Active blended and online teaching
Active blended and online teaching puts the emphasis on creating dynamic and engaging learning opportunities for students that allow them to interact with the content, the educator(s) and their peers. The focus is on providing students with opportunities to think about what they are learning and to apply it, while using a wide range of multimedia and pedagogical approaches in both synchronous and asynchronous environments.
This resource guides you through some of the key concepts around how to make blended, hybrid and online learning more active. These modes of delivery have been combined in this resource as there is a lot of overlap between them and many of the strategies can be used across all three.
Whether you are teaching in blended, online or hybrid mode, having a clear understanding of pedagogical principles and application of educational technologies will help you make more informed design decisions for your unit.
| The key is to design your unit to encourage student engagement and active learning while optimising the affordances of the different modes of delivery. |
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Before going into details on these, we cover some fundamental concepts and terminology.
What is synchronous learning and asynchronous learning?
Synchronous learningAny type of learning that occurs in real-time at a scheduled event, whether online or in-person. | Asynchronous learningAny type of learning that happens in students’ own time from any location. |
What is the spectrum of delivery modes used at Monash?
Technology has altered the way we teach and has opened up different ways of sharing content, engaging with one another and interacting with the unit materials. The below diagram provides an overview of how units can be taught at Monash across undergraduate and graduate courses. The majority of units fall under the blended teaching mode.
Irrespective of which format is adopted, educational technologies will be used to facilitate the online component of the learning.
Different teaching modes
Blended learning combines the best of face-to-face teaching and the best of online learning to engage students and develop their learning. It involves more than simply using technology in your teaching. It is about creating learning experiences that take advantage of the inherent benefits of each mode.
For example, the flipped classroom model is one form of blended learning where synchronous time together is used for more challenging problem solving activities or collaborative work, while asynchronous time can be used for self-paced learning.
This diagram provides a quick overview of blended learning.
What can blended experiences look like?
There are many ways that you can design a blended learning experience for students and there is no one size fits all. The key is to make sure that you align the activities with the learning outcomes and that you capitalise on the affordances of the different learning environments.
Here is one example of how you could structure a blended learning experience in one session.
As you can see from this example, there are a wide range of learning activities that take place synchronously and asynchronously, where students can work through the content in their own time, engage in dynamic live sessions and through collaboration with their peers both in real time and on their own time.
Hybrid teaching is used when you have two cohorts of students that cannot be together in the same space due to time or physical constraints. It combines face-to-face and online teaching and creates a cohesive learning experience.
What is the difference between hybrid and blended teaching?
The main difference between hybrid and blended teaching is in the relationship between face-to-face and online learning, namely, who is involved in each form, and the manner in which delivery of real-time teaching is designed.
Blended teaching | Hybrid teaching |
Online and face-to-face are meant to complement each other and all students experience both modes of delivery. | Online is meant as an alternative to an element of face-to-face learning. Some students are taught via a face-to-face session while others are taught online, either simultaneously or at different times. |
At Monash, hybrid teaching may look like this:
Below is a table outlining different hybrid teaching models used at Monash.
| Hybrid model | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
Hybrid-Concurrent Same learning activities conducted together | Synchronous, technology-enabled educator-led activity occurring at the same time for both on campus and remote participants | Some students attend a workshop in a physical classroom while others attend via video conferencing (eg Zoom, Echo360) at the same time |
Hybrid-Parallel Same learning activities conducted apart | Synchronous offering of the same learning activity, led by educators and delivered separately for on campus and remote students | One session for on campus students, another identical session for remote students happening at two separate times |
Hybrid-Adaptive Different learning activities | Different but equivalent learning activities for on campus and remote participants, adapted to the needs of the students. These could be delivered asynchronously and/or synchronously (in real time), or a mix of both, to each cohort. | On campus group is in the lab, while the remote group receives data resulting from a lab to analyse, or a simulated laboratory, or other interactive asynchronous activity |
Online learning occurs when learning takes place via an internet enabled device. This can be via a synchronous format, such as a live session in real time and/or through an asynchronous means such as watching pre-recorded videos or engaging in guided learning activities.
An online experience may look like this:
Example 1: Mix of synchronous and asynchronous online learning
This example showcases how you can have a blended online learning experience, where the only difference from traditional blended learning is that all interactions occur online, whether synchronously or asynchronously.
Example 2: Self-paced asynchronous online learning only
Here, the main mode of all learning occurs asynchronously with some non-scheduled synchronous interactions among students and educators.
In this example, students learn through a variety of asynchronous resources, activities and assessments. This would be more of a self-paced online unit where there are no scheduled or timetabled events.
They can watch content videos providing the key concepts for the weekly topic, interact with the content through various activities such as interactive videos and lessons, engage in social and collaborative activities like forum discussions and group work, and work through assessments spaced through the semester.
Most online learning at Monash would fall under the first example where there is a blend of scheduled synchronous and asynchronous learning.
All modes require teaching designs that cultivate three levels of presence
Whether you are designing for blended, hybrid or online teaching, consider three levels of presence - cognitive, social and teaching which originated from the ‘community of inquiry’ framework (Garrison et al. 1999).
Targeting these three allows you to create a meaningful learning experience for students. You will design these in different ways, depending on the mode. It may tend to happen more by default in a face-to-face environment because the physical proximity may naturally create social presence. However, even with physical proximity available, it is best to intentionally design how to create social presence and not assume it naturally unfolds because people are together. Creating the three forms of presence in virtual environments requires thought and deliberate design.
Click on the diagram below to learn more about social, cognitive and teaching presence.
Consider the five levels of engagement when designing your activities
There are a few different ways that you could define engagement. This video describes five levels of engagement: collaborative, social, cognitive, behavioural and emotional. Engagement is closely linked to interactivity and the more interactive the learning experience, the more engaged students become.
Feedback in actionMake your way through Incorporating Student Feedback and Enhancing Student Experience to learn how Monash University academics have used student feedback to amplify students’ voices and enhance their learning experience - these case studies demonstrate how actionable feedback can transform teaching and create a more responsive learning environment. |
For all AV and technical queries contact Service Desk Online
For on-the-spot assistance with AV in your teaching space if based in Australia, dial x55155 (03 9905 5155)
For assistance with redesigning your teaching for hybrid learning contact your faculty Ed-Designers and LMS support team.
