Globally Networked Learning (GNL)
Samples from LAPS and Health AIF projects
The samples below cover good practices of adapting a face to face course to a blended/online course
Four faculty members adapted their individual face to face courses to blended/online courses in a jointly ran AIF project between the Faculties of Health and LA&PS in 2012-2013 academic year. They were invited to share their experience in designing, developing, and delivering these four highly rated courses in a recent one-hour seminar. During the seminar, each of them took about 15 minutes to describe their experiences, their lessons learned about adapting their face-to-face course to a blended and/or fully online format, and respond frankly to questions posed by faculty members who attended the presentations. The followings are their presentation at the seminar and a short introduction to the course.
GEOG 2030 The End of the Earth as We Know It: Introduction to global environmental change
Course director: Dr. Robin Roth, Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Deliver mode: blended, 60% online 40% face-to-face
Enrollment: 90-120
Watch the presentation about GEOG 2030
GEOG 2030 blended
KINE4710: Psychology of Health and Chronic Disease
Course director: Dr. Lucia Gagliese, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health
Deliver mode: blended, 70% online 30% face-to-face
Watch the presentation about KINE4710
KINE4710 blended
MODR1760, Reasoning about Morality and Values
Course director: Dr. Cael Zorn, Contract Faculty, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
Deliver mode: blended (30% online,70% face-to-face) and online
Enrollment: 50 in blended section and 150 in fully online section
Watch the presentation about MODR1760 blended and online
MODR1760 blended and online
PSYC 2120 3.00 Social Psychology
Course director: Dr. Jennifer Steele, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
Deliver mode: online
Enrollment: 160-190
Watch the presentation about PSYC 2120 online
PSYC 2120 online
Video recording of the entire seminar
Other examples
HLST 3310
HLST 3310 Electronic Health Records course offered by the Faculty of Health School of Health Policy and Management (enrollment 43 students) was adapted to the blended learning format for the winter 2012 term. Lectures were recorded using Camtasia Studio software and delivered on-line (50% of the course) while the in-class component was taught in the computer lab where students discussed the concepts from the on-line lectures, reviewed case studies, completed on-line quizzes and hands-on exercises with a specialized Electronic Health Records software. A Moodle website was designed for students to have access to all the course materials, engage in on-line discussions, collaborate on group assignments using wikis, and submit all the assignments online. Students received timely feedback and grades on-line and were able to track their progress in the course and improve their skills.
KINE 4460
KINE 4460 3.0 Occupational Biomechanics (enrollment of approximately 40 students) offered by the Faculty of Health, Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, was offered in the blended format in the Winter 2012 term. The goal of the course is to develop an understanding of the biomechanical causes of musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace, learn qualitative and quantitative tools for analyzing jobs for the risk of musculoskeletal injuries and to develop an understanding of design changes to reduce the risk of injury. As such the course contains more theoretical components (mechanisms of injury) and more practical components (assessment tools and redesign). The theoretical components were presented in standard lecture with PowerPoint format (6 x 1.5 hour lectures). The practical components were first presented in 5 on line lectures with “user manual” and theoretical basis readings. The practical components were supported by 4 x 1.5 hour lectures where a more experiential approach was taken and the students were presented with case studies and the opportunity to use the assessment tools. For one of these experiential lectures, the Kinesiology computer lab was booked so the students could use a program that assesses the physical loads on the low back. Assessment included assignments utilizing the assessment tools, 6 on-line quizzes plus a midterm and final. For fun, the class Moodle site also linked to a series of short cartoons developed by a group of European workplace health and safety agency to illustrate the concepts presented. In the end the students, when presented with a job, were able to assess the body part at risk (e.g. low back, wrist, shoulder), identify the risk factors involved (e.g. high forces, specific postures, high repetition), choose and correctly use an appropriate assessment tool and suggest some appropriate workstation design changes.
NURS 4760
eLearning classes involved students reading current content from online resources, scholarly articles and my presentations using Moodle Books. Students were also directed to links from TED talks and other relevant videos etc. Online classes focused on reflecting on the course material for that week and encouraging students to provide critical analyses on the topics by participating in online discussion forums. This participation was worth 5% of the overall mark.
In-class sessions focused on classroom presentation and discussion of the course material. Students were encouraged to participate in the same type of open discussion that was taking place in the online forums. This however proved to be difficult in an in-class session because only few more verbal students participated.
PSYC 3495
PSYC 3495 3.00 Neuroscience of Aging and Cognitive Health (enrollment of approximately 70 students) offered by the Faculty of Health, Department of Psychology, was created in the blended format and implemented in the Fall 2012 term. In the first half of the course (6 lectures, 3 hours each) classes were delivered using the face-to-face format in order to establish a baseline foundation of theories and concepts. By the end of this part of the course students should be able to define and describe core concepts in the area of neurocognitive aging, recognize how the brain is altered in structure and function with age, and describe how these changes impact cognition. In the second half of the course, students reviewed and critically appraised nine research articles examining interventions to enhance cognition in older adults. For this portion of the course, nine ‘mini-lectures’ were recorded and delivered online using Camtasia software. Each mini-lecture, 45-60 minutes in duration, reviewed one research paper in depth and three lectures were available for students in each of three weeks. During those three weeks students were responsible for reflecting on the three empirical papers and answering an integrative discussion question in a Moodle discussion forum. Simultaneously, students were engaged in an online ‘Book club’ for the book ‘Aging Gracefully’ (Snowdon, 2002). A book club forum and discussion question was posted each week on Moodle. Finally, over the three ‘on-line’ weeks students were responsible for developing a “Resource Guide for Aging Gracefully in Canada” using the Moodle Wiki feature. Student wiki entries were brief reviews of an empirically-supported intervention written in a form accessible for older adults. These entries were subsequently written up as an academic review for their final term papers. All online activities and the book club were debriefed in two final in-class lectures. By the end of the course students are able to examine how neuroscience research may inform strategies to sustain cognitive health in older adults. They can debate the merits of their proposed interventions and discuss their impressions and lessons-learned from their reading of the ‘Aging Gracefully’ text.
