Merging On Line and live Class Environments
We are considering creating a program where students participate in class both live and in a synchronous on line environment. Our concern is that in class students will have a tendency to gravitate together and on line students will have a tendency to gravitate together. What suggestions do you have that might help us bring these two groups together more and help them feel part of a single program or community?
Todd:
I open this Question to all participants in this course to offer suggestions.
These are my thoughts on the situation. I understand that students will be in live classroom sessions; and they will also participate in Synchronous discussions;so my answer is based on this understanding.
First, I share a different opinion of the students gravitating together. My take is that in the classroom environment, they will form groups. When they are required to participate in Synchronous discussions, I suspect that the same groups will carry over into the Synchronous sessions. I do not see a high probability of diffferent groups being formed spontaneosuly when they are required to participate in Synchronous discussions.
I am assuming that Teacher Training covers strategies for integrating different groups of students for the classroom environment. And I would not profess to be knowledgeable of those strategies. In an online environment, having all students participating in asynchronous discussions should kindle the sense of being part of the same program.
Satrohan
Yes, this is correct-live classroom sessions with syncrhonous discussions. Thank you for your response. We are planning both synchronous and asynchronous group activities that mix the two groups (in class an on line) together. Teacher training does cover strategies to integrate groups but only in typical classroom environments. My experience thus far with this is that teachers tend to overly focus on the in class environment and neglect the online students. A complaint is that they can do one or the other but it is more difficult to try to mix them together.
Todd:
I believe I have misunderstood the situation. Seems as though you will be running the on-the ground version of the course concurrently with the online version. I do not know the duration of the course and the nature fo the learning activities in which you will be mixing groups; so I cannot predict any problems associated with that arrangement. In many cases, Instructors tend to keep students in the same group throughout the course; especially if the duration of the course is short.
Satrohan
