Blended Learning in Communication Studies

From September 2015, CM137 ("History and Structure of the Media") which is offered to students in Communication Studies and the Joint Honours Degree has been delivered using blended learning methods. The previous 2-3 hour "live" lectures have been replaced with online lecture delivery. This is augmented by new weekly seminars moderated by the course coordinator and which are built around questions relating to the previous weeks online lecture. Each lecture is broken down into a series of 20-minute-long video presentations which are "released" to students every Wednesday. Students can download the videos from the Loop page or watch them via a private Youtube page. This allows students to access the course content at a location, time and pace of their own choosing. The online videos are produced using Camtasia, a piece of desktop video recording software which permits blending of straight to camera video and audio, powerpoint presentations, web content etc into a video presentation. The move to blended learning is a response to the increasing scale of the class, with negative consequences for the quality of delivery and which has raised timetabling difficulties. By limiting the face to face element of the course to smaller-scale seminar groups, the course coordinator can directly interact with students who are in position to raise questions that they may not feel able to in class. The ultimate goal is to improve student engagement while retaining larger class sizes. The intention is to publish a reflection on whether learning outcomes have improved at the conclusion of the module, in conjunction with the Teaching Enhancement Unit.

Contact: Dr Roddy Flynn [Email: Roderick.Flynn@dcu.ie]