Time-based Blended Learning (TBL)

…or a time perspective on the blending of teaching

Anders Norberg

From Wikimedia CommonsEinstein-Minkowski´s Space-Time

1,1 million

8,2 million

Umeå University, the biggest and most enrolled university (34 000 students) of sparsely populated North of Sweden

Umeå University is nr 5 in age & size in Sweden (after Uppsala, Lund, Stockholm, Gothenburg universities)

Flexible, decentralized and as distance education increases, campus attendance decreases.…

Demographic youth dip expected 2012-2018

Umeå university learning centers

Background

• Concentrated studies – one fulltime or two half-time courses at a time for the student

• No tuition fees • UmU now has 4 education distribution forms:

– F2F courses on main campus– Decentralized F2F courses (travelling teacher + LMS)– Video conference course to learning centres– Asynchronous courses (no meetings, no times but

deadlines)

• Teaching space?

• Learning space?

• Teaching time?

• Learning time?

…and how to blend it?

Scene from Swedish movie, ”Hets” 1944, by Alf Sjöberg and Ingmar Bergman

BLENDED LEARNING AS A NEW LEVEL OF SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM?

”blended learning”

E-learning

Distance learning

Blended learning

Synchronous learning

Why do teachers mix up teaching with learning?

…nobody else does

Is ”blended” a teacher thing?

”The Alchemist”: Woodcut by Peter Bruegel the Elder, 1553

Do ambitious teachers have a blending dream?

What is the ingredient we miss for successful gold making?

(or effective, interesting teaching)?

To imagine ”Blended Learning” as a student thing?

• Traditional teaching can be combined with social learning with up-to-date tools

• ”Back-stage communication” has always been there – but now has modern forms

• The student as a blender

A blend of what?

• Classroom and LMS?• Residential and Distance Ed?• F2F and mediated communication?• Classroom pedagogy and Net pedagogy?• Printed and digital course content?• Lectures F2F and later online

What kind of blend?

• Mix? • Combination? • Harmonization?• Emulsion?• Solution?• Synthesis? • More components for the student to blend from?• A time-based dual-environment shifting pattern

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Oral transmission from classic sources Book printing

Blended learning, 1.0?

Blended learning 1.0, what happened?

Learning with technology hype?

Education revolution?

Students learn more?

Teachers redefine their job?

Teachers fear for their jobs?

And in a longer perspective…?

Spreading of ideas gets easier

The Catholic Church gets competition

Advancement of Science

Mass media

Democracy

Knowledge society

We seem to overestimate effect of new technology in the short perspective, but underestimate the effect in the long perspective?

”First we shape our tools, then our tools shape us.” (Marshall McLuhan)

space

Peter Tillberg, 1971, ”Blir du lönsam lille vän?” (”Will you become profitable, little friend?”)

If space is the perspective on blended learning…

• Digital materials and computing activities in classroom?

• Transmission of classroom events?• Recording of classroom events?• The online classroom?• Classroom 2.0?• LMS as an asynchronous classroom replication?

…we talk a lot about spaces and space problems in education – but is space as important as time?

I, I,

the learner, the learner,

am always here and now. am always here and now.

time

”Well, this was my introduction lecture to the course. Until next time we meet, read texts X and Y do assignment Z – why not meet with some friends, perhaps in the library and work together. Begin in time to read the course literature – there is much to study before the exam at the end of next month.” (a lot of time perspectives?)

Time as a cornerstone of the industrial age – objective, self-evident, nothing to doubt…? If You want something done, schedule it!

The now is a product of the past and a start of the future

Time as subjective and relative – all have their own time, dependent on movement, etc

The now is all there is – but it contains a presence of the past and future

What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know. St Augustine

Teaching time? Learning time?

Time is very basic for learning

• Time is always necessary for learning – but no specific place is necessary

• ”Instructional time”

• Different individual learning times

• Course period and grading

• Without time, no change

The shift between synchronous and asynchronous elements

in a course is a key

to the understanding and planning

of blended learning

Graphic borrowed from Michael Power, Laval University

But aren´t a lot of the course activities here?

…like studying…?

Reading, thinking, doing assignments, etc?

Activities we do in a room? F2F?

+Activities we do in e-meeting, video conf, chat sessions

- OR…Introduction?Overview?Focusing time?Pacing, checking?Adding views?Checking progress?Deadlining?Discussion?Application?

WHY?

- Telling what´s in the books and what´s on the test????

Lecture, demo, lab, seminar etc

Activities that can be done whenever and whereever

Risk: procrastination, loneliness

Book reading, thinking, doing assignments, worrying, etc

WHY?Technology accessEffectivenessSoul making

Responsibility for own learning

Social learning cross-border dimension?

This is very trivial, isn´t it?

In a course we meet regularly, and we

study by ourselves in between meetings.

Meetings and non-meetings…so what when adding IT?

1) We support and organize this work better with IT (LMS etc)

2) More possibilities to do things asynchronously with IT

Meetings and non-meetings…so what when adding IT?

3) We move activities from here

to here…and from here

to here

One-way lectures, demos, discussions, peer-to-peer work, etc?

Meetings and non-meetings…so what when adding IT?

4) We replace some room meetings with other synchronous forms of meetings

…as video conferences, Second life meetings, webinars, chats, Skype meetings, etc

Meetings and non-meetings…so what when adding IT?

5) We connect easier activites here

With activities here

With deadline next time here

Digested and discussed here

…reported here

Meetings and non-meetings…so what when adding IT?

…and then everything is as before, only with a myriad of additional possibilites for qualities, effectiveness, access

Synchronous+ Co-location

Possible

Synchronous(Not Co-located)Communication

Possible

Asynchronous Work/

Communication Possible

On/Off Line

Any of the two possible

Any of the two possible

Any of the two possible

All 3 forms possible

Videoconference, chat, e-meeting,

telepresence- meeting in time only

Activities that need a special

space AND time: meeting

in a room

Mutually Dependent?

Mutually Dependent?

Ordinary student study

work, individually or in self-organized

groups

Virtual Learning Environments or similar

Course Elements and Communication Environments

Time-based blended learning enables ”combined study groups” in

a course

The ”COMBINED STUDY GROUP”

• Main group at a campus, • Satellite group at a learning centre,• Individuals at workplaces

– in the same course group

We have a lot of these study group setups already at Umeå university…to our own surprise!

”Combined study groups”

• Very hard from a space-based perspective(How am I going to master all these students out there that

are not present here in the classroom? Broadcast? Record? Double up with an LMS for discussions?)

• Easier from a time or process perspective(How do I lead and plan a learning process under these

circumstances with a mix of synchronous and asynchronous elements?)

We perhaps have to drop the classroom as a paradigm for teaching and concentrate on time, resources and processes?

”Students here, near and far” (borrowed from UCF) for UmU

• HERE: within reasonable daily commuting distance to some of UmU:s campuses, and with whole day at disposal

• NEAR: North Sweden outside commuting distance to campus and/or working students with some daytime accessible

• FAR: Nationally, globally and/or students who are occupied all day

New Categorization: Two Education Distribution Forms

1 Asynchronous web-based education: no times, no places – demanding but flexible. Global offering of university specialities and for studies at work. Students FAR

2 ”Blended learning”, X – everything else, scalable and adaptable after actual needs. Shifting of synchronous (same time) och asynchronous (not at the same time) course components. Highly adaptable. Students HERE and NEAR= Courses where a teacher leads, adjusts, helps and inspires step by step and helps students to distribute study work over time, a more social kind of learning

What are the synchronous and the asynchronous good and bad for in

education?

Perhaps there is a ”best of two worlds” scenario…?

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Only example, make Your own

Thanks for listening!

anders.norberg@adm,umu.seanders.norberg@gmail.com