Blending Methods Part 5: Flipping Instruction

The focus of this final post in the series is developing online modules. Wha wha wha.....
In my experience, using 'module' elicits negative connotations related to self-paced, self-contained, modular-based lectures. For any public school teacher, does the blood borne pathogens module come to mind? Push play. Answer emails until the video stops talking. Click some buttons. Answer the self-apparent questions at the end. Move on.

I've developed a number of online modules as an instructional designer but never for a blended course. This posed a number of new questions for the design process.

1. What content can go--or more importantly should go-- 'online'?

I decided to structure the course on a three-week rotation: (1) meet face-to-face; (2) complete online module and/or engage in writing conferences; (3) conduct a workshop on location (typically the K-12 classroom). This structure required me to think carefully about what material needed to be addressed in a face-to-face setting, including challenging content or processes that needed collaborative face-to-face engagement in real time. For example, introducing our complex multiliteracies project and introducing the practice of conferring with writers were best accomplished in a traditional setting. Analysis activities, on the other hand, especially those that utilized video observation, were particularly conducive to the online space.

2. What digital tools should I use to build the modules?

In the past, I have used simple and informal tools like Padlet as well as more complicated and time-consuming tools such as Articulate. In most cases, consistency is important in terms of providing a clear structure to participants' online experience. However, since I had the opportunity to meet with students in face-to-face classes and individual writing conferences, I felt more comfortable exploring a variety of approaches to design. I utilized a combination of screencast videos, Prezi presentations, video quizzes, google docs, and discussion forums to develop the online experiences. Granted, the design process took a looooooong time. But one of the perks is that now I have a collection of materials I can use again whether or not I'm teaching in a blended setting. 

3. How should I hold students accountable?

In a similar fashion to the point above, I have tried to remain consistent within online module designs in terms of accountability. Depending on the content, this can range from quiz responses to using analytics to determine how much content was viewed and by who. For this course, I was most interested in my students' abilities to analyze and apply concepts from our readings. To this end, I aligned many of these module with workshop experiences to provide opportunities for practice and rehearsal prior to transitioning to K-12 classroom spaces. Quizzes were rarely if ever appropriate just as in my traditional courses. However one MAJOR advantage was the ability to elicit and respond to individual understandings. Within my traditional courses, a lot of our time is spent in small group and large group discussions. Very rarely do I collect our informal activities. By moving this material online, students produced a greater degree of thoughtful, individual responses. Which also meant that my ability to provide feedback was greatly taxed. An important consideration moving forward--how to balance the use of whole group and individualized feedback within the blended space.