Blended Learning in Nigeria

Blended learning requirements are increasing, in part because of the population explosion and policies pertaining to the democratization of education. Yet, thousands of students and faculty remain deficient in the use of blended learning to advance technology in developing countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa. This research employed a quantitative assessment design aimed at improving best available practices, processes, and performance in terms of the blended learning offered in a university setting. A six-point Likert-type questionnaire was used to gather data. Multiple statistical procedures were employed in the subsequent analysis—percentage, mean point values, chi-square, and ANOVA. Majority of the respondents to the questionnaire agreed that the teaching of MIS to students is effective and has a positive impact on their academic achievements. This groundbreaking research presents a realistic resource for the practical application of blended learning in university education in Nigeria, as well as a comprehensive view of the benefits and problems of the applicability of blended learning.

A Case Study of a Blended Doctoral Program in Educational Technology

Educational technology is a hands-on, minds-on discipline that emphasizes knowing and doing. In this field, doctoral education needs to reflect digital and communication realities in the twenty-first century. In this case study, a blended learning approach to graduate education in educational technology is explored from the perspective of the author’s own classroom. The course design and blended delivery of an Advanced Concepts in Educational Technology seminar is described in detail. Active learning opportunities, using wikis, blogs, avatars and virtual worlds, learning managements systems, email, and face-to-face learning experiences engaged doctoral students in the collaborative investigation and critique of educational technology trends and research ideas. Doctoral students investigated their emerging digital lives as scholars and developed a personal cyberinfrastructure that they can continue to build, modify, and extend throughout their educational technology careers.

Blended and Mobile Learning

In New Zealand, law schools are constrained as to what they can do to incorporate blended or mobile learning into the core programme. There are two major factors to take into consideration when designing any course: a conservative profession, and the cultural needs of Maori students. This chapter will focus on the author’s personal experiences of the practical applications of blended and mobile learning within the Law Faculty and will discuss student expectations of technologically aided teaching practices.

The Use of Asynchronous Video Communication to Improve Instructor Immediacy and Social Presence in a Blended Learning Environment

Instructors in a blended learning format struggle to find an effective balance between face-to-face instruction that is high in fidelity and online instruction that is high in flexibility. This chapter presents three cases where asynchronous video communication was used to help offer students instruction high in fidelity and flexibility. Although the medium for sharing asynchronous video varied between the three cases, findings indicate that video was a useful tool to improve instructor immediacy and/or social presence with a minimum amount of face-to-face instruction. The instructors in all three cases saw asynchronous video communications as an effective way to communicate with students, and the majority of students responded positively to asynchronous video communications.

Blended Courses as Drivers of Institutional Transformation

The authors discuss the transformational potential of blended learning and the importance of alignment with strategic initiatives of the institution. They show that key elements for student and faculty support result in numerous positive outcomes, including increased access and the ability to manage growth effectively. Research findings with very large student samples show the impact of blended learning on student achievement, identify predictors of student success, and illustrate correlates of student satisfaction with blended learning when ambivalent feelings mediate student perceptions of the educational environment. By illustrating these principles through a case study in a large metropolitan research university, the authors contend that strategic alignment and evaluation results inform each other in an incremental, transformational process.

Towards a Technology- Enhanced University Education

Although Canadian universities have distinct cultures, research strengths, and teaching philosophies, many also share similar values and goals that respond to an increasingly multicultural, diverse, and technologically advanced society. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how learning technologies used in a blended learning environment can help to meet the goals of a contemporary university education. An understanding of blended learning as an effective model for meeting goals not only at the course and program levels, but also at the institutional level, is essential for the widespread, mainstream implementation of this model so that it becomes a part of regular practice by faculty from a variety of disciplines and learning contexts.

The Role of Blended Learning in 21st Century Medical Education

The teaching of medical students is of paramount importance for society as the goal is to have well-educated and competent physicians that can help address the healthcare issues facing today’s society. The pedagogical influences that drive medical education have seen many advances in the past 30 years, but one that is seen as a leader for the future is the use of blended learning. This chapter will highlight that blended learning in medicine allows learners to be flexible in their education, as they are not constrained by time or distance as they move towards developing core competencies needed for their chosen discipline. One of the key drivers of this momentum in medicine is technology, and blended learning is one of the leading pedagogical influences in medical education for the future.

Short Message Services for Supporting Student Learning

This chapter discusses the blending of anonymous short message services (SMS) with a learning management system (LMS) to support non-traditional postgraduate learners in a block release programme at a higher education institution. The personal ownership of the mobile phone, coupled with its consistent presence and connectivity, was enhanced through the provision of anonymous communication via SMS. The seamless integration allowed for optimal use by learners who had limited access to the LMS but greater access to the mobile device. The mobile phone enhanced with anonymity created a safe learning environment based on andragogical principles. The postgraduate programme made extensive use of the learning management system (LMS). In block release programmes, learners may be distributed in developing countries and have one contact week per module. During both pre and post-contact sessions, learners are located in contexts where mobile connectivity is more guaranteed than Internet access. Most resources are downloaded during the contact week for reading offline. As learners interact with resources they engage in internal dialogue and mobile phones can facilitate a way to artefact internal dialogues through blogging. The use of anonymous communication using SMS creates a safe and equal socially networked knowledge production environment.

Blended Learning Examples in Education and Chemistry

The blended revolution that has empowered students in developing nations is just now spreading to developing countries. With improved Internet access, students in these regions now have opportunities to experience blended and mobile learning, creating new markets in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific for universities that offer blended programs. Unlike the e-learning revolution of the 90s that was dominated by for-profit institutions, public universities will be major competitors for international students wishing to earn foreign degrees. The Asian Development Bank report (2008) emphasizes that it is essential for economic development to provide increased numbers of skilled workers. Blended and mobile learning can assist countries with increased educational access and online providers opportunities to reach new international markets. Another emerging market for blended and mobile learning in developing countries is the untrained teacher. Until recently, adequate Internet access was not available to some regions most needing increased educational access. Now, the technology is falling into place to support blended and mobile learning. This chapter discusses two international blended and mobile learning courses—an undergraduate chemistry course and a graduate education course for teachers in online learning—being delivered to developing countries in the Pacific. The chapter focuses on instructional design, cultural considerations, technical issues, and initial findings.

Blending In

This chapter comprises an outline of the prototype concept referred to as Second-Wave Enabled Technology Enhanced (SWETE) instruction. SWETE is positioned to subsume the blended learning concept, critiqued as a categorization that will fade to ubiquity as second-generation e-learning paradigms predominate in digitally-mediated education and training. In this chapter, the operational attributes of the SWETE model are presented via description of second-wave technologies, delineation of recent changes in educational cultures and contexts, and discussion of the principles of effective digitally-mediated education. The authors highlight the benefits of social media-driven instructional designs and introduce the use of Blackboard LMS/social network site mashups as core tools for online teaching and learning. The chapter ends with a look at the future of mobile and blended learning, and a call for research into the use of social network technology in the delivery of learning opportunities.