Blended Learning Symposium: Designing Blended Learning Experiences
Brief Abstract
This live, on-site session is part of a custom blended learning experience designed for engagement before, during, and after the on-site OLC Blended Learning Symposium. Participants will collaborate using a design studio approach which starts by curating and defining a collection of blended learning design challenges, and then leverages the community’s expertise, ideas, and creativity to develop innovative solutions to these challenges. This live session uses these challenges as the catalyst for designing collaborative and practical solutions. Through this interactive session, participants will create and share practical, community-designed solutions to the most important challenges facing blended learning educators and institutions.
Presenters


Extended Abstract
Many organizations are realizing the benefits and opportunities that blended learning experiences afford learners. Blended learning encourages teams to re-think the design of learning experiences and innovate to enhance flexibility and quality. While the initial drivers of blended learning may be flexibility, scale, or access, blended learning strategies provide a wide platform for the innovation of learning experiences and re-designing the spaces and places where people learn.
The goal of this workshop is to help participants explore common challenges associated with designing blended learning and discover new ways of envisioning, exploring, and designing blended learning experiences. During this workshop, participants will:
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Explore common design considerations and models for blended learning experiences.
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Create a blended learning program design canvas.
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Develop learner personas for blended learning experiences.
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Create blended learning experience maps.
The workshop will explore common design patterns and models for blended learning experiences. Facilitators will highlight current effective practices and promising practices emerging from the field. Next, participants will use a program design canvas to create a collaborative vision for a blended learning program. Using the program canvas, learner personas will be created to help build empathy and guide design decision-making processes. Finally, experience mapping techniques will help visualize and communicate the design of blended learning experiences with other constituents.
Active learning and collaborative techniques will be used to engage and involve participants throughout the workshop. Participants will also gain access to templates and that can be adopted for their own design needs.