Students' perspectives on the design and implementation of a blended synchronous learning environment

Abstract

This study investigated a blended synchronous learning environment (BSLE), which was designed for a group of master's students taking a course at a teacher education institute. The BSLE was created for the majority of the students to attend the course face-to-face and at the same time allowed the rest to join the identical sessions using videoconferencing from different locations. The purpose of the study was to find out what learning experiences and perceptions the students had with regard to the design and implementation of the BSLE. Results show that the BSLE could extend certain features of the face-to-face classroom instruction to the online students and the students liked the flexibility and convenience of attending lessons via the two-way videoconferencing at remote sites. This study further identified that smooth communication between online students and the instructor and between the online students and classroom students, the engagement of the online students and the redesign of certain instructional activities, balanced attention from the instructor to the classroom students as well as the online students and the quality of the audio were crucial for the environment to be effective.