Final Blog: Hybrid/Blended Courses

I searched “hybrid courses” in the Google search engine and my first result was UW-Milwaukee’s hybrid courses webpage. After skimming the website’s class descriptions, it appears that the program encourages the increase in online learning; however, the website does include that in-person instruction is merely “reduced” – it is not “eliminated” or “replaced.” This university’s hybrid courses aim to create an engaging learning community online. The traditional in-class “face-to-face” discussions are still important but they are not as stressed. I think UW-Milwaukee’s hybrid classes are similar to the LIS201 online learning approach, but UW-Milwaukee’s classes seem more focused around the online environment and have cut back on the in-classroom discussions.

Personally, I think the online assignments were a little tedious at times but overall helped me out a lot in regards to lesson comprehension. Sometimes I was confused as to what the main point of each week’s lessons were, so the blog posts helped me refocus and make connections to the readings, culture/society, and my personal experiences. With that being said, I do think the in-class interactions really helped me get to know my classmates better so that when it came to the online discussions, I was able to have a better understanding and appreciation of what they were saying. UW-Madison should definitely consider creating hybrid classes because it keeps students engaged and more interested, but I do not necessarily think it would be beneficial for all classes (e.g. math and science labs). Some classes function better with in-person interaction.

In conclusion, the second half of the classwork related more to my online experiences since it talked about modern technologies and conveniences such as social networking. The first half was a little heavy on history, but I recognize the importance of understanding how the information society developed in America. In all honesty, I think some of the discussion sections and lectures were not dedicated toward discussing the readings. They discussed and connected how the readings related to society, but I would have wanted more instruction as to what the readings themselves were about. Overall, the online conversations, in-class discussions, and lectures have been interesting and engaging and I am grateful we were able to incorporate all three into this class.