Hybrid or Blended Class Teaching Tips

I Know a lot of you also teach on campus in face-to-face courses or in blended or hybrid courses. The Learning Technology Council put together a list of teaching tips for those classes that I have included below: Tips for Using Blackboard Effectively in Hybrid and Web-Enhanced Courses

• Give your students an orientation to your course site on the first day of class and show them how to use all the tools they will need.
• If your class meets online before they meet in class, try to communicate with students ahead of time by email or phone. You can also refer students to orientations available online and/or at local campuses.
• Think about the outcomes you want and then think carefully about what activities should be online vs. face-to-face. How students accomplish the outcomes will guide your design. For example, activities that require hands-on involvement or require that students see each others' facial expressions need to be conducted during classroom hours, but you could help students prepare for and review those activities online. The online discussion board is a great place to have reflective discussions throughout the week, without the time constraints of the classroom.
• Tie in face-to-face sessions with online discussions by collecting a list of topics that you want to cover next in the face-to-face session and vice versa.
• Help students understand how the online and face-to-face components work together

Technology Tips for Improving Performance Accessing PowerPoints and Videos uses a lot of bandwidth, which can be a big drain on the system if a whole class tries to view them at the same time. If you plan to show a PowerPoint or Video in your classroom session, show them to the class from a CD or file downloaded to your computer. Do not have everyone in the class login and look at them in Blackboard at the same time.

Lisa