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Sloan Foundation invites Hakes to Blended Learning Workshop
April 28, 2005 | |||||
KOKOMO, Ind.—Fred Hakes, director of the Indiana University Kokomo Division of Continuing Studies, is one of only 30 educators nationwide invited to the 2005 Sloan-C Blended Learning and Higher Education Workshop held in Chicago on April 17–19. The workshop was funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit philanthropic institution that promotes research and discussion to advance U.S. education, economics, science, and technology.
The term “blended learning” refers to courses in which face-to-face and online instruction are used to enhance both teaching and learning. Blended learning is at the heart of IU Kokomo's ACCELerated Evening College courses, designed meet the scheduling needs of non-traditional age students. Over the past four years, IU Kokomo faculty have developed a hybrid format for more than 30 ACCELerated Evening College courses. Coordinated through the Division of Continuing Studies, hybrid classes run in eight-week periods and deliver 50 percent of learning in classrooms and 50 percent online. Rare among U.S. universities for its even split of learning modes, IU Kokomo's hybrid format has drawn significant attention in higher education circles. In issuing the Sloan-C workshop invitation to Hakes, coordinator Mary Niemiec wrote, “Your campus' efforts in blended learning have prompted several Sloan-C members to put forward your name as a potential participant in the upcoming workshop.” IU Kokomo was the only Indiana institution of higher learning invited to participate in the Sloan-C workshop. Hakes said the invitation is “one outgrowth of the conference presentation about the hybrid course development that Stuart Green, Sharon Calhoon, and I gave at the 2003 Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks in Florida.” [Green is IU Kokomo's vice chancellor for academic affairs. Calhoon is an associate professor of psychology and director of the campus' faculty development program, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Asssessment.] Speaking at the recent workshop, Hakes focused “on the nuts and bolts of hybrid course development, such as resourcing development, faculty engagement, intellectual property, and the Tech Camps.” The CTLA staff offered Tech Camps last summer, training new and returning faculty members in the use of Oncourse, IU's electronic course management system, and other online teaching tools. Hakes said he also told workshop participants about recent “enrollment patterns and growth” that indicate non-traditional students are attracted by IU Kokomo's efforts to help them complete college degrees. In spring 2003, IU Kokomo's Division of Continuing Studies enrolled 140 students in the General Studies program. That number rose to 184 by spring 2005, a 17 percent increase. Other participants in the April workshop included representatives of Brigham Young University, Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology, Penn State World Campus, the University of Calgary, and the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as state universities of New York, Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Washington.
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