Best Practices

Converting a Face-to-Face (F2F) Course into a Blended Learning Format

Best Practices Guide

Introduction

So, as a trainer you have taught course XYZ a half a dozen times and always F2F.  The trainees provide positive feedback about the course and have indicated that they have enjoyed your lectures and humor in class.  However, they have failed to communicate effectively during training which has not produced the desired outcomes.  Therefore, you’ve been tasked with converting this training course into a blended course to offer your trainees a new modality for communicating and accessing course material.  Congratulations!  You have an exciting and wonderful opportunity to phase your training course into an online environment.  This new environment can extend your course offering to a larger audience, once it is refined.

This guide is offered as a starting point to prepare your course to be teleported to cyberspace.  The following topics will be explored in this guide:

·         Pre-Planning Strategies

·         Course enhancements in the Distance Learning (DL) environment

·         Role of the Trainer

·         Communicating online

·         Tips and Tricks for Success

As your course develops and evolves, there may be other considerations and changes that need to be made, but as with all new ventures, you have to start somewhere.  So, let’s get started!

Pre-Planning Strategies

Many people are anxious to just start throwing all their content online.  However, there is certainly more to it than that.  First, you must have a Course Management System (CMS).  A CMS can be called many things such as a “Learning Management System” (LMS)” (Simonson, Smaldiono, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009) or simply referred to as a “virtual learning environment” (Simonson, et al, 2009).  These systems are “designed to assist in the management of educational courses … especially helping teachers and learners with course administration” (Simonson, et al, 2009).  If you don’t already have a CMS, then researching an appropriate CMS will certainly be an action item on the pre-planning worksheet provided.  Just pushing content from the F2F environment to the CMS is not the best approach for your course.   (Simonson, et al, 2009).

Let’s take a look at the questions on the pre-planning worksheet provided to help you decide how to proceed.  Some blank spaces have been provided for questions that you want answered in this phase that have not already been pre-noted on the worksheet.

Pre-Planning Worksheet

Question	Answer	Action Item
How much of my course do I want online?  What tasks or activities can be completed online?
What elements of the course should I retain in the F2F environment?
Do I already have access to a CMS or do I need to choose one?
How do I envision the discussion boards being used to facilitate better conversations?
How will I motivate trainees to participate in the discussions?
How many students do I expect in my online course?  How will I manage them?  Will I use groups?
What technologies and/or access will I need for my course?
What technologies and/or access will my trainees need to be successful?
Do I have access to, or will I need help from an Instructional Designer?
What methods will I use to assess the effectiveness of this course?  Will I use the AEIOU method (Simonson, et al, 2009)?

Course Enhancements

When porting items to an online environment, there may be elements of the course that can be enhanced, using technology.  For example, you may have a video that you would like trainees to watch prior to a F2F interaction or training session.  Technologies can provide an enhancement to a course that might otherwise be plain and boring.

Discussion has already been identified as an area that will be enhanced in this course.  According to Simonson “…threaded discussions is one of the most powerful techniques in distance education…”  Some guidelines suggested by Simonson are that “discussion should be graded” (Simonson, et al), “take considerable effort” (Simonson, et al), and will take considerable effort on the trainers part.

Role of the Trainer

Based on your pre-planning worksheet, you probably have a sense that your role will change a bit in this new blended format.  You should be starting to realize that you will have more of a time commitment and that you will be facilitating more of the learning through discussion versus through lecture (Simonson, et al, 2009).  You will see the role of facilitating the communications in our next section.

Communicating Online

Communicating online is different than in a F2F environment.  Communications are asynchronous, meaning that they occur at different times.  Therefore, the conversation can continue around the clock.  This of course, can be a double edged sword.  Trainees will need to be responsible for taking part in active discussions and contributing to the discussions.  In addition to discussions, e-mail and other forms of electronic communication should be answered in a timely manner.

Let’s take a look at a couple of best practices for online communications.

·         “A student should make at a minimum at least three postings for each threaded discussion question – one in direct response to the questions, one posting in response to another student’s posting and one in response to what other students have posted –in order to build a thread” (Simonson, et al, 2009). 

·         As a Trainer, your role is to ensure that the thread is constructed by the trainees, providing clear direction on how to participate in the discussion and ensuring that the trainees are participating as directed.  In addition, the trainer is responsible for redirection, correction, clarification and guiding the trainees (Simonson, et al, 2009).

Tips and Tricks for Success

Tips and tricks are subtle things that I have learned over the years that seem to be effective.  The list is not all inclusive, but rather a jump start list that you should feel free to add to as you experience your own ‘lessons learned’.

1.     Timing is EVERYTHING!  If you expect participation in your course, then you must participate regularly.  Your trainees will expect prompt feedback.  This is especially true in the discussion area.  Trainees seem to feel more motivated when the Trainer acknowledges and provides some affirmation that the trainees comments were sufficient and on point.

2.     Be SUPPORTIVE!  Trainees may be new to the online environment and may not know how to use all of the technologies that the course uses.  Be patient, kind and directive on how they can access quick training on the use of the required technologies.  Trainees will not want to feel tricked or deceived into missing assignments.  In other words, don’t make the assignments, the fine print.  Make sure they are well aware of the criteria for the assignment and the due dates.  Reminders are very helpful and well received.  It builds trust between the trainees and the trainer which can increase, as well as maintain, motivation.

3.     Be clear on DUE DATES!  Make sure that assignments or tasks have due dates and that those due dates are very clear.  This helps the trainees plan their work accordingly.

4.     Don’t be afraid to try something NEW!  When a good idea suddenly isn’t working like you planned, don’t be afraid to try something new.  Be considerate of the trainees and not be radical in your approach, but trying a new method of delivery or a new type of assignment to reinforce learning objectives can strengthen the learning outcomes.

5.     Keep a JOURNAL.  As with any course, we can have that Ah-Ha moment when we realize that we should have done something differently.  Unfortunately, oftentimes it gets lost in the shuffle and the same error is repeated the next time the course is offered.  By keeping a journal of what went well and what needed improved upon can greatly help improve the course each time it is offered.  Surveying the trainees to better understand what they felt went well and what did not can greatly help with improvements as well.  Writing it down allows time for reflection later and justifying the reason you felt the way you did at that time will help you better understand the need for change or the need to retain a certain element in the way that it is currently.

6.     Keep your workload in check.  Simonson said that “one instructor can be responsible for two to four distance delivered courses at a time” (Simonson, et al, 2009).

References

Simonson, M., Smaldiono, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and Learning at a Distance.