This blog is for the reflections of faculty in the OSU Hybrid Course Development Pilot Program, and all who would like to join in to comment on blended learning and the particular challenges of design and delivery of hybrid courses. If you’d like to find out more about this program, visit the Hybrid Course Initiative web page of the OSU Center for Teaching and Learning. Welcome!
From the pitfall reading,”Many online courses assume a two-way dialogue between each student and the instructor, and they forget about the ways in which students learn from each other’s mistakes, ideas, and input. Consider creating wiki spaces in which groups of students can work together. Include assignments that require students to share ideas and resources, present topics to each other, and critique each other’s work. Use online communication tools and collaborative spaces to foster a class-wide web of supportive contact rather than settling into multiple parallel channels between you and each student. ”
Our biggest successes in the classroom, and, online are those where the students are actively constructing and fully engaging in the work ie peer reviewing of assignments, helping each other with teaching ideas, brainstorming various classroom management ideas, discussing upcoming seminars, job fairs(even carpooling links), etc… This is what we hope we can then transmit on to the classrooms where our OSU students will be future teachers. To simulate what we hope are best practices, I think, is the best way to continue the life-long learning process. I would definitely like to learn more about the “wiki” process, as this work, to date, has been accomplished primarily through the Discussion Board.