1. Course Design Teaching Tips Advantages and Disadvantages

2. 1. Start early with course redesign. 2. Focus on course goals/objectives, not technology. 3. Determine if it works best Onsite or Online. 4. Blend!

3.  Provide substantial amount of lead time to migrate your traditional course to hybrid format. ◦ suggested = one semester  Use TAC Hybrid Certification Workshops to work on your course.

4.  Start with your Course Content Summary goals and objectives.  Redesign your learning objectives one assignment at a time, according to what works well online and/or onsite for you.

5.  Experiment in a live traditional class: ◦ Test out which assignments work better online or onsite at least one semester in advance.  Examples: ◦ Are your lectures better live or in PowerPoint? ◦ Will your students do better Peer Reviews if they are in person with eye contact/body language or they are online with more time to think and write?

6.  Design course content learning activities to be interwoven online and onsite.  Create blending that increases students’ sense of continuity through sequence of logical steps.  Avoid assigning online work that seems “tacked on.”

7.  Organically blend materials and activities.  Examples Begin new unit onsite and continue next step of instruction with online activity, or vice versa. Ex: Onsite lecture introduces content. Follow up with Online discussion forum for student feedback. Ex: Online reading + partner discussion. Follow up with Onsite quiz.

8. 1. Don’t Procrastinate! 2. Teach Technology to Students. 3. Anticipate Student Problems.

9.  Be prompt with feedback to students.  Don’t let online assignments-to-be-graded stack up.  Tweak problems in your Blackboard site as you become aware of them. Don’t wait until later.

10.  Teach technology orientation on first day or two of class.  Walk your students through online discussions in class.

11.  First day of class – establish your expectations, policies, online attendance.  Explain difference between hybrid and traditional course.

12.  Explain importance of online portion of course.  Repeat how important online portion of course is!  Contact immediately students who are not doing online work.

13. Advantages Disadvantages  Course Redesign gives fresh perspective on content  Learn new technologies  Get to know students in a different way online  Increase in student participation  Big time commitment to development course  Time commitment in grading/running course  Technology frustrations  Less face-to-face contact

14. Advantages Disadvantages  Provides different formats for learning; learning may be “deeper,” higher quality  More interactivity w/instructor & classmates  Flexibility for busy schedules  Lower transportation costs  Perceptions that Hybrids are easier  Perception of lower quality education  Technology trouble  Poor time management can be a problem ~some material from Denise Ogden, Penn State, Lehigh