Teaching for blended learning: research perspectives from on-campus and distance students

The concept of blended learning has begun to change the nature of all teaching and learning in higher education. Information and communication technologies have impacted by providing a means of access to digital resources and interactive communication for all courses and the blending of pedagogy and technology has produced a range of approaches to teaching and learning. This paper discusses the research literature and the writers’ research, defining what they have concluded are teaching practices that use the concept of blended learning effectively. In investigating how ICT can add variation for student learning, they analyze this from two dominant modes of pedagogy, learning environment and pedagogy through both on-campus and distance education. In both modes, students acknowledged the power and effectiveness of blended learning.

Playing a critical role: experiential learning resources and analytical media studies in higher education

This article compares two Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) used in the Faculty of Arts, Deakin University Australia, and investigates the relationships between technology, pedagogy and key issues in the teaching and practice of public relations, in a media studies context. The online role-play ‘Save Wallaby Forest’ and the e-simulation ‘PRessure Point! Getting Framed (GF), in their different ways, afford learning  environments with capabilities that present public relations and media students with opportunities to discover a critical consciousness, break out of naturalised world-views, and explore alternative approaches to organisational communication. Furthermore, they present students with complex ethical issues to investigate based around the idea that media industries are powerful discursive producers and reproducers of social norms, values and beliefs which in turn shape notions of identity and influence the formation of public opinion in society (Fairclough 1999; Habermas 1995). This article explores the intersections and differences between these distinct ICTs in their relationships to a constructivist learning approach and ethical questions about how public relations both produces and reproduces world views through practice. This interacting nexus – between technology, pedagogy and theme – is significant because “what happens in the learning process” relates to the learning outcome and therefore has the potential to develop holistic reflexivity in studies of public relations (Laurillard 2003, p.42).

(E)Research, (e)learning, (e)teaching in (e)ntrapment

In this paper I reflect on three research projects emerging from my on online learning and teaching.

The data used in this paper is current and the media is low-tech and accessible. This paper is not about the hardware and software of technology. Rather, it is about a teacher educator's struggle to try to make sense of online pedagogy at a time when academics seem to be constantly exhorted to take their courses online. This paper draws on data from the following projects:

1. My involvement in the development and teaching of the 'Education Studies Major Online Project'. I have been teaching undergraduate students doing their first year education studies program with the option of:

•  Not attending university-based lectures or tutorials and doing all their work online;
•  Attending face-to-face lectures and tutorials, and
•  A mixture of face-to-face and online.

2. The Research in Computers in Education (RICE) group which started in 1995.

3. The Good Learning on the World Wide Web (GLOW) Project with a secondary college in which undergraduate teacher education students tutor year 9/10 students from the college.

4. Two Masters in Education units with particular reference to the compulsory online discussion component.

5. The Faculty Research Group project entitled 'The social and pedagogical implications of new learning technologies for learners and teachers'.

A constructivist approach to the teaching & learning of astronomy

Astronomy is one of the recurrent contemporary issues in the mass media where news related to comets, new stars, satellites, space tests, etc., frequently appear. Through this media presence students develop an interest in learning about aspects of astronomy. However, the information students gain from various sources, both inside and outside the classroom, doesn't often increase their knowledge about the most basic and common aspects of astronomy (Martinez Pena & Gil Quilez, 2001). Studies that have explored students' and teachers' understandings of astronomical concepts (Kalkan et al, 2007; Trumper, 2001) have found many alternative conceptions relating to basic astronomical processes such as day and night, the seasons, gravity and the relative distances between celestial objects.

Investigation of educator adoption of knowledge media

Human development has occurred against a timeline that has seen the creation of and diffusion of one innovation after another. These innovations range from language to complex computing and information technologies. The latter are assisting with the distribution of information, and extend to the distribution of the human species beyond the planet Earth. From early times, information has been published and mostly for a fee to the publisher. The absorption and use of information has had a high priority in most societies from early times, and has become institutionalised in universities and institutes of technical learning. For most in Western societies, education is now a matter of ‘lifelong learning’. Today, we see higher education institutions, worldwide, adapting their organisational structures and operating procedures and forming strategic alliances with communications content providers and carriers as well as with information technology companies. Modern educational institutes seek productivity and efficiency. Many also seek to differentiate themselves from competitors. Technological convergence is often seen by management to be a saviour in many educational organisations. It is hoped that lower capital and recurrent costs can be achieved, and that competitors in an increasingly globalised industry can be held at bay by strategic use of knowledge media (Eisenstadt, 1995) commonly associated with distance education in the campus setting. Knowledge media set up costs, intellectual property costs and training costs for staff and students are often so high as to make their use not viable for Australian institutes of higher education. Against this backdrop, one might expect greater educator and student use of publisher produced textbooks and digital enhancements to the textbook, particularly those involved in distance education. A major issue is whether or not the timing of instructor adoption of converging information technology and communications technologies aligns with the wishes of both higher education management and government, and with those who seek commercial gain from the diffusion and adoption of such technologies. Also at issue is whether or not it is possible to explain variance in stated intentions to recommend adoption of new learning technologies in higher education and implementation. Will there occur educator recommendation for adoption of individual knowledge media such as World Wide Web access to study materials by students? And what will be the form of this tool and others used in higher education? This thesis reports on more recent changes in the technological environment and seeks to contribute to an understanding of the factors that lead to a willingness, or unwillingness, on the part of higher education instructors, as influencers and content providers, to utilise these technologies. As such, it is a diffusion study which seeks to fill a gap in the literature. Diffusion studies typically focus on predicting adoption based on characteristics of the potential adopter. Few studies examine the relationship between characteristics of the innovation and adoption. Nearly all diffusion studies involve what is termed discontinuous innovation (Robertson, 1971). That is, the innovation involves adoptees in a major departure from previous practice. This study seeks to examine the relationship between previous experience of related technologies and adoption or rejection of dynamically continuous innovation. Continuous and dynamically continuous innovations are the most numerous in the real world, yet they are numerically the least scrutinised by way of academic research. Moreover, the three-year longitudinal study of educators in Australian and New Zealand meets important criteria laid down by researchers Tornatzky and Klein (1982) and Rogers (1995), that are often not met by similar studies. In particular the study examines diffusion as it is unfolding, rather than selectively examining a single innovation and after the fact, thus avoiding a possible pro-innovation bias. The study examines the situation for both ‘all educators’ and ‘marketing / management educators’ alone in seeking to meet the following aim: Establish if intended adopters of specific knowledge media have had more experience of other computer-based technologies than have those not intending to adopt said knowledge media. The analytical phase entails use of factor analysis and discriminant analysis to conclude that it is possible to discriminate adopters of selected knowledge media based on previous use of related technologies. The study does not find any generalised factor that enables such discrimination among educators. Thus the study supports the literature in part, but fails to find generalised factors that enable unambiguous prediction of knowledge media adoption or otherwise among each grouping of educators examined. The implications are that even in the case of related products and services (continuous or dynamically continuous innovation), there is not statistical certainty that prior usage of related products or technologies is related to intentions to use knowledge media in the future. In this regard, the present study might be said to confirm the view that Rogers and Shoemaker's (1971) conceptualisation of perceived innovation characteristics may only apply to discontinuous innovations (Stratton, Lumpkin & Vitell, 1997). The implications for stakeholders such as higher education management is that when seeking to appoint new educators or existing staff to knowledge media project teams, there is some support for the notion that those who already use World Wide Web based technologies are likely to take these technologies into teaching situations. The same claim cannot be made for computer software use in general, nor Internet use in general.

Teaching narrative journalism and the APN Professional Development Program

This paper extends the familiar concept of ‘journalism-as-storytelling’ into a description of some of its practical applications in a university and industry partnership resulting in a commercial training arrangement in early 2007. It describes the APN/USQ Professional Development Program for newspaper employees (with no formal journalism qualification) and exemplifies how print journalism courses may be adapted to teach narrative writing techniques. It demonstrates how foundation skills in journalistic practice may be incorporated into an adapted teaching model, suggesting that “the basics” of narrative writing should not be thought of as discrete components of journalism education. This argument is further supported by the description of a robust pedagogical approach informed by Mezirows’ transformative learning theory for a cross-disciplinary knowledge base.

Was there much blood kid? : cadet journalists in Australian media

This thesis established the ways in which novice journalists formulate their own professional ideologies and identified the key influences in this process. The research focused on the dominant oral traditions operating within newsrooms and established the fundamental strengths and weaknesses of the current systems of training young journalists.

Teaching and learning about force with a representational focus : pedagogy and teacher change

A large body of research in the conceptual change tradition has shown the difficulty of learning fundamental science concepts, yet conceptual change schemes have failed to convincingly demonstrate improvements in supporting significant student learning. Recent work in cognitive science has challenged this purely conceptual view of learning, emphasising the role of language, and the importance of personal and contextual aspects of understanding science. The research described in this paper is designed around the notion that learning involves the recognition and development of students’ representational resources. In particular, we argue that conceptual difficulties with the concept of force are fundamentally representational in nature. This paper describes a classroom sequence in force that focuses on representations and their negotiation, and reports on the effectiveness of this perspective in guiding teaching, and in providing insight into student learning. Classroom sequences involving three teachers were videotaped using a combined focus on the teacher and groups of students. Video analysis software was used to capture the variety of representations used, and sequences of representational negotiation. Stimulated recall interviews were conducted with teachers and students. The paper reports on the nature of the pedagogies developed as part of this representational focus, its effectiveness in supporting student learning, and on the pedagogical and epistemological challenges negotiated by teachers in implementing this approach.

Teaching journalism students and regional reporters how to work with cultural diversity

This paper examines the effectiveness of a set of curriculum materials developed for a Reporting Diversity and Integration Project tailored for Australian journalists and journalism students. The materials take a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to a hypothetical case study that involves Muslim netballers being banned from competition because they want to wear headscarves during play. Deferring to ideas developed by Russian psychologist, Leo Vygotsky, we proposed a few ‘scaffolding’ strategies to support student learning. The material was trialed with 30 first-year Deakin University journalism students and 30 regional journalists. The responses showed that both groups felt the materials we added to the curriculum resources, which provided information on Muslim women and the headscarf, affected how they would write the story. They also thought it was important to provide this kind of information for readers. This paper argues that providing cultural information in an accessible format for students and journalists in newsrooms should be integral to education and training materials designed to improve media coverage of cultural diversity issues.

Media effects : e-simulations and authentic 'blended' learning

Public Relations (PR) is an occupation through which public identities and realities can be constructed and manipulated. Thus, understanding the implications for ethical practice, especially in light of rapid developments in social media and new digital technologies, is increasingly relevant. However, conventional approaches to the teaching of public relations tend to emphasize practice and knowledge of occupational tools, over deeper reflection in areas such as the social effects and ethics. This chapter explores an e-simulation used in the public relations program at Deakin University, which aspires to develop higher ethical dispositions in students and canvasses what this means at a societal, practitioner, and industry level.

Good teaching matters

Equity is not an add-on to good teaching, it is part of it. It contributes to the part of teaching that makes it good, says Trevor Gale.

Knowledge-building : designing for learning using social and participatory media

This report presents the results of a classroom action research that looked at how one teacher redesigned her curriculum while integrating social media, Web 2.0 and face-toface teaching in an Australian public high school. It explores the qualities that social and participatory media bring to the classroom while focussing on students as active and valued participants in the learning process. Building knowledge using the uniqueness of social media enabled students to become active and valued resources for both the teacher and their peers. Designing for learning is a key challenge facing education today; this case offers ideas for learning designers and contributes to a research base that can support educators from all sectors.

Active content for preparation of teaching materials

Teaching materials such as study guides have implicit structure that can be exploited to explicitly assist in the learning and teaching process. Document technologies specific to the teaching context generate visible structures and linkages in a consistent manner across multiple course materials. We describe techniques that:

• Create, manage and validate links between the learning objectives, content related to each objective and corresponding assessment task.

• Explicitly present relationships between concepts, as a concept map, related to unit content and external study resources.

• Treat various study resources (study guide, presentation slides) as consistent views.

• Facilitate the use of external media to support multiple modalities.

The process creates teaching content as a single master document which is annotated to: identify learning outcomes associated with topics and exercises, relationships between concepts covered, references to external resources and media, as well as summary points and keywords. Different views of this master document produce the range of course documentation.

Examples of documents include: a study guide with learning outcomes linked to content, concept maps providing a graphical view of key relationships, and presentation slides that generate visual mnemonics for important topics.

While this structure simplifies formatting of learning materials it also offers additional benefits to the teacher. Reports are generated showing that all outcomes are covered and assessed.   Explicitly annotating and visualizing concepts allows the lecturer to ensure that all elements fall within a single scaffold. Simplified access to external media encourages alternative presentation modalities and produces presentations that are easily adapted to new themes.