As mentioned before, the use of blended learning scenarios is not advantageous on its own. The approach is rather to focus on the fact that a learning scenario depends on the situation in which it is used and on how the different elements are combined effectively (cf. Kerres 2012, 2016).
In the following part, some concepts on how to use learning platforms in an effec-tive way will be explained.
Problem-based learning scenario
Problem-based learning follows a model with seven steps within three stages (cf.
Becker 2010, 367). The first five steps are used for group work to define the problem and the learning objectives as well as to agree on questions to be answered. Step 6 is about individual research. Step 7 is working in groups again to combine the in-dividual research results in order to find a common solution for the problem. Espe-cially the steps 6 and 7 can be transferred to virtual learning spaces using standard learning platforms.
TABLE 2.
The problem case is presented during a face-to-face seminar.
Groups are built and start to analyse and define the problem.
They decide upon topics to research, questions to answer and assign tasks to the group members.
The method is a traditional face-to-face seminar which aims at:
• gaining a common understanding of the problem
• building groups
• explaining the online learning space, its tools and work flow Step 6
Research and gather information
The students start to research in online and offline material.
Every group gets a closed, personal group room on the learning platform to collect, organise, share and discuss their findings.
They are supposed to organise their findings and elaborate their ide-as to solve the problem on the platform using the tools ide-as follows:
• Database: Collect together sources with title, key words, author and URL as bibliography
> Everyone can contribute and add resources at any time.
> All resources can be tagged with a key word and a text box can be used for advice hints or additional information.
> The database can easily be exported to share the results with others outside the group.
• Wiki: collaborative writing to answer the questions defined in the face-to-face seminar
> Everyone can contribute and add resources at any time.
> Every wiki has a feature to discuss changes and decide whether to reactivate a former version of the wiki or to keep changes proposed by one group member.
> The final product is a commonly agreed paper summarising the ideas to solve the initial problem.
• Video- and Audio Conferencing: Some issues might be too difficult to be discussed using the wiki forum. Students can plan virtual team meetings using the integrated or external conferencing tool.
• Social bookmarking is often not included in standard learning platforms but there are many open-source tools that can easily be added to any browser and that are just at a click away from the learning platform.
Step 7
Presentation and discussion of results
For the last stage there are two possible ways to present and discuss the results. It can be done online and offline.
The offline way is to simply present and discuss the results within the whole course.
If it makes sense to finish the problem-based learning appro-ach online, every group could post and discuss a summary of their findings available for everyone using the following tools:
• Forum: The results are posted in the forum.
> The members from other groups can give qualitative feed-back by posting answers below.
• Peer-Review: By using the peer-review functionalities quantita-tive and qualitaquantita-tive feedback can be given.
• Database: The lecturer can join all bibliography databases and make them available to all students so that the base of research and the common knowledge are shared among all participants.
Flipped classroom
Flipped classroom is a concept that – as the name already indicates – transfers the in-structional work that was usually done in class to self-determined learning at home.
The lecturer provides videos, texts and/or other interactive material on a learning platform. The face-to-face time in the lecture or seminar can then be used for inter-action, discussion and group work. (Cf. Tucker 2012, 82.)
The big advantage is that students can learn according to their own needs, dispos-ability and type of learner. The classroom is also used to profit from practical experi-ences, insights and additional impulses from both, fellow students and the lecturer.
Example
A course on design thinking is offered at a university. The students should not only know about principles, methods and positive effects of design thinking but they should use the method to solve a problem that is introduced by the lecturer. As de-sign thinking workshops are always quite time-consuming, the lecturer asks the student to prepare themselves at home by using the different media provided on the learning platform.
The structure of the online lecture reflects the structure of the design thinking pro-cess. The lecturer offers the former lecture notes as an e-book per chapter. This is supplemented by some additional background information about use cases and ex-amples offered as infographics, video and/or audio podcasts and texts. Some meth-ods are offered in different languages. That way students can adapt the learning to their specific prerequisites like mother tongue, professional background, learning type and media preferences.
Many additional materials can be added – and not everything has to be prepared in detail by the lecturer. A lot of documents, videos and case studies can be re-used from others, as long as they are published under a Creative Commons license.