learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Andrea Kelz
self-discipline and motivation of students than traditional face-to-face teaching. Moreover, not all
lecturers and students are convinced of a constructivist-based blended learning framework from the
start. The major cause lies in our partly still traditional educational system which emphasizes content
memorization and individual student performance. Particularly older lecturers and part-time students
in their thirties have hardly been exposed to web-based constructivist and collaborative teaching and
learning techniques which are essential components of our blended learning approach. They haven’t
been trained in constructivist and collaborative methods and so the pencil- and paper-based lecture
method is still the method of their choice. From the teachers’ point of view the main reasons for
concern have been that they fear loss of control in the lecture if they give more responsibility to the
students for their learning progress. It takes a great deal of self-confidence in oneself and one’s
students to transfer the responsibility of learning to the student. Some also fear the loss of content
coverage because allowing group interaction often takes longer than giving mere lectures. There have
also been concerns when it comes to assessing students’ efforts. Some teachers are unfamiliar with
continuous assessment techniques or how to assess group efforts. Another major cause for concern
lies in some students’ resistance to collaborative learning techniques. They also still need to become
comfortable with new methods of teaching and learning and express concerns and doubts in the
beginning. Particularly collaborative assignments are initially viewed critically. Students often express
concerns about lacks of contribution of fellow students of the same group or complain about
interpersonal conflicts they have to deal with. As they are not likely to change their attitudes to
learning from one course to another they also gradually need to become acquainted with
constructivist and collaborative learning techniques.
As indicated above, both students and teachers feel that they are in a new learning situation. With
regard to student needs the successful implementation of blended learning designs include knowing
about their own learning styles and needs and helping them improve on how to learn successfully,
i. e. helping them develop a repertoire of learning skills and strategies to support their development as
learners in virtual learning environments. In order to enable technical part-time students to engage
actively in the management and design of their own learning a blended learning course was designed
to make them reflect on their learning styles and processes, help them learn how to learn, enhance
their creative and innovative thinking and eventually improve on their overall performance. In this
course the LMS provided as well as other open web-resources are used for individual and
collaborative e-learning experiences to make them acquainted with various learning and teaching
styles they will be exposed to during their studies.
As part of the teachers are also not prepared for blended learning settings, particularly those who
haven’t had any e-teaching or e-learning experiences themselves, they also need support. Due to the
lack of first-hand experiences some of them try to teach in the same old way simply utilising some
technologies and calling it blended learning or e-learning. They now have to face the challenge of
having to update their knowledge and skills to be able to make appropriate use of ICT in their courses
and learn how to utilise virtual learning environments in ways which best meet the needs of their
students as well as the current challenges of higher education such as the move towards lifelong
learning with its demand for continuous professional development.
The question arises of what it actually is that the teacher needs to do to make a success of blended
learning settings. What competencies and skills are required to teach in a virtual learning environment
effectively and how will the teachers eventually make the change? Smith identifies and describes 51
instructor competencies needed by online instructors and outlines the “key components of a training
program to enable a traditional brick-and-mortar college to transition to a university that has a
significant online component” (Smith 2005). He outlines a variety of competencies needed prior to the
start of a course, competencies needed during the course and competencies needed after the course.
To sum up roughly, the strategy for training our teachers at Campus Pinkafeld also implies that in a
successful blended learning setting the teacher must have sufficient ICT, pedagogical and social
skills. The particular skills required are being able to use the technology (LMS) provided, skills to
design and implement online activities, organization and moderation skills, being able to integrate
different teaching and learning styles, interact actively and give students constant feedback.
But how are teachers supposed to modify their practice to work in this new environment? First of all,
all teachers are advised to start simple and move towards the more complex. These gradual
enhancements range from supporting students via e-mail, moderating online discussion forums,
uploading files onto the platform, providing further materials and resources on the web, to integrating
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