Abstract
Much of the existing research on Blended Learning discusses how business, science, and engineering courses can effectively integrate technology into their current curriculum. The “flipped classroom” is a common buzz word in this on-going discussion, but for an English professor, the pedagogical model is largely already “flipped.” Students in literature courses at small liberal arts institutions rarely sit through in-class lectures. They read fiction, poetry, and scholarship on their own and come to class ready to discuss, to question, and to create with their peers and their professors. In other words, to benefit students in these kinds of courses, Blended Learning must go beyond the “flip.” In response to this concern, I designed “Selfie and Community,” a semester-long project where my American literature students used Instagram to go beyond simply consuming information to producing it. Each week students post a “selfie” that not only defines key course terms, but also connects the literature we are reading to their own lives, experiences, and communities. Their comments, questions, and insights from this open, asynchronous forum then direct our synchronous in-class analysis of our assigned course texts. This blending of technology and tradition shifts the pedagogical foundations of an already “flipped” course to further empower students via active, democratic learning. My goal in this session is to share this successful “blended” course component, but also to solicit feedback for its further evolution.
Session
Session 1A: Blending to Teach Critical Thinking and Writing
Location
Dalton 300
Start Date
5-20-2015 10:30 AM
End Date
5-20-2015 11:45 AM
Beyond the “Flip”: Blended Learning in the Literature Classroom
Dalton 300
Much of the existing research on Blended Learning discusses how business, science, and engineering courses can effectively integrate technology into their current curriculum. The “flipped classroom” is a common buzz word in this on-going discussion, but for an English professor, the pedagogical model is largely already “flipped.” Students in literature courses at small liberal arts institutions rarely sit through in-class lectures. They read fiction, poetry, and scholarship on their own and come to class ready to discuss, to question, and to create with their peers and their professors. In other words, to benefit students in these kinds of courses, Blended Learning must go beyond the “flip.” In response to this concern, I designed “Selfie and Community,” a semester-long project where my American literature students used Instagram to go beyond simply consuming information to producing it. Each week students post a “selfie” that not only defines key course terms, but also connects the literature we are reading to their own lives, experiences, and communities. Their comments, questions, and insights from this open, asynchronous forum then direct our synchronous in-class analysis of our assigned course texts. This blending of technology and tradition shifts the pedagogical foundations of an already “flipped” course to further empower students via active, democratic learning. My goal in this session is to share this successful “blended” course component, but also to solicit feedback for its further evolution.