Online and Blended Learning
Introduction
Being a part of a faculty learning community has been a very positive and enriching experience for me. As faculty, we rarely have opportunities to work and interact with faculty from across campus, for non-committee work. Faculty learning communities are a great avenue to bring together faculty members from various backgrounds who hold a common interest in teaching, scholarship, service, or the combination.
This FLC, focused on teaching online and blended courses, was one of four run during the 2009-2010 academic year. There were 9 participants: Pamela Haibach (KSSPE), Amy Guptill
(Sociology/ Delta College), Pryia Banerjee (Health Science), Logan Rath (LITS), Robert Cushman (LITS), Meg Norcia (English), Ann Pearlman (Instructional Design), Carol Godsave (Educational Administration), Joan Lucas (Computer Science), and Melchor DeGuzman (Criminal Justice). At the onset of the year, only two of the members had taught on online course and only one had taken an online course. By the end of the academic year two more members had taught a fully online course and two others had taught online modules.
The online and blended learning faculty learning community was particularly unique because it brought together both staff and faculty with the common interest in online teaching. Our group included tenured and untenured faculty, adjunct faculty, and LITS staff. With a group of inexperienced online instructors, it is not surprising that the main goal(s) of the group was to prepare for teaching online. With all faculty members having expressed more confidence in their abilities to design and teach an online course and most have either taught an online course or prepared for an online course by the conclusion of the year, it is evident that we achieved this goal.
In the first few meetings of the year, we focused upon our goals for the FLC program year. 1. Enhance faculty knowledge on the effective design of online and blended
instruction
2. Teach an online course or conduct online modules of our own this academic year and report on our experiences
3. Conduct a CELT brownbag in Spring on online instruction
4. Produce an online website/ resource that could be used by the wider campus community
The first three of the four goals were successfully accomplished. Although the FLC did not fulfill the fourth goal, there is a smaller group of members who would like to continue meeting and produce an online website/ resource following the end of the FLC program. It is likely that
this goal would have been fulfilled if the group had more time, but the group’s main focus was upon preparing for online instruction and improving their online teaching.
Activities and achievements
Over the course of the academic year, the group met 15 times for 60-90 minutes at mid-day (Thursdays 11:30 – 1, in the fall and 12-1 pm in the spring). Several meetings had one or two participants absent due to illness or a conflict, but attendance was consistently high. Meetings generally began in Aerie’s café to begin with lunch and discussion, then followed in either the special collections room or the ETC.
Meeting activities included speakers, webinars, discussion, and informal presentations of
technologies, online courses, and various materials. We even held one meeting online via Adobe connect. Our speakers included Dr. Robert Knipe, Dean of Distance Learning at the Genessee Community College, and Dr. Nancy Rea, interim Program Director for PhD in Public Health at Walden University. Dr. Knipe ‘kicked’ off the year by coming to one of our early meetings and discussed the process of online learning and how to get started with developing online courses. Dr. Rea met with us via webcam and discussed her experiences with teaching online courses. She has taught online courses at four universities and is now full-time employed at an online university as the Director of the Public Health program. Dr. Rea provided the group with some very useful “Best practices” for teaching online courses. Some members of the group were also able to attend a webinar entitled “Critical new findings from managing online education study” on October 29th. Unfortunately, the webinar was not offered at a time in which all members could attend.
On May 3rd the FLC held a CELT eposter session entitled “What does online learning look like at Brockport?” At this session, most FLC members presented their online course, their
experiences with the FLC, or online resources available at Brockport. This was a successful event with 17 faculty members in attendance.
Resources:
The group used the collective funds to pay for the following: • Lunches at most of the meetings
• HD Flipvideos for all group members • Headsets for all group members
• Logitech webcams for all group members
• Books on online teaching and learning (chosen by the individual)
The leftover funds were divided amongst the group members to be used at the individual’s discretion to purchase materials for online teaching or travel to workshops on online instruction.
Midyear anonymous reflective statements from FLC members:
a. What have you found to be most valuable as a result of your participation in this FLC so far?
• Meeting with faculty and hearing what they are doing and would like to do in online courses. • * great info * fun socialization * both make me more excited to try online teaching
• Direction, structure, support provided by members who have taught online or blended courses.
• New ideas from other members of the committee. Help and insight into trying out things that I have not done before. Learning how to use new tools. Finding out about best practices, and last but certainly not the least, get to know people from all across campus!
• Meeting other like minded individuals in a new area.
• Dialogue with colleges across disciplines equipment for practical purposes webinars and visiting experts in the field of online learning-- I could go on and on! It's been a
great experience!
• Exposure and training to/on the various modalities that can be used for online teaching. The collegial bond that has been formed within our group The support from those in the group who are already using online systems The confidence and the inspiration that has come from working with those already using online systems The resources available for setting up and running an online/blended course
b. What else would you like to gain through participating in your FLC?
• Improved collaboration with faculty to enable better technology support for online and blended courses.
• I look forward to getting feedback as I teach online for the first time in the spring • My personal objectives are being met.
• More hands on practice together with other members of the community. • Something tangible to take away.
• I think we'll be shifting to more hands-on course creation for the spring semester and I'm looking forward to building on what we've done in the fall and putting it in practice. • As a group we'd like to leave a legacy in the form of perhaps a best practices web site
or a web site with construction tools and steps.
Individual FLC Member Reflections
1. When the call came out in the 2009 Spring semester about the different Faculty Learning Communities, I had several topic choices. Of them the two that were most attractive were: “Service Learning” and “Online and Blended Learning.” My interest was driven by curricular changes proposed by the undergraduate and graduate committees of our department. As part of the curricular changes and course revisions, a new service
learning component was added to one of the courses I was slated to teach. There was also a great deal of discussion in our department regarding the lack of online courses offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and as a result, I had volunteered to teach a graduate course online. I was glad for the two FLC topics, but decided to pick the
“online” one, because I knew nothing about setting up an online course. Over the past year, I have had the opportunity, not only to read up about online courses but to discuss the intricacies of setting up, maintaining and completing an online course with others who had both, taught as well as taken online courses. I felt confident enough at the end of the Fall 2009 semester in my ability to set sail into cyber-space that I set up the Health Science department’s first fully online graduate course offering.
Throughout the final semester of the FLC, members of my little “community” have been my support system: guiding, soothing, teaching, critiquing and just “being there” for me as my students and I explored new territory! I have learned much over the past semester (and year). My course had a few bumps in the beginning, but things smoothed out in the end. I feel as though I could do this again, better equipped with practical as well as theoretical knowledge. I attribute a great deal of this to my participation in the FLC. I can truthfully say that I am grateful for the experience. Our community leader was
exceptional – Pam Haibach was always professional (on-time, organized, involved, knowledgeable), thorough, cheerful, creative and supportive. My co-members: Amy, Carol, Meg, Logan, Joan, Bob, Mel were wonderful too, in offering not just their expertise, but their support.
The FLC opportunity is invaluable for professional development. Thank you everyone. 2. Online Blended Faculty Learning Community brought together people from all
disciplines and levels of online teaching experience. The value came not so much from books, but from us exploring together, teaching and helping one another. A learning climate at it's best. As a result of my experience, I have moved from the conceptual to practice of online learning. My thanks to my community members, our leader Pam Haibach and to the Provost for supporting this venture.
3. Participating in the FLC enabled me to design my online stats course and conduct it with confidence. I may not have done the course much differently if I were on my own, but from participating in the FLC I felt like I knew what my technological and pedagogical options were, and I was much more able to anticipate potential problems.
4. Participating in this learning community was a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with cross-disciplinary faculty from the sciences, humanities, and criminal justice fields and even cross-professional staff from the library and technology fields. Together we brainstormed ideas for best practices to enhance students' experiences in online learning courses. We listened to speakers, some members traveled to conferences, we read research on online and blended learning, and gave one another feedback on our courses as we developed them. As the culminating activity for our FLC we presented an
electronic poster session at CELT on online and hybrid learning which was incredibly well attended by faculty and administration considering that it was the last week in the semester. The relationships I built with my colleagues will be a valuable resource as I continue developing my skills as an online instructor. Without the FLC, I never would have met so many interesting and innovative teachers and professionals. The FLC not only helped me road-test technology like a microphone, a pair of head phones, and a digital camera (for making podcasts and presenting images to students), but it also
provided a collegial setting in which I could safely explore new possibilities for engaging my students. I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity.
5. Reflecting upon the activities conducted by the Faculty Learning Community for Online and Hybrid Teaching, I found the two areas to be most beneficial; exchange of
pedagogical methodologies for University teaching and new technological tools that enhance education experiences for faculty and students. Conversations and
demonstrations among the group, which included faculty from different disciplines, and library, and CELT staff provided opportunities to view teaching from different
perspectives. We also tested new techniques and tools, such as Adobe Connect, that could be adopted into online learning as a method of communication between faculty and students and also allow for student peer interaction.
