Determining how blended and hybrid learning can lead to more equitable student outcomes and how to apply the most effective teaching practices of blended and hybrid learning to both online and face-to-face modalities are central to today’s higher education environment.
This was the central theme to a panel discussion at the recent OLC Innovate virtual event, moderated by Dylan Barth, Assistant Vice President of Learning and a Co-Director of the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning at the Online Learning Consortium. The panel consisted of:
- Tawnya Means, Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation and Chief Learning Officer in the Case College of Business at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
- Anthony G. Picciano, Professor in Education Leadership at Hunter College, Ph.D. Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
- Matthew Vick, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education and a Professor of Science Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Defining Equitable Outcomes
“When we think about equitable outcomes, it’s very much like what it sounds, which is, we’re designing learning in such a way that, regardless of who comes in that they’re going to be able to address all of their needs in order to learn from that opportunity,” said Means. “So, we're looking at things like our social, emotional, and academic growth that comes out of these learning experiences and designing intentionally for such activities that will lead to those outcomes.”
Strategies include:
- Good instructional design that supports students in a variety of ways, including fully online or face-to-face.
- Practices that help achieve equitable outcomes, such as devices, internet access, digital tools, and other resources to support student learning.
- Policies that recognize learners coming from different places with different needs needing different types of support.
- Positive and inclusive environments lead to more success for students. Designing instruction so students can connect and feel a sense of belonging.
- A variety of instructional tools that lead to a variety of outcomes.
- Flexible assessments that facilitate students’ ability to demonstrate their learning.
- Professional development for faculty to create awareness of multiple ways to address challenges, such as assessment.
Moving Thought Into Practice
“In thinking about equitable outcomes, a lot of it starts with what’s in the syllabus—in terms of what we’re teaching as well as how we’re teaching,” said Picciano. “The readings in my syllabus, for example, contain a lot more material from authors not in the traditional Western canon, and my students have responded to that very, very well.”
When asked whether there is a rubric to follow when using a wider variety of assessments in blended learning environments, Picciano responded that he no longer uses tests and relies on his students’ writing to evaluate what they’ve learned. “Rather than doing things in a couple of hours in class, I’ve found that giving students time to reflect and deliberate about how they respond to the questions is better,” he said. “Giving students a variety of ways to express themselves, even using sound and video in their presentations, makes it easy for me to experiment with assessment when I can.”
Picciano went on to say, “Whether they’re responding to a question from me or one of their colleagues, the asynchronous part of a blended learning environment is that they have time to respond—it’s easier than in a synchronous environment.”
“If you look at bringing courses into a more community-based mindset, valuing people’s personal and professional knowledge that already exists is also important in blended and hybrid modalities,” said Vick. “Especially in credentialed fields of professions where they’re already working.”
“In trying to look at the different audiences coming to you for learning experiences, it’s important to be intentional about the structure, so that students can be successful regardless of where they come from,” said Means. “We also need to make sure that students can see themselves reflected in what we’re doing.”
For more articles from the OLC Innovate event, see:
Educators Utilizing Ed3, Blockchain, and Metaverse Technologies
Students, Faculty Experiencing Burnout in Colleges, Universities