Blended Interactive Learning: A Hybrid Flexible Instructional Model

Presented by:

• Erin Heasley, MS Instructional Design and Educational Technology, Instructional Designer, Reedley College
• Jenny Peters, Communication Professor, Reedley College

Speaker Bios:

• Erin Heasley holds an MA in Communication and an MS in Instructional Design and Educational Technology. Erin is responsible for the creation of the blended interactive pilot program at Reedley College and works closely with faculty to train and support them as they instruct within this instructional model.
• Jenny is a talented communication professor who has been teaching using the blended interactive instructional model for the last year. Jenny piloted the program and is now serving as a campus mentor.

Session Info:

The last two years have forced higher education institutions to grapple with how to serve students in rapidly uncertain times. As the pandemic has raged on it has become increasingly more clear that traditional models of education don’t serve all students all of the time. The Reedley College office of instructional innovation began looking for creative solutions that would marry the benefits of the face-to-face classroom with the flexibility of online learning. After a thorough literature review of hybrid flexible models, it became clear that asking instructors to teach one class, face-to-face, synchronously through technology, and asynchronously was impractical. Instead, we created the blended interactive learning model. This model allows students to choose each class session whether they would attend class face-to-face or synchronously via zoom. The students that choose a zoom option will be able to see and interact fully with the students and instructor in the room, and vice-versa. In the fall of 2021, the blended interactive pilot launched with three trained instructors teaching across three different disciplines serving 12 sections. These instructors met with the instructional designer once a month and collected data on student attendance, student preferences, successes, and failures, as well as student completion. These three instructors now serve as mentors as new and interested instructors join the program. This session would present what a hybrid flexible instructional model is and isn’t, how the blended interactive instructional model is unique, and allow attendees to hear the perspective of one of the founding pilot members.

Session Outcomes:

• Explain what a hybrid flexible instructional model is and is not.
• Differentiate blended interactive from other hybrid flexible models.
• Analyze if a model, like the blended interactive model, would serve their own institution

Session Resources:

Blended Interactive Learning HEASLEY

View the Recorded Session