ABOUT THE MOOC

For educators and other educational professionals.

The goal of the BLP MOOC is to introduce blended learning as an important and rapidly developing form of education, with an emphasis on the benefits it offers to both educators and students, including greater flexibility and convenience, as well as potential increases in learner creativity and independence.

The course has been designed to assist teachers and other educational professionals to adopt blended learning strategies through a step-by-step constructivist and design-based approach. Throughout the course, you will be able to reflect on decisions taken to provide an authentic learning experience in your own context. It will provide a general discussion of types of blended learning in reference to the level of education, the needs of the students, and the subject being taught. The discussions and associated activities will review pedagogy, materials, and technology usage.

We encourage you to download and distribute our brochure.

Week 1: Foundations of Blended Learning	The Growth of Blended Learning What is blended learning? Blended learning uses Benefits of blended learning Making blended learning work Preparing for blended learning Consider creation of individual blended learning designs Purposefully integrate in-class and online activities Preparing students for blended learning Teaching principles that support blended learning
Week 2: Designing Blended Learning	Using theory to support blended learning practice The Complex Adaptive Blended Learning System (CABLS) The Community of Inquiry theoretical framework in blended learning Creating a Community of Inquiry: What the research tells us Seven blended learning structures in education Blended learning as technology-enabled learning in the classroom Institutions and blended learning Understand enticers and barriers to blended learning Peer-review instructional design and blended course development plans Writing learning objectives and learning outcomes Consider how subject matter may influence blended learning Student needs assessment Aligning assessment and learning objectives
Week 3: Technology and Blended Learning	Technology in education: An expanded definition A note on technological change and obsolescence Learning management systems Web conferencing Digital textbooks Blogs and wikis Social bookmarking, mashups, and digital storytelling Simulations, serious games, and virtual worlds ePortfolios Learning management systems and virtual learning environments Creating learning activities based on blended learning best practices
Week 4: Blended and Online Learning Practice	Synchronous activities for blended learning Examples of synchronous activities for models of blended learning Asynchronous activities for blended learning Asynchronous activities for models of blended learning Practical implications of synchronous and asynchronous activities Customize for context and learning design Finding, using, and creating open educational resources (OER) Useful sources of OER Learning assessment strategies available in blended learning Evaluating design and delivery of blended learning Blended course learnability evaluation checklist Community of Inquiry indicators to assess presence in blended learning

DR. MARTHA CLEVELAND-INNES is professor and Master of Education program director in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada. She has been teaching over thirty-five years in all areas of education, face-to-face and online. Martha has received awards for her work on the student experience in online environments and holds a major research grant through the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. In 2011 she received the Craig Cunningham Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence and in 2009 she received the President’s Award for Research and Scholarly Excellence from Athabasca University. She is currently Affiliated Professor at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Her work is well published in academic journals in North America and Europe.

DAN WILTON has twenty years' experience as an online instructor and is a doctoral student in distance education at Athabasca University, where he provides web initiative development and research assistance for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. As Course Inspirer and lead facilitator for the BLP MOOC, he will be working closely with the course facilitators to help monitor course activity, address any general questions or concerns, and provide guidance and suggestions based upon the feedback and progress of the class.



Dr. Martha Cleveland-Innes, Course Instructor and Professor, Athabasca University
Dan Wilton, Course Inspirer, Athabasca University
Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, e-Learning Education Specialist, Commonwealth of Learning
Carmen Jensen-Tebb, Project Manager, Athabasca University
Dr. Nathaniel Ostashewski, Researcher and Associate Professor, Athabasca University



https://www.lctl.org
Leading Change in Teaching and Learning for a Digital World (LCTL) is a massive open online course for those interested in shaping, leading, and supporting innovative application of digital tools and technologies during teaching and learning. This course will engage you in the review, discussion, and application of leadership ideas that support new teaching and learning practices. These leadership approaches and teaching and learning practices are aligned with the digital transformation that is shaping our societies. Upon completion of this course, you will understand and have a plan to apply general leadership approaches toward education change in digital, technology-enabled teaching and learning environments.