Online vs. Blended vs. Face-to-Face Venn Diagram

The tool I used to create my Venn diagram was Google Draw. I had never used Google Draw before so it was a positive and new experience for me. I googled a Youtube video to learn how to work with this program and found Google Draw quite simple. I could use this tool with my students. I decided to compare the three styles of learning. In general I took the perspective of the student when building the Venn diagram. I believe schools have entered a competitive market and students and their parents are the main consumers. Schools are providing a service and today’s parents really have the choice of picking the best fit for each individual child in their family. Because my current district has begun to experiment with the blended/hybrid learning style I wanted to look at all three to make a complete comparison. The process was helpful for me to think through each style to weigh various advantages and disadvantages. I am still thinking through all the aspects that need to be considered when finding the right fit for the community my district serves. I believe continued discussion with my colleagues and further reflection will provide for a continued analysis of this ongoing question. At this point I believe blended learning gives the student the best of both worlds.

Reflection: Methodologies of the Online Instructor

1. How might your instructional methodologies need to change in an online or blended learning environment?

2. What skills and strategies might you improve or expand upon in order to best support student learning in a blended or online environment?

Teaching is an ever evolving process of adapting our practices to the needs of learners. As I reflect upon the comparison of online, blended, and face-to-face learning, I can pinpoint some improvements I can strive for in the upcoming year. I can work to improve my teaching by establishing a strong set of expectations to govern the online portion of a blended class and by teaching effective digital citizenship skills. This can be done by teaching and modeling appropriate discussion strategies and ways to advance discussions by reading articles from the "The Art of Asking Questions" by Collaborize Classroom with my students. Plus, I need to build in some practice for using these various discussion strategies in the first weeks of my class; that way the students can then successfully apply them with the unit discussions. I will need to revisit these strategies throughout the year just as I would with any other expectations in my face-to-face classes. I also need to adjust my teaching in an online and blended environment to include better instruction for the LMS along with any other aspects of technology that will be utilized with the course. I would like to add some online community building activities that can expand upon the time spent face-to-face so that students can see the carry over between the two learning styles. For example, I could have students introduce themselves in our face-to-face time, and then expand upon this by including pictures of hobbies or activities they are involved with at their local community as an extension of that activity online. This would also allow for technology practice. In addition, I can really see the importance of building expectations across the board as a school to promote a climate for responsible digital use and academic collaboration. There has to be set expectations that are not only stated and posted, but also taught and reviewed with students. I believe continued staff development in this area will be essential to building this climate.