This workshop will help participants examine their strategy for supporting students in blended learning courses. The particular focus will be on supporting students from developing countries who may struggle more with an active learning model and face additional technology challenges. Time will be devoted to considering the challenges that are faced by blended learning students and participating in a sampling of strategies that can help blended learning students succeed.
Blended learning offers many avenues for reaching students in some of the most marginalized parts of the world with a quality higher education. However, there are challenges that that come with implementing blended learning programs in developing countries. One of the major challenges is ensuring that students who are unfamiliar with online learning have the learning supports they need to be successful in online courses.
There are many types of learning supports that can be beneficial to students, and one of the most essential aids is a skilled in-person facilitator to help students process and stay on track with their online studies. Trinity Education has been offering its blended learning programs in a variety of developing world contexts--including Haiti, Tanzania, and South Africa--and has been heavily involved in training facilitators from different parts of the world to support students in blended learning courses. This workshop will explore some of the best practices that Trinity has learned in working with facilitators from around the world and designing training programs to equip them for their facilitator role.
The workshop format will consist of a 5-minute icebreaker discussion to discuss session participants' experiences with supporting their blended learning, 25-minute case study presentation about blended learning in the developing world, 15-minute assessment of the participants' students and their blended learning needs, 30-minute sample facilitator training with various training activities included , and a 15-minute Q&A time.