Table Of ContentPreparing for Blended
e-Learning
Are you an education professional seeking to design innovative courses that ‘blend’
different sorts of media learning activities across time and space? Do you find it
challenging to decide what might be the best blend of activities and media for
effective learning? In an age where innovations in social computing and the
mainstreaming of e-tools are unlocking new opportunities for blending online with
face-to-face interactions, this book will help you to design and implement effective
blended e-learning.
With practical, accessible advice for teachers and support staff, Preparing for
Blended e-Learningreviews practice and research in planning blends of e-learning
and scopes the core skills and knowledge required by teachers. Drawing on the
experiences of expert practitioners worldwide and citing examples across a range
of institutions and countries, it offers a readable, non-technical and comprehensive
introduction informed by practice and research. Issues discussed include:
• designing quality, appropriate, effective online learning;
• efficient and sustainable e-learning activity;
• providing appropriate feedback to learners;
• devising student activities and sourcing learning resources;
• managing online and offline interactions.
Preparing for Blended e-Learningoffers a careful analysis of strengths and opportunities
of blended e-learning, but is realistic about the possible pitfalls. With guidance for
both newcomers to teaching and experienced teachers who are developing their
practice online, it will appeal to teachers, academics, librarians, managers and
educational support staff who are involved in e-learning. It is also a useful text for
accredited courses for teachers in further and higher education internationally.
Allison Littlejohnis the Chair in Learning Technology and Director of the
Caledonian Academy at Glasgow Caledonian University, UK. She has led
international research, development and implementation of innovative learning
methods, including blended e-learning, in both further and higher education in the
United Kingdom and United States.
Chris Pegleris a lecturer and researcher into educational technology at The
Open University, UK. She has led a wide range of educational initiatives in both
further and higher education and has studied and taught online since 1995. In
2004 she was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship as a ‘Rising Star’.
Connecting with e-Learning series
Edited by Allison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler
e-Learning is rapidly becoming a key component of campus-based education as
well as a cornerstone of distance learning. However, although e-learning is an
increasingly essential skill for effective teaching, it remains challenging for most
teachers in higher and further education. There are four major reasons for this:
• Learners increasingly expect effective application of technologies; this can be
intimidating to teachers/lecturers who are novices at using these technologies
themselves.
• Already under pressure for time, teachers need to understand how to design
an appropriate blend of online and offline, otherwise their learners may end
up working unproductively and unhappily.
• Courses need to be created sustainably, so that learning materials can be
easily generated, stored, retrieved and repurposed.
• Teachers/lecturers are understandably uncertain about how to invest their
time and effort in a fast-moving field.
This exciting new series provides relevant guides for both newcomers to teaching
in higher and further education and experienced teachers/lecturers who are
developing their practice online. Featuring practical, accessible advice that draws
on recent research and the experiences of expert practitioners, each book is
structured, accessible and relevant to teachers and lecturers worldwide.
Books in the series include:
Preparing for Blended e-Learning
Allison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler
The Educational Potential of e-Portfolios: Supporting personal
development and reflective learning
Lorraine Stefani, Robin Mason and Chris Pegler
The web site for this series is connecting-with-elearning.com
Preparing for Blended
e-Learning
Allison Littlejohn and
Chris Pegler
First published 2007
by Routledge
2Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
©2007 Allison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
orother means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Littlejohn, Allison, 1962–
Preparing for blended e-learning / Allison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler.
p. cm. – (Connecting with e-learning)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–415–40361–8 (pbk.) – ISBN 0–415–40360–X (hardback)
1.Education—Data processing—Planning. 2. Computer-assisted
instruction—Design. 3.Computer-assisted instruction—Planning.
I.Pegler, Chris, 1956– II. Title.
LB1028.43.L563 2007
371.33′44678–dc22 2006036689
ISBN 0-203-96132-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–40360–X (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–40361–8 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–96132–3 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–40360–3 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–40361–0 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–96132–2 (ebk)
Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables xi
List of examples xiii
Series editors’ foreword xv
Acknowledgements xvii
Introduction 1
The art of blending 1
The potential of blending 2
The problems with blending 3
1 What is blended e-learning? 9
Where did e-learning come from? 11
Definition of e-learning 16
Educational and not so educational e-drivers 17
Drivers to adopt e-learning 17
e-Learning in online, conventional and blended courses 24
The challenges of designing blended e-learning 27
2 Different approaches to blended e-learning 29
Blending in chunks 30
Why blend at all? 31
Before choosing an e-learning blend 34
Media and mobile manifestations 40
The significance of student location 43
Informal, work-based and just-in-time blends 45
Is blending bland? 47
vi Contents
3 Devising blended e-learning activities 49
Synchronous or asynchronous? 51
‘Looking’ at student activity 57
Lurking with intent 59
How am I doing? Providing feedback to students and tutors 61
Assessing online activity 63
Social spaces online 65
Planning for accessibility and usability 67
Blending action and interaction online 69
4 Documenting e-learning blends 70
Finding the finest blend 70
Factors affecting blending 71
What is in the blend? 75
Orchestrating the blend: blending different approaches to teaching 76
Knowing the score: documenting learning and teaching practice 78
The LD_lite planning tool: three into one 82
Problems with blending 89
Framing the problem 93
5 Choosing e-tools for blended activities 94
An abundance of activities? 94
Mapping tasks with tools 96
Types of e-tools 99
Trends in the use of e-tools 101
Documenting activities using LD_lite 104
Blending old and new 132
Getting up to speed with blended learning 132
6 Environments to integrate activity blends 134
Problem-based learning: a case for complex blending 134
Electronic learning environments: who is in control? 138
Electronic learning environment tools 138
Commercial electronic learning environment systems 141
Open source electronic learning environment systems 143
Examples of complex blending 146
Documenting complex blends 163
Blending physical and virtual learning spaces 163
Electrifying or encumbering environments? 166
Contents vii
7 Sustainable blended e-learning designs 168
Tactic 1: Sourcing and reusing existing materials 170
Tactic 2: Making your own resources 177
Tactic 3: Repurposing resource materials 179
Tactic 4: Designing courses in small, reusable chunks 180
Tactic 5: Documenting courses within reusable templates 183
Tactic 6: Managing and moving materials 184
Moving and sharing across systems 190
8 Support structures for blended e-learning 192
Supporting blended e-learning: the impact of distance and experience 196
Web-based student support 198
The technical helpdesk 201
Librarians on call 202
Supporting staff to support students in blended e-learning 204
Online peer support 207
Where is student support heading? 209
9 Ethical issues in blended e-learning 211
Computing codes and controls 213
Privacy and confidentiality online 218
Digital rights 221
The ethics of access 223
The implications of teleworking and the 24/7 network 224
Glossary 226
References 235
Index 243
Figures
1.1 Increase in computing power, 1982–2002 12
2.1 Two approaches to ‘wraparound’ activity blending 30
2.2 Impact of location and experience on e-learning blend 44
3.1 Example of staff use of ‘social space’ 66
4.1 A lesson plan for a simple online learning activity 84
4.2 Revised lesson plan linking online and face-to-face activities 86
4.3 Apattern documenting the same scenario as in Figure 4.2 88
4.4 A learning design sequence map documenting the same
scenario as in Figure 4.2 90
5.1a A narrative pattern of an information handling activity 106
5.1b Alesson plan of an information handling activity 107
5.1c A lesson plan of an information handling activity for
geographically dispersed students 108
5.1d A learning design sequence of an information handling
task 109
5.2a The ‘Exploring Chemistry’ lesson on balancing equations 111
5.2b A narrative pattern of an adaptive task 112
5.2c Alesson plan of an adaptive activity 113–14
5.2d Alearning design sequence of an adaptive activity 115
5.3a A narrative pattern of a communicative activity 117
5.3b A lesson plan of a communicative activity 118–19
5.3c A learning design sequence of a communicative activity 120
5.4a Anarrative pattern of a productive activity 122
5.4b A lesson plan of a productive activity 123–4
5.4c A learning design sequence of a productive activity 125
5.5a A narrative pattern of an experiential activity 128
5.5b A lesson plan of an experiential activity 129–30
5.5c A learning design sequence of the experiential activity 131
6.1 Blackboard at the University of Bradford 142
