I am always looking for ways to help students learn. Some of the current methods are doing a fine job of helping students learn but, there is research that shows a relatively new "modality" known as blended learning is producing better student outcomes. Blended learning takes the best of on line and the best of on ground instruction and uses one to support the other - that is - on ground courses can be enhanced through online and online can be enhanced through on ground. In the model we will be using, students will be able to move between the two. This may be a bit confusing at first but the flexibility for the student increases significantly and research concludes that self selection of modality will increase student engagement, satisfaction, and success.
This last week Drs, Pearson, Holt, Nyonna, and Damron attended a conference in Orlando to ask the question, "How can we bring blended learning to Austin Peay's College of Business." We met for two days and discussed the possibilities. We will introduce our first blended learning class this fall. We will be surveying students to discover how things are going and how we might improve. A couple of factoids we took away from the conference is 1) there are over 40 different modes of blended learning and they all work better than online or on ground methods alone and 2) online students with a gpa less than 2.2 have a very significant failure rate. We believe that blended learning is one more tool to help us meet the needs of our students. Exciting times. Dean Rupp
