Integrating Online and In‑person Activities

Designing a blended course offers a lot of opportunity for pedagogical choice and experimentation. However, simply adding online work to in-person classes or vice versa without considering how the activities in these two environments relate to one another and to course learning outcomes can create a fragmented experience for the student. Blended course design should seek cohesion between the two modalities, carefully assessing the strengths of each, so that the online experience augments the in-person experience, and vice versa.

Here are some examples:

• If you plan on using the learning management system's discussion board for asynchronous course engagement, bring that online engagement into your next in-person session. Begin the class with highlights from the discussion threads or bring two opposing viewpoints from the threads to discuss in-person. Then direct students to revisit the boards, responding to an example of each viewpoint with a charitable critique of its strengths and areas for improvement. Referencing the online work demonstrates to students that the conversation is "real" and that discussion within both modalities is important for achieving course outcomes and goals.
  
  
• Perhaps you’ll schedule your blended course to alternate between bi-weekly in-person sessions and online synchronous sessions using Teams or Collaborate. You might introduce a group assignment during the in-person session — such as a group translation of a text or creating a presentation of a course concept — and get them started while they are face-to-face. Next week, use the break-out groups function to allow each group to continue their work in a shared, edit-in-real-time (live) document, like a Word doc or PowerPoint in One Drive. Giving the students a chance to work together in two different ways will help draw out different individual and group strengths, while also (if your course outcomes emphasize this) support students in making group collaboration successful.