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Optimization of Blended Learning Platforms for
Sustainable Learning
Lekshmi Vijayalekshmi Amma, Shimna Shafeek, Vidhya Koothupalakkal Viswambharan
University of Bolton- Academic Center, RAK
Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
Abstract— Blended Learning is a formal educational
methodology in which a student learns at least in part through
delivery of content and instruction via digital and online media
with some element of student control over time, place, path, or
pace. In the professional curriculum design, this is also the
integral part of transnational education scenario. The
significance of the Blended Learning has increased over the years
due to the growing diversity within learning community, location
and objectives. In the transnational education scenario, under the
UK University system, adopting and encouraging the Blended
Learning can be a great initiative for more collaborative learning
experience. The presentation will provide a direction on the ways
and means of practicing the Blended Learning process at the
branch campuses to make the curriculum more locally relevant
and internationally adoptable in the long-run.
Keywords—Blended Learning (BL); Face to face learning -
F2F, Transnational education; online learning
I. INTRODUCTION
The two commonly used methods in learning are traditional
face to face learning (F2F) and online learning. Both learning
methods are found to have its own merits and demerits. Hence
a compromise between these two methods are adopted and
practiced around the world now and is known as 'Blended
Learning' which is believed to have the best things from both
worlds[1].
Figure 1 Blended Learning Concept
According to Procter [2], "Blended Learning is the effective
combination of different modes of delivery, models of
teaching and styles of learning”. According to British Council,
Trans National Education (TNE) mixes various modes of
delivery resulting in ‘Blended Learning’[3]. The aim of this
paper is to find the optimum blend of learning techniques
which can be adopted for sustainable learning in the branch
campus. The focus of the study was based on few modules
running under School of Engineering & Computing. Though
Blended Learning is not formally included in the curriculum
or module learning strategies, it has been incorporated in
various ways to enhance the student engagement and to make
the learning more effective. The evaluation is based on the
feedback from tutors and students who were involved in
selected modules and from various published works in this
domain.
The aim of the study was to find the optimum blend of
learning techniques that can be adopted for sustainable
learning in the branch campus and the study was focused on
few modules under School of Engineering & Computing.
Currently BL is not formally included in the curriculum and
the attempt is to incorporate this to enhance the student
engagement and to make the learning more effective.
The objective of the study focus on finding the answer to the
questions like; Why BL and for whom? How are we
incorporating BL in Modules? How much effective are the
adopted learning practices? How much blend is optimum?
II. LITERATURE
A. Blended Learning and why is it used?
According to Horn and Staker, Blended Learning is a “formal
education program in which a student learns at least in part
through online delivery of content and instruction with some
element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace
and at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location
away from home”[4]. According to Osguthorpe and Graham
[5] some of the reasons for adopting Blended Learning are as
follows:
• Effective Teaching Practices – As most of the current
teaching practices still follows transmissive rather than
interactive strategies, using more effective pedagogical
practices is one of the most commonly cited reasons for
blending.
• Easy access to knowledge - Learner flexibility and
convenience is of much importance as many learners want
the ease of accessibility offered by a distributed
environment without compromising the social interaction
which is available in a F2F classroom.
• Ease of revision – Revision is found to be easy for learners
when resources are available online when and where
required.
• Increased social interaction- Online discussion forums are
found to boost the interaction among teammates
effectively as compared to traditional mode of learning.
• Cost effectiveness - Blended Learning systems provide
semi-personal content delivery to a large, globally
dispersed audience in a short period of time thus helping
both higher education and corporate institutions.
Another two reasons according to Dziuban et al. [1], are that
Blended Learning is effective,
• for non- traditional students – BL is found to be preferable
for various learners who are older and working, as it help
them with the flexibility they need to juggle jobs, school,
and family.
• To avoid long commutes - By putting course materials on
the Web, significant time savings is possible for students
with long commutes as they do not have to spend time in
commuting and parking.
B. Blended Learning Practices
Around the world the Blended learning is practiced in various
ways. According to Gulc, the blended learning mix will offer a
variety of teaching and learning styles, course materials and
learning technologies such as [6]:
• Traditional classroom/lecture theatre/laboratory
environment
• E-books/E libraries
• VLEs, including message boards and chat rooms
• Online delivery/tools, like wikis and blogs
III. LEVELS OF BLENDED LEARNING IN PRACTICE
According to Khosrow-Pour, Blended Learning is divided into
four levels such as Institutional Level, Program Level, Course
Level and Activity Level. Out of this, Institutional Level and
Program Level blended learning is possible only if the
curriculum is designed to include Blended Learning[7].
Whereas Course level and Activity level can be included even
with the course not designed for the Blended Learning.
According to Rogers & Patricia, in Course Level Blended
Learning, the course involves students in both online and face
to face activities whereas in Activity Level Blended learning,
instructional activities which are part of the course have both
online and F2F components. Program level blending involves
mix of both on-campus and online courses for program
completion. According to Lindquist, Institutional level
blended learning offers support for Blended Learning options
such as allowing students to attend a portion of course online
and complete the other portion online[8].
A. Methodology
A qualitative methodology was adopted for this study. Primary
and secondary data had been collected for the analysis in the
form of surveys, observations and by review of literature. The
evaluation of the current practices had been carried out by
analyzing the different aspects of learning technologies
incorporated in various modules running under the school[9-
10].
The initial concept of Blended Learning is via the
inclusion of instruction through digital and online media,
e-learning/ Moodle for online resources and tutorials, E
Library, digital file upload and Turnitin. These are now
become traditional as it is widely followed by most of the
institutions. Hence a study has been conducted in campus to
learn about the various new practices adopted in different
modules. The experiences of the authors and the colleagues
are used for this purpose.
B. Adopted Learning practices
It has been understood that under this scenario the challenge
of tutors is to incorporate new approaches of Blended
Learning to the curriculum without affecting its prescribed
learning strategy as the modules are not designed for Blended
Learning. To achieve this, the Blended Learning practices are
adopted either as course level or as Activity Level blended
learning.
It has been observed that under Course Level Blended
Learning, either the resources are uploaded online for the
students to study themselves with the assessments being done
through practical or vice versa. In the Activity Level blending,
collaborative group work like design Projects, main projects
etc are done through Mahara / Blogs /Websites/Discussion
Forums are included. Online assessments are carried through
Quiz. Modeling and Simulation are done through
SolidWorks/Comsol and computational tools like MATLAB.
Online Feedback is effectively given through digital file
upload and Turnitin.
C. Survey
To find the effectiveness of adopted practices, surveys were
conducted. The survey was conducted to evaluate the tutor and
student experience on some of the Blended Learning strategies
used in the program. A set of primary data collection was
carried out by conducting questionnaire survey and interviews.
The interview was conducted face to face and the
questionnaire was e-mailed to the students. 11 tutors have
participated in the interview. 135 graduate students enrolled in
!
BL
Institution
al
Level
Program
Level
Course
Level
Act ivity
Level
Figure 2 Levels of Blended Learning in Practice
three years under graduate programs in School of Engineering
and Computing have been asked to participate in the survey
and 74 students responded.
IV. SURVEY FINDINGS
Survey findings are summarised below. It was observed that
the peer feedback from various learning environments was
indeed helpful to provide a wide picture of the existing
practices. Student feedback has been taken seriously as using
pupil voice can generate highly effective learning environment
and is most likely to be an inclusive teaching practice[11].
A. Tutors' Perspective
From the outcomes of the survey, it is found that there are
advantages and disadvantages pointed out by the tutors, with
details as follows:
The tutors believe that the practices do have the following
advantages.
• Adopting BL offers extended learning provisions for
students.
• It offers location independent learning.
• Customized pace of learning is possible for students of
varying capacities.
• Effective feedback & time saving is possible as feedback
can be given online and at any time.
• Big student size can be managed by providing works like
extra tutorials /Videos etc. online as it help the students
clear their doubts rather than asking the tutor every time.
• Enhanced student engagement was observed as the
students seem to find the activities interesting &
challenging.
• Suits different types of learners as it is suitable for adult
learners and young learners.
At the same time, the following disadvantages prevail:
• Learning can be possible only through self-motivation of
students.
• To assure the effectiveness of learning, all the online
activities have to be linked with some form of assessments
• As the students are of varying capabilities, there seems to
exist some difficulties in interpretation of online feedback.
B. Students' Perspective
From the student’s perspective, the following advantages are
observed. It is seen that some of the observations are similar to
that of the tutors.
• Effective means of communication between tutors
and students through online means
• No space constraints are present for online learning
• Customized pace of learning for students of varying
capacities
• More student engagement
• Students can save time and money as they can
produce error free designs with the help of simulation
tools.
• Convenience of using single platform (eg: Moodle)
for resources, submissions and feedback.
• Great source for showcasing students works through
platforms like Blogs
• Online discussion forums are found to boost the
interaction among teammates in group works as
compared to traditional mode of learning.
The disadvantages are as follows:
• Unavailability of IT facility requirements at all the
time can be a constraint.
• Lack of some IT skills can cause difficulties for some
students.
• The activities associated with BL practices can be
time consuming than traditional ones (eg: creating
Blogs/Websites).
• Difficulties in self-learning as few students feel it as
difficult to study themselves.
• Difficulties in interpretation of online feedback.
C. An effective blend for the current scenario
From the survey outcomes, it has been observed that some of
the opinions of students were similar to that of the tutors. It has
been observed that both Course and Activity Level Blending
which are adopted in various courses enhanced student
engagement and effective learning. But at the same time it has
the disadvantage of difficulties in self-learning & interpretation
of online feedback. Though the students enjoy and utilize the
online learning techniques, they prefer to continue the current
face to face interactions as such.
V. REVIEW OF FINDING
Based on the above data, the findings are summarized in Table:
1. This mainly includes four areas such as learning, monitoring
student progress, assessment - feedback and effective blend.
Survey findings indicate that one of the advantages of blended
learning is that it can extend learning outside the classroom.
The review of finding is carried out by considering the
resources from VLE which includes blogs, moodle and
Turnitin.
TABLE1. SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FINDINGS
Activities
Advantages
Disadvantages
Learning
Time saving
Learning
Monitoring
student
progress
Blogs are effective
Monitoring
student
progress
Assessments
and
feedback
Moodle & Turnitin are
easier modes of
submission
Assessments
submissions
and feedback
Effective
blend
F2F tutor interactions are found to be
vital for better performance
VI. CONCLUSION
Based on the findings and the analysis of the outcomes, it is
observed that Blended learning is an effective learning
environment as it enhances the student engagement and makes
the learning more effective. The implementation of Course and
Activity Level Blended Learning techniques provides
flexibility in learning with some control over time, pace and
location. The constraints observed in Blended Learning
practices were very much similar to the issues existing
worldwide as seen from various published works. The study
outcomes show that in the current scenario, for a sustainable
learning, an optimum blend would be more of Face to Face
(F2F) learning supported by online activities. Authors believe
that the learning and teaching practices adopted in the current
scenario are effective with some scope for improvement.
VII. FURTHER SCOPE OF STUDY
As a further research, a detailed study can be carried out to find
an optimum blend of learning practices. Current study is based
on Engineering & Computing Modules which are mostly
technical. Hence further study can be extended to modules in
programmes such as Business & Accountancy. Also the study
can be extended to other institutions in UAE to analyse the
general trends in Blended Learning practices.
VIII. REFERENCES
[1] C. Dziuban, P. Moskal and J. Hartman, "Higher education, blended
learning, and the generations: Knowledge is power: No more", Elements
of quality online education: Engaging communities. Needham, MA:
Sloan Center for Online Education, 2005 [Online]. Available:
http://desarrollodocente.uc.cl/images/Innovaci%C3%83%C2%B3n/Flip
ped/Knowledge_is_power_no_more.pdf. [Accessed: 04- Feb- 2018]
[2] C. Procter, "Blended Learning in Practice", in Education in a Changing
Environment, UK, 2003 [Online]. Available:
http://usir.salford.ac.uk/27428/2/BlendedLearningInPractice.pdf.
[Accessed: 04- Feb- 2018]
[3] British Council, TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATION A GUIDE FOR
CREATING PARTNERSHIPS IN INDIA. 2015 [Online]. Available:
https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/tne_report_for_web.pdf
. [Accessed: 04- Feb- 2018]
[4] S. Heather and H. Michael B, "Classifying K-12 blended learning",
Innosight Institute, 2012 [Online]. Available:
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED535180.pdf. [Accessed: 04- Feb-
2018]
[5] C. J. Bonk and C. R. Graham, Handbook of blended learning: Global
Perspectives, local designs. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer Publishing,
2004.
[6] E. Gulc, "Using blended learning to accommodate different learning
styles", Higher Education Academy, 2006.
[7] M. Khosrow-Pour, Encyclopedia of Information Science and
Technology, 3rd ed. IGI Global, 2014.
[8] R. Patricia L, Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, 2nd ed. Idea Group
Inc (IGI), 2009.
[9] J. McCarthy, "Blended learning environments: Using social networking
sites to enhance the first year experience", Australasian Journal of
Educational Technology, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 729-740, 2010.
[10] A. Rovai and H. Jordan, "Blended learning and sense of community: A
comparative analysis with traditional and fully online graduate courses",
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed
Learning, vol. 5, no. 2, 2004.
[11] C. Husbands and J. Pearce, "What makes great pedagogy? Nine claims
from research", National College for School Leadership, 2012.
