Blended classes can exacerbate the worst aspects of instruction: impersonal instructors, large class size. Active learning can discourage this by engaging students with tasks focused around applying concepts as they are learned.
The in-class sessions should not be seen as the only time "real" learning occurs and should, instead, be a chance to course correct from independently done work, and/or a time to do lab work or practice physical skills. Make sure your expectations are clearly defined to help keep online students on-track, while providing a bridge between online and physical.
One key to creating an active blended class is to spend less time lecturing, and more time directing student activities. Online students can often have more trouble focusing on a lecture, and making the learning activity-focused can not only circumvent this, but provide better learning outcomes. Additionally, students are engaging with the same material and activities both in-class and at home.
At the core of active learning is teaching the core concept of each class. Structure each class session and online activity around a single core concept related to your overall course goals, and building off of previous core concepts. Once you have this concept, determine 2-3 skills that demonstrate a mastery of applying this concept to your subject.
Once you have these two levels mapped out for the lesson, an activity that measures the application of these skills should seem to be a natural progression. This activity, where possible, should be able to be completed in-person and online. It can incorporate the distance learning technology available to you, but you should not feel obligated to do so. Let the teaching direct the technology, not the other way around.
The actual class session can be broken up into a brief lecture that links the concept to assigned readings, gives useful information, and lays out the activity. The majority of the class should be spent doing, and discussing the activity. Writings done by in-class students can be created or transcribed to Blackboard message boards to create a sense of consistency to classroom discussion.
At times when an in-class session is vital to teaching physical skills or performing a lab, then this individual one concept, one class model can be modified, but this should provide a baseline model for guiding that modification.
The blended classroom creates a natural grouping of your students into thirds. From here, you can decide if a specific activity can be done in these thirds, or if you'd like to pare down to sixths, or even ninths. Groups allow for students to discuss concepts with each other, teaching as they learn to reinforce the ideas and how to apply them. Additionally, the professor's presence, and the discussion that follows the activities allows for you to "course correct" any misunderstandings students have during these activities, and direct attention to weak points in student learning, rather than use the broader approach of a lecture.
Groups can be structured in the online portion of the class by using the groups feature in Blackboard. If you are having synchronous lectures through Zoom, you can simulate this natural pairing off through the use of breakout rooms.
One of the problems I often have with active learning is that with instruction and the time taken to actually do the activity, discussion can sometimes take a back seat. The benefit to a blended class is that the combination of synchronous and asynchronous modes of teaching allows you to move some or even all discussion to the online segment of the course, using Blackboard's discussion board functionality. Additionally, rather than a chaotic conversation among peers, you have a transcribed document which is useful for self-evaluation.
One of the best things about active learning is that it provides immediate feedback to the materials you have taught. By examining conversation records and created documents, you can immediately identify weak spots for your students' understanding, as well as areas that they have mastered. This will allow you to guide future classes, reviews, and testing to focus on problem areas an ensure that the class is as unified in its understanding as possible. In fact, it is this pedagogical flexibility that makes active learning overall a great tool to use in your classroom, whether blended, in-person, or online.
If you require any help setting up a student message board, student groups, breakout rooms, or any other discussion-facilitating software functionality, please contact William Crowell or Wendy McKibben for further assistance.