Page 84 - BLENDED LEARNING

It was frustrating a couple of times when I had to do pair work with someone
who communicated late or not at all.
Pair work was sometimes tricky, due to geographical/time differences,
e.g. my contact Switzerland-Singapore.
The lesson here is that online pair and group work needs to be carefully designed
and judiciously applied, with clear guidelines for how to carry it out (for example,
what participants should do if they don’t hear from a task partner).
It is interesting to note that we have never received feedback from a fully online
participant regretting that they did not take the blended version. Of course,
frequently the blended version is simply not an option for an online participant,
due to location.
In addition, when comparing the results of the blended versus online versions of
the Cert ICT, they are very similar. The dropout rate on both versions is extremely
low (one per cent – two per cent), and frequently due to similar causes – typically
an excessive workload at school making it difficult to keep up with course work.
The pass rate is also similar across the two modes, with a low rate of referrals (around
two per cent), and a similar percentage of distinctions (20 per cent – 25 per cent).

Summary and recommendations
Clearly, having identified a need for a blended version of the course, it was then
a question of deciding what percentage to blend, and which activities and content
to timetable into each part of the blend. Ensuring that participants are comfortable
with embedded technologies is a key factor in the success of a course like this,
so the initial face-to-face component not only ensures that group bonding takes
place, but also introduces all the technologies that will be used in the online part.

Maximising the potential of the different delivery modes is also key. Using face-
to-face time for confidence building, socialising, group activities and critical input
sessions makes efficient use of group communication opportunities, whilst research,
discussion, reflection and project work can more productively be done online,
at a distance.
In many ways it is still not clear to us why some participants choose the fully online
version, and some the blended one. Clearly external factors play a large part in the
decision-making process: timetables, travel restrictions, home and family life and
a whole slew of parameters influence the final decision, though it is worth noting
that the majority of those who choose the blended model are perhaps less familiar
with technologies before they come to the course, and need more support and
encouragement at the start of their training journey. After four years of running both
options, the fully online course is still by far the most popular choice, and we feel that
more research will be needed in order to fully identify success factors and decision
criteria for both models.

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