31.9: Summary

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One of the greatest lessons we have learned over our many years of teaching and learning in and about online and blended contexts is that educators have a range of choices concerning their instructional strategies. While the three constant factors (teachers, learners and content) remain, and should influence teachers’ choices, the degree and purpose of social interaction changes, depending upon the design of the instruction. Consequently, it becomes the job of educators to select instructional strategies and media to support them, and then make the technology itself disappear so that learning can occur. As seen in the four stories illustrating our continuum, the teacher must push back on the technology and not be dictated by it. Online and blended learning is not about technology; it is about learning. The technology must become transparent and ubiquitous to learners, and part of the role of educators and course designers is to ensure that occurs.

Having students and teachers alike reading lectures or listening to yet another podcast or video clip can no longer be considered a new or provocative way to teach as we begin the 21^st century. We have more tools and technologies at our disposal than ever before, but we are still limited in how we conceive using these tools in our practice.

As educators, wrestling with myriad digital technologies, we must remember that our students have computers on their desktops that are many times more powerful than those that initially put astronauts on the moon. Therefore, are we really going to ask them do the ordinary things when they are poised for and capable of the extraordinary? Will online learning continue to be a poorer option to classroom learning, or are we prepared offer richer learning opportunities than are available in the majority of traditional classrooms? Is our nervousness about technology stifling our creativity? Until we understand our options, and begin to make informed decisions about instructional strategies and the media that might support them, we fear the promise and potential of learning online will continue to be lost.

We realize that it is our task to make the technology disappear for the learners and allow it to become an ordinary part of the teaching and learning environment. When we consider the rich learning opportunities created in the studio-based example shared in this chapter, we realize what is possible. What we don’t know is what will be possible in the future. However, we do know that all that is limiting us is our willingness to push the limits.

Closing Question to Ponder

What can you accept as indicators of success for the various instructional strategies?

As multimedia is added to courses, how does the teacher ensure the content is not lost in the process? How can the media and technological frameworks be made to disappear and only support the learning?

Assuming the continuum of practice is an effective way to discuss online options, what might we expect the next extensions of the continuum to look like?