses?The advantage of Blended Learning courses is it allows for more flexibility both in terms of when and where students complete coursework and in terms of the pacing of the work. Students that have a hard time taking notes fast enough during a face to face lecture may appreciate being able to pause What is Blended Learning? Blended Learning courses employ both face-to-face learning as well as learning in an online environment. Instead of augmenting courses with online portions, blended learning courses move some portion of the course that would normally take place in a face-to-face context to an online environment. Once again, a general description of the blended learning initiative at the University of Maryland is presented here. Why have Blended Learning for BSCI410 in particular?Numerous concepts in genetics are not conveyed well by a lecture or a textbook and can be effectively taught through the use of online simulations, models, visualizations and database tools. Therefore, molecular genetics is ideally suited to a blended learning approach. Furthermore, there is already an enormous range of online resources available. Perhaps most important is the fact that the field itself is increasingly based upon integration of shared genomics databases and analysis tools made available by the research community. With the ongoing and ever-expanding revolution in genomics, students must be well-prepared to make the best use of this online environment. The re-designed BSCI 410 course will integrate self-paced online learning, face-to-face lectures and cooperative problem solving/discussion to upgrade the course to a fully blended learning experience. |
page by Steve Mount, last modified Jan. 25, 2012
