According to the report, the main concern noted by teachers in blended synchronous learning was related to communication—through inadequate infrastructure, trouble in speaking to remote students, trouble in getting remote students to participate, and trouble in getting remote students to hear or see the in-class materials and discussion.
Other problems noted were:
- Performance of the technology support tools
- Remote students’ internet connections
- Maintaining simultaneous awareness of both groups of students (face-to-face and online)
- Adequately recording sessions
Strategies for success included:
- Asking students to pre-load software and make sure they’re comfortable using the technology (pre-loading instructions, etc.)
- Having a teacher aide for technical assistance
- Being well-prepared by putting everything needed for the course on an LMS beforehand for students to copy and browse
- Setting up breakout rooms just for questions
- Making sure teachers know how to encourage participation across multiple platforms and between remote and on-campus students
- Having smooth and seamless bandwidth
- Incorporating the best support technology possible that allows for easy communication between face-to-face and online students
- A teacher’s ability to maintain composure if the technology does not work properly or fails
- Preparing and managing student expectations of a blended synchronous learning experience
- A teacher’s awareness of body position and voice for both online and face-to-face students
Technology and bandwidth continue to improve, concludes the report; however, “Until that time, teachers will need to leverage the potentials of the available media-rich technologies to unite remote and face-to-face students, employing appropriate strategies in an attempt to mitigate or overcome the constraints,” and hopefully this research report is one step in optimizing blended learning design.
For the full report, click here.
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