Principles of Course Design for Hybrid Learning toolkit – Part 1: Planning a Hybrid Module

The Principles of Course Design for Hybrid Learning toolkit was launched on Monday with the aim to contextualise the Hybrid Learning model to the nature of your subject discipline. Further information about the toolkit as well as a link to download the resource can be found here: https://blogs.tees.ac.uk/lteonline/learning-and-teaching/principles-of-course-design-for-hybrid-learning/

Topics to Consider

Putting thought into the planning of your hybrid learning module is vital to ensure that you are covering all bases of learning. In stage one, the toolkit covers a range of topics to consider for your own planning. These are as follows:

• Deciding how you want to teach:
• This is one of the most important components of designing a course and depends on a variety of elements such as how you think students will learn best and how subject aims can be effectively met.
  • You may want to consider how you will put your approach into online and on campus teaching.
• Designing with coherent flow of learning:
• The implementation of hybrid learning means that your students will be switching from on campus to online learning throughout their module.
  • In order to make this transition as smooth as possible, having a coherent flow is vital.
• You could consider the use of synchronous learning to imitate the on-campus experience as much as possible and generally reduce the amount of transition time your students will need.
  • However, asynchronous learning can also be implemented in order to incorporate some flexibility into your approach.
• Think about boundary crossing ecosystems of learning:
  • Consider the wide range of functions that the VLE can offer for your hybrid learning approach. Familiarity with different digital tools will help to enhance your offer and drive deeper active learning.

Parts three and four of the toolkit cover structuring your content as well as designing with collaboration in mind. These two elements help to feed into how best to create a boundary crossing experience between campus and online learning. Here you can utilise the tools available within the VLE and as part of the Future Facing Learning toolkit.

• Design with Universal Design Learning (UDL) in mind:
  • Designing with UDL in mind is important as it ensures that you have prepared a learning environment where students can flexibly meet learning goals. This means taking consideration for accessibility and any additional needs your students may have. Further information about UDL is available here: https://blogs.tees.ac.uk/lteonline/2019/03/21/planning-for-diversity-with-udl/

Questions to Consider

Throughout the toolkit there are a range of questions for you to consider, for example:

• When teaching in a hybrid model, how will I adapt my role?
  • As an example response, you could consider the use of active learning. Combining synchronous and asynchronous methods of teaching provides a flexible approach to your module to be utilised when needed. The use of synchronous learning can assist your students with the transition between different modes of learning, whilst asynchronous methods can provide some flexibility for students who may be struggling with the transition.
• Do all the different elements that make up a topic/module flow coherently from classroom-based initiatives to online initiatives?
  • Consider how your module is currently taught and decide which elements can be directly transferred between the two modes of teaching. If an element can’t be directly transferred, what needs to be changed so that it is able to be taught online? It may be that an element of your module involves group work. This can be facilitated online using a variety of tools available through the VLE and other supported digital solutions. For example, Microsoft Teams and Blackboard Collaborate. More information about Online Communication and Collaboration can be found here: https://blogs.tees.ac.uk/lteonline/digital-delivery-learning-and-support/online-communication-collabortion/
• Is accessibility being considered throughout your module?
  • It is a requirement that all online courses must be fully accessible. Whilst your course will be a hybrid course, it is still important that accessibility is considered throughout. This could mean providing transcripts for any videos you have, alternative text to describe any images in use and providing a clear structure to your content. The blog post linked to UDL above also provides further information about accessibility.

We have only covered a few of the questions that are there to consider within the toolkit. We encourage you to explore the first part of the toolkit with course teams and module tutors to consider some of the key questions.

LTE offers a variety of support for schools. Please contact us via eLearning@tees.ac.uk