”Blended Learning” and Time Anders Norberg Education Strategist, Campus Skellefteå PhD Student, Applied Educational Science, Umeå University Sweden

Disposition Small-talk, my context of the talk ”Blendedness” of learning ”Space /Place” perspective on blending Perspective change; Time and blending Synchronous / Asynchronous shift Agile frameworks, applied for pacing Future transition ”blended” – ”new normal” Wrap up + questions

Education ”distribution” forms Campus education F2F Decentralised education Real time videoconference ed. Web based asynchronous ed. (no times, no places) …and mixtures, blends, hybrids 1,1 million Categorisation built on ”distance” from a central university campus? Spars pop moving along the coast ..longer distance, more technology, lower status, unclearer quality 8,3 million Is there a new education logistics around the corner, with a new normality of education access?

Teaching space? Gap? Learning space? Teaching time? Learning time? …and how to blend it? Scene from Swedish movie, ”Hets” 1944, by Alf Sjöberg and Ingmar Bergman Not identical, widening gap

Disposition Small-talk, my context of the talk ”Blendedness” of learning ”Space /Place” perspective on blending Perspective change; Time and blending Synchronous / Asynchronous shift Agile frameworks, applied for pacing Future transition ”blended” – ”new normal” Wrap up + questions

Common definition of blended learning “Blended learning systems combine face-to-face instruction with computer-mediated instruction. Blended learning is part of the ongoing convergence of two archetypal learning environments. On the one hand, we have the traditional face-to-face learning environment that has been around for centuries. On the other hand, we have distributed learning environments …” (C. Graham, 2006).

Is blended learning like a boy named Sue? A category mistake? Can learning conceptually be blended? An evil naming – or by mistake? But people seem to understand it? A name that nobody loves? Provides good growth conditions for something ”becoming”? Carries something promising? “…the advantages of the term include its poor definition - which allows staff to negotiate their own meaning” …the same has not been the case with ”didactics”

Simple working definition of BL: Ongoing integration of new technology-enhanced teaching/learning with mainstream education practices

John Daniel Commonwealth of Learning

Disposition Small-talk, my context of the talk ”Blendedness” of learning ”Space /Place” perspective on blending Perspective change; Time and blending Synchronous / Asynchronous shift Agile frameworks, applied for pacing Future transition ”blended” – ”new normal” Wrap up + questions

Decentralised education Real time videoconference ed. Education logistics: Campus education F2F Decentralised education Real time videoconference ed. Web based asynchronous ed. (no times, no places) …and mixtures, blends, hybrids 1,1 million Categorisation built on ”distance” from a central university campus? Spars pop moving along the coast ..longer distance, more technology, lower status, unclearer quality 8,3 million Is there a new education logistics around the corner, with a new normality of education access?

Place language? ”Distance learning”, ”decentralised education”, ”education distribution”, ”remote students”, ”mobile learning” etc …reflect now old limitations of teaching and learning as half-physical place-bound processes, not limitations of learning itself

Peter Tillberg, 1971, ”Blir du lönsam lille vän?”

Content-focused? Static? Ad hoc Bolt-on A course and a half

Marshall Mcluhan on Media "New media may at first appear as mere codes of transmission for older achievement and established patterns of thought.” ”We shape our tools, then they shape us.” "The new media are not bridges between man and nature; they are nature."

Delivering the content where? F2F /Classroom Online world Delivering the content where? How to blend places?

…but we can perhaps get beyond this, on another track By Vaikoovery (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Disposition Small-talk, my context of the talk ”Blendedness” of learning ”Space /Place” perspective on blending Perspective change; Time and blending Synchronous / Asynchronous shift Agile frameworks, applied for pacing Future transition ”blended” – ”new normal” Wrap up + questions

Luciano Floridi on Digital Dualism “…we are probably the last generation to experience a clear difference between offline and online.” “…we are constructing the new environment that will be inhabited by future generations.” “As a consequence of such re-ontologization of our ordinary environment, we shall be living in an infosphere that will become increasingly synchronized (time), delocalised (space) and correlated (interactions).” “…it is now actually happening in our kitchen.”

The learner is always here and now when he learns Like Descartes: Starting point – na more and more with ICT tools, an extension of the human Like Descartes: Cogito, ergo sum Sum res cogitans

”Well, this was my introduction lecture to the course ”Well, this was my introduction lecture to the course. Until next time we meet, read texts X and Y do assignment Z – why not meet with some friends, perhaps in the library and work together. Begin in time to read the course literature – there is much to study before the exam in the end of next month.” (a lot of time perspectives?)

”I know what time is – until somebody asks me” St Augustine Teaching time? Learning time? Einstein - Minkowski Time as subjective and relative – all have their own time, dependent on development movement, etc The now is all there is – but it contains a presence of the past and future Time as a cornerstone of the industrial age – objective, self-evident, nothing to doubt…? If You want something done, schedule it! The now is a product of the past and a start of the coming

Is it all about time? If most students can learn anything given enough time and help… …then it can be the course concept itself, with its fixed time, that makes some students successful and other fail …but it was worse earlier in history

+ = Oral transmission from classic sources Book printing Blended learning, 1.0? 28

Blended learning 1.0, what happened? And in the longer perspective? In a short perspective? Education revolution? Hype? More learning? Teacher role changes? Teachers worried about their jobs? And in the longer perspective? Spreading of ideas easier Monopoly of Catholic church ceases Modern science step by step Mass media, democracy, freedom of speech Knowledge society We often overestimate effects in the shorter perspective, and underestimate effects in the longer perspective? 29

Disposition Small-talk, my context of the talk ”Blendedness” of learning ”Space /Place” perspective on blending Perspective change; Time and blending Synchronous / Asynchronous shift Agile frameworks, applied for pacing Future transition ”blended” – ”new normal” Wrap up + questions

TIME SHIFTING?

The shift between synchronous and asynchronous elements in a course is a key to the understanding and planning of blended learning

Very trivial? In a course we meet regularly and do work on our own in between meetings

Graphic from Norberg, Dziuban, Moskal (2011) A Time Based Blended Learning Model, Emerald, On the Horizon Journal 19:3, by permission

Meetings and non-meetings…so what when adding IT? 3) We move activities from here 5) We connect easier activites here 4) We replace some room meetings with other synchronous forms of meetings 2) More possibilities to do things asynchronously with IT 1) We support and organise this work better with IT (LMS etc) With activities here to here

Michael Power, Blended Online Learning – http://www.bold-research.org

Time shift mechanisms? The learning magic is in the transition? Combining synchronous and asynchronous events - so they reinforce one another - so students are constantly engaged - so students are helped to get a sustainable workload over course time

Disposition Small-talk, my context of the talk ”Blendedness” of learning ”Space /Place” perspective on blending Perspective change; Time and blending Synchronous / Asynchronous shift Agile frameworks, applied for pacing Future transition ”blended” – ”new normal” Wrap up + questions

Agile frameworks for pacing Scrum in rugby, image in public domain http://cybernations.wikia.com/wiki/File:Cataduanes-rugby-scrum.jpg Scrum

Problem: asynchronous work can be done tomorrow as well The more asynchronous, the more risk for procrastination Procrastinating individuals don`t handle flexibility well

”This is very much like our Scrum time boxes in agile software production processes.”

Agile project frameworks: Scrum, XP, Lean, Atern Just a thought experiment Courses are not software projects, but similarities in some process characteristics I want to generate ideas Agile@ibm developing Learning solutions Agile methods in computing programming project courses Tesar, M. & Scieber, S. (2010) Managing Blended Learning Scenarios by Using Agile E-learning Development See ”The Scrum Guide”

Background: Waterfall model Big design up front? Critique: Inefficient use of time Bad transparency Deadline delays Bad code Non-sustainable workloads Unhappy customers Perfectionism and deadlines just don´t work well together

Scrum Atern XP Lean

Scrum crash course 3 Roles 4 Ceremonies 3 Artifacts Product owner Scrum master Development team 4 Ceremonies Sprint planning Daily scrum meeting Sprint Review Sprint Retrospective 3 Artifacts Product backlog Sprint backlog Burndown chart From intellijens.com

Idea 1: Thinking in ”Time boxes” Shorter periods within a course, with own deadlines, resources, deliverables for collaborative learning Linking together synchronous, asynchronous and semisynchronous modalities Time box, scope, quality – which to compromise?

TIME BOX

WHY TIME BOXES? WHY NOT CALL IT MODULES? Times boxes are like Russian dolls, and each comes with resources, deadline, deliverables

Idea 2: Planning Poker? Source: Marketing image on http://www.agile42.com/en/agile-coaching-company/agile-scrum-tools/planning-poker/

Idea 2: Planning Poker? ”Poker” - show of cards at the same time Prioritization game with MOSCOW cards (Must have, Should have, Could have, Wont happen this time) Time / workload estimation with Fibonacci numbers (1,2,3,5,8, 13, 21, 34 etc) , nr 8 is a reference object known to all Discussion, iteration, etc Helping student see their work as tasks to do, prioritize and estimate time consumption

Idea 3: Transparency of team work Kanban board? …or just facebook updates of studying activities Check in and out backlog items A simple Kanban board, wikimedia Commons By Jeff.lasovski (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Image from Trrello.com

Idea 4: Daily Standup, (Daily Scrum Meeting) Short update, 3 questions, standing up, max 15 minutes duration: What did I do yesterday? What am I going to do today? Are there any problems? Sprint/Scrum master is managing an impediment list, impediments should be removed within 24 hours In courses – weekly and online, for all? ”Status reports”

Space-time Spatiotemporality Spatialization of time Temporalization of space Time compression Space compression

Disposition Small-talk, my context of the talk ”Blendedness” of learning ”Space /Place” perspective on blending Perspective change; Time and blending Synchronous / Asynchronous shift Agile frameworks, applied for pacing Future transition ”blended” – ”new normal” Q&A

”Blended” as a ”creation myth” As it once happened, it will always continue? …a distance learning teacher used his methods in a campus class… …or a traditional teacher became ambitious (or lazy) and used new tools… The first happening is a pattern to follow rigourously? Our forefathers made it right, then it deteriorates…? …but must we be that conservative?

When will we stop talking about ”blended”? Is the printed book a problem? (once was…) When technology becomes useful and works, we don´t call it technology any longer (Hinssen) Re-ontologization (Floridi) Dialectical pattern? Conflict thesis and antithesis becomes a synthesis? …containing both but being something new? New normality of education is forming?

Thanks for listening and patience! anders.norberg@edusci.umu.se