Mixing a full network course approach with a blended learning approach #edcmooc

I am reflecting here some recent personal experiences related to the implementation of a university course utilizing a network learning and a blended learning approach. This open university course is available in a network version. This means that the participants can access all the course contents fully through net. The course is also utilizing a blended learning approach with live meetings in a classroom delivered in real time to net too.

The picture above is from the genuine setting from Thursday evening. The session takes place in external (i.e. not own university) facilities. What has been a technical challenge is access to internet. Therefore the connection was built here through my own laptop and through alternative connection. In the backpack I also carry a reserve video cannon; not needed this time. A good quality video camera stands on a tripod (front left) allowing various angles to the lecturer as well as the audience.

Course delivery takes place through Adobe Connect (AC), that seems to be a solution that is only partially reliable. Nevertheless having now developed a relationship with this solution everything seems to be running quite smoothly. Net participants express though frequently  some voice as well as picture delivery related problems. The course materials are shown through AC, and there is a one-direction voice connection from the classroom to the net. The net participants do not use their own audio, but interact by means of writhing in the chat area. This is because having audio on through all participating PCs in AC would cause a cacophony that could not be handled.

The real challenges in implementing a network course this way are related to the pedagogical as well as didactical practices. Handling an course with interactive real-time discussions with participants on site as well as with online participants is something that demands very good beforehand thinking. Running the course and discussing the topics with the students in the classroom (in this case some 30 of them) takes all the focus of the teacher. Simultaneously there is a lively discussion going on in the net chat (with a group of 30 participants there) that demands monitoring and interaction too. Our solution here - in this pilot course - was to bring in another person as chat discussion facilitator. His role is both to follow the classroom discussion as well as the chat discussion. The facilitator takes part in the chat as well as brings some topics from there to the classroom discussion. Such a two teacher model seems to be functioning, but is naturally not the most effective way to act. 

Whether a mix of a network course and a blended course makes sense is an issue that needs to be thought over after gathering some more experience. There are though good reasons to try to implement both approaches in the same package.