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Author(s): Hakala, Ismo; Myllymäki, Mikko

Title: From face-to-face to blended learning using ICT

Year: 2016

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Please cite the original version:

Hakala, I., & Myllymäki, M. (2016). From face-to-face to blended learning using ICT.
In EDUCON 2016 : Proceedings of 2016 IEEE Global Engineering Education
Conference (pp. 409-418). IEEE. doi:10.1109/EDUCON.2016.7474586

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 From Face-to-Face to Blended Learning using ICT

Ismo Hakala, Mikko Myllymäki

Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius
University of Jyväskylä
Kokkola, Finland

Abstract—This study examines the development of the developing an education model, the technologies available
education model created in connection with the Master Studies in nevertheless define how far the development of the model can
Mathematical Information Technology. The model has developed be carried.
from the first stage, where there was only face-to-face teaching
supported with Learning Management System, to a stage where Development work on solutions related to learning
studying is possible also fully in online and students may choose technologies has been going on for a considerable time with
themselves how much to take advantage of technology in their Master Studies in Mathematical Information Technology at
studies. The examination of the development of the education Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius. The main aim is to
model is made from the viewpoints of accessibility, increased role develop an education model that will make education maximally
of technology and interaction. In earlier studies, the education accessible to all. At the same time, it is hoped that the developing
model has been evaluated for example from the viewpoints of educational model would give more choices for different kind of
changes in the participation rate and learning results, and the learners. To improve accessibility, technological solutions have
results have been positive. These viewpoints, in addition to been applied, more and more, in the implementation of
describing the development path, will be highlighted in this study. educational solutions. As technology has become more
widespread, also its role in the educational model has become
Keywords—blended learning; distance education; accessibility emphasized. With the development of technology, it has been
I. INTRODUCTION possible to carry the educational model forward in small steps
over several years.
Access to learning is one of the key factors in arranging
education for adult students for example. Adult students have more The current education model is based on strong utilization of
external responsibilities, and as a result diversity among study streaming videos, the central role of the learning management
participation modes is important. Blended learning environments system and reliable and cost-efficient practices formed around
are regarded as suitable solutions for this; at the same time, it is the technologies. The education model makes it possible to
thought that they will preserve many positive aspects of traditional provide students with education in a way that makes it possible
teaching [1]. With the help of the blended education model, it is for them, in all organized teaching, to participate either face-to-
possible to provide alternatives to participation modes such as face- face, from distance with the help of real-time video or by using
to-face sessions which are time- and location-bound. However, to on-demand recordings during times more suitable for the
move from face-to-face study to the blended model often requires a student. The students have the freedom to select, for each lecture,
long development trajectory where the development of technology the participation mode that is the most suitable for their life
plays a large role. situation at the time. Once the accessibility of education has
In blended learning, the learning environment integrates advanced this far, the student can define the degree of blended
learning elements and processes as well as environments and learning for him/herself.
interaction devices provided by information and communication The contribution of this study is to provide an overview and
technologies. Even though there are many definitions for examples of how the educational model can be developed within
blended learning, typically it is conceived as a combination of the limits of technological development. The paper presents the
face-to-face learning and distance learning [2], [3]. Blended development path of an education model created in connection
learning combines location- and time-bound activities with with the Master Studies in Mathematical Information
activities that are not dependent on location (e.g., real-time Technology at the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius.
videos) and possibly not on time, either (e.g., on-demand During the development path, various technologies became
videos). In connection with blended learning, one needs to pay blended to the teaching. Investigation is carried out especially
attention also to the degree of integration, on the basis of which from the perspectives of accessibility improvements, increase in
it is possible to evaluate the role of blended learning, and through the role of technologies and changes in interaction. The research
that the role of technology, in learning. also presents selected results from the evaluations carried out.
Technology is at the centre of blended learning. Learning The paper is organized as follows: The following section
technologies enable arrangement of education in many different takes a closer look at blended learning. Section III introduces the
ways. However, typically these technologies themselves do not development path of the educational model formed in
play the main role in the educational setting; the primary interest connection with the master's degree education in information
is, above all, on the practices formed around them. When technology. Section IV discusses the impacts of the blended
educational model from the perspectives of blending, learning environment. The dimensions are space, time, fidelity
accessibility, interaction and learning outcomes. Section V and humanities. At the two extremes of the dimensions are face-
presents some conclusions. to-face learning and distance learning: the interactivity of the
traditional face-to-face learning is located on the left hand side
II. BLENDED LEARNING of the dimensions and the interactivity of the distance learning
Blended learning can take place in many different levels. on the right hand side. The development of information and
Graham [2] defines four of them: activity level, course level, communication technologies has increasingly moved the
program level and institutional level. Blending at the interactivity in distance learning closer to the interactivity
institutional and program levels is typically left to the discretion traditionally regarded as achievable only in face-to-face
of the learner. In the course and activity levels, designers and sessions. For example, on the time and fidelity dimensions,
instructors do have a greater role when prescribing the blend. communication technologies such as real-time lecture videos
Activity level refers to situations where an individual learning and video conferences today allow real-time communication
activity includes both face-to-face and computer-mediated close to the same levels of fidelity as in the face-to-face
elements. As an example of this, we can consider a solution environment [2]. Virtual solutions and, for example, tools made
where interaction in a face-to-face course has been turned over available in social media enable better team work among people,
to a computer to get help in its implementation, for example thus bringing the humanness dimension's extremes closer to
through LMS. In the course level blending, some of the course each other. Virtual reality environments are striving to do the
is arranged as face-to-face learning and some as distance same with the space dimension.
learning with the help of a computer. These parts of the course The blended education model can also be categorized
can overlap time-wise or they can take place in a chronological according to the way the blending takes place. Blended solutions
order. The course level is the most typical level of blending. In can be classified into three categories in accordance with the
higher educational institutions, blending often occurs at the level main purpose of the blending [2], i.e., enabling blends,
of a degree program [4]. This is referred to as program level enhancing blends and transforming blends. In enabling blends,
blending. Typically, in the program level blended model, some the primary focus is on addressing issues of access. This includes
of the courses are to be implemented as distance study and some blends that are intended to provide additional flexibility to the
as face-to-face study [2]. The choice between these may be based learners and blends that attempt to provide the same
either on the decision of the student or that of the education opportunities or learning experience but through a different
provider. At the institutional level, the organization has made the modality. In enhancing blends, some incremental but not radical
decision concerning blending [2]. In these kinds of cases, changes to the pedagogy take place. For example, in traditional
blended parts can be found in all the organization's courses or, face-to-face environment, some additional resources may be
for example at the level of educational institutions, the decision included online. Transforming blends allows a radical
might have been made to require that the graduating students transformation of the pedagogy. It should be kept in mind that a
must have experience about online courses [2]. When talking blended solution can belong to several categories at the same
about institutional level blending, there is the realization that the time. It is just as important to remember that none of these
organization must concentrate its attempts to reach a situation categories is necessarily bad; they just have a different focus [2].
where the student can utilize the two extremes in his/her study
[2].
Live
Access to learning is one of the key factors influencing the (physical / Mixed Virtual
growth of distributed learning environments [5]. In spite of this, face-to-face) reality (distributed)
research related to accessibility has been very meager in Space
connection with blended learning [6]. From the viewpoint of
accessibility, blended education can be arranged for many
reasons. Picciano and Seaman [7] highlighted five of these Live synchronous Aynchronous
aspects in their research: offering courses not otherwise (very short lag time) (long lag time)
available at the school, meeting the needs of specific groups of Time
students, offering Advanced Placement or college-level courses,
reducing scheduling conflicts for students and permitting Medium
students who failed a course to take it again. When making High (for example, Low
educational arrangements for adult students who have many (rich all senses) Audio only) (text only)
responsibilities apart from family and work, there is an emphasis Fidelity
on reducing scheduling-related conflicts.
Whereas traditional instruction includes interaction between
the student and the instructor in the same physical location, High human No human
computer-mediated instruction employs solutions provided by Humanness
information and communication technology to implement No machine High machine
interactivity [8]. Interactivity thus is clearly different in these
solutions. Graham [2] introduces 4 critical learning-related
Fig. 1. Four dimensions of interaction in face-to-face and distributed learning
interaction dimensions (Fig. 1), which are present both in the
environments by Graham [2]
traditional face-to-face environment and in the distributed
 In general, one can think of the motivation for blending as possible to develop the education model closer to the current
something that combines the positive aspects of both face-to- implementation, where also distance study is possible, in line
face learning and distance learning. Graham et al. [9], however, with the technology improvements.
clarify this somewhat by claiming that blended education is there
because it makes a better pedagogy possible, increases flexibility This section presents the development stages that have led to
and contributes to cost-efficiency. The greatest interest in the the current kind of education model. The development steps are
environment of this study is directed into how to increase also shown in Fig.2.
accessibility. A. Stage 1: Beginning of Video Production
III. DEVELOPMENT PATH In 1999, at the beginning of the master's degree course on
information technology, all teaching was organized as face-to-
The blended educational model formed in connection with face teaching. Face-to-face learning was arranged mainly for
the master's degree education in information technology has Fridays and Saturdays. The courses were scheduled to be run as
been under development, with a clearly defined purpose, since very compact entities in such a way that, typically, a single
the beginning of 1999. The need for the development work has course was run over a few weekends. In practice, this meant that
its origin in the fact that all the students in the education program the duration of a single lecture session equaled that of 3-4
are working adults with a family. The biggest challenges for traditional lectures. In addition, intensive courses in which
students of this kind are related to time use. The time must be teaching was implemented as face-to-face teaching were
allocated between work, family and study. Thus, there has been organized over a period of one week. Typically, this meant 6-8-
a clear need to add flexibility to study participation. The central hour lectures on each weekday. Students who were able to take
idea in the development work, from the very beginning, has been time off from their work for a period of one week became
how to make the available teaching accessible so that the participants of these kinds of courses.
learning results wouldn't be weakened and teaching or studying
wouldn't be made more difficult. The important part in the Learning Management System (LSM) was in use from the
education development has been the desire to sustain the beginning, and with its help targeted communication and
commitment to face-to-face learning. Some of the students still dissemination of information became possible. It also provided
want to study with the help of face-to-face learning, and even an easy access for the students to written study materials. In
students who in their studies utilize a variety of technologies addition to using LMS internally within the courses, it was used,
participate mainly with the help of face-to-face learning in some already at that stage, for student management and
courses. Moreover, face-to-face learning creates a natural communication between the students and the education
production venue for lecture videos. provider. This kind of communication was related to study,
exam enrolments, exam results and changes to course schedules,
Already at the beginning stage of the development, it became among other things. For the use of LNS, the students were
clear that, at its best, the education model would make well- required to have an internet connection, but the connection speed
functioning distance study possible. However, the technologies required was very low. This kind of modest connection was
and infrastructure in the beginning of the development work already available, either in the workplace or at home, for each
were not such that they would directly allow the start of the student in the education program.
implementation of the model enabling distance study. Also high
production costs posed challenges for wider deployment. Later, The challenges of adult students' time allocation forced the
improvements in the technologies and related practices made it education provider to look for an alternative solution for

Fig. 2 Technological development stages

situations where the student occasionally is not able to streaming videos made transmissions of real-time videos beside
participate in a face-to-face teaching session. Even one-off on-demand videos possible. By 2005, the production and
absences in very compactly arranged courses made the distribution processes had improved to become so light that the
completion of the courses considerably more difficult. The production could cover the whole education offer for the
situation was even worse in intensive courses. For example, an master's program. The important thing in making the production
illness could mean losing the face-to-face study opportunities for processes lighter was the growth of automation. For example,
the whole course, in which case the only thing was to substitute recording was automated so that it could be done without the
these with the written course material. presence of a camera operator. There were still many work
stages which were related to the preparation stage and the editing
Lecture video production was piloted as a solution for this stage and required human input. The production was made more
problem. The production process used required many man-hours efficient also by beginning to equip the teaching premises with
at that time. In practice, a person recording the video was integral technological solutions. The teaching premises were
present, and often there was also a person to look after the designed to allow a natural integration of technologies to lecture
marking of the time stamps needed for the synchronization of halls, technologies such as the microphone and camera solutions
teaching material and video. Post-production for the video, and other equipment required in recording
which required a lot of human resources, was carried out after
the recording. Video, audio and the material presented during the To make the production process lighter, it was also necessary
lecture were synchronized with the help of the collected time to do away with the person recording the video and give up post-
stamps. The learning material created in this way became a editing, where the image, audio and study material were
pedagogically well-functioning whole, and its technical quality synchronized into a combined whole. This was reflected in the
was very good. However, the production process was so quality of the material produced. When the lecture material is no
cumbersome and expensive that it was possible to produce more integrated with presentation, more attention must be paid
videos only for some individual courses. to the recording in a live teaching situation. Without a person to
record the video and without equipment capable of controlling
Already at this stage, the videos were stored in the media image selection, it wasn't possible to get, on a good quality
server, but the students' data connections were not yet sufficient video, all the lecture material presented in the location.
for the transfer of videos through the network. Therefore, the Recording of material written on the whiteboard was an
only solution for the distribution was the use of CD-ROM (and especially challenging task. To find a solution to this, various
at the later stage DVD) diskettes; the videos for a single course sensor-based solutions to switch between image sources were
required more than 10 CD-ROM's storage space. From the developed for the premises. During the latter part of the
viewpoint of the education provider, the distribution process was development stage, a solution was settled upon: the image source
a real challenge to manage cost-efficiently. The videos were for videos was captured from the image input to the video
produced in the Real Media format for the reasons related to their projector. At this stage, the lecturers proceeded to use the
production. This somewhat limited the hardware configurations whiteboard instead of the document camera. In this way, all the
that could be used for watching the videos. study material shown by the video projector in the lecturer's
Due to the slowness of the production process, the CD-ROM space could be seen, in a very good quality, on the video. The
diskettes containing the course videos were completed only after image capture from the image input of the data projector onto
the course was over. Thus they were of hardly any benefit to the the video was a considerable step forward from the perspective
students taking the course. In the best of cases, the videos could of the cost-efficiency of the production process, video quality
be used for revision before the exam at the end of the course. and, through that, video usability.
The videos were used to some degree mainly for self-study At that stage, lecture videos were offered as streaming videos
during the second time the course was run. As a matter of fact, in the Windows Media and Real Media formats. Naturally this
the video production process piloted at this development stage made video viewing dependent on the browser and equipment.
and the pilot videos did not play any significant role in relation Already at that time, almost all students in Finland had some
to the blending and accessibility of teaching. kind of Internet connection available also at home. Data
B. Stage 2: Video Lectures Alongside with Face-to-Face connection bandwidths were also sufficient for the video
The production of videos in the manner explained above distribution to be realized through a media server. This made the
wasn't an adequate solution from the perspective of accessibility. distribution process significantly lighter. However, it should be
Videos had to be produced considerably faster and in the extent kept in mind that, as far as the image quality and image size were
of the whole education program to be able to see any concerned, compromises had to be made to make the video
improvement in the accessibility of education. From the suitable to students' still modest data connections.
perspective of accessibility and study schedule, in addition to on- The links to the media server were provided with the help of
demand videos, there was also need for real-time transmission LMS. In LMS, each course has its own work space, the
of lecture sessions. membership of which consists only of the students on that
Improvements in production processes, new technologies course. The links to lecture videos were distributed through these
and infrastructure such as faster data communications enabled course-specific work spaces. In many education solutions, this is
the move to lecture videos produced in streaming formats and to still today a common way to distribute video material to students.
the development of production- and distribution-related In addition, this video technology incorporated its own user
processes which were lighter than previously. The use of management. In this way, videos could be confined only for the
use of the students of the course in question, which was very The quality of videos could be improved in line with the
important from the viewpoint of copyright-related problems. increase in the speed of data communications and with new HD-
level technologies. Production of videos with various levels of
Nonetheless, there were still many challenges related to quality also started. This made it possible to select the quality of
video production. Even though the production of videos already a video in accordance with the equipment used for watching it
had a fairly reliable basis, there were still some process stages or in accordance with the bandwidth allocated for it. This of
that made them prone to human errors. For example, linking course required, among other things, an increase in the disk
videos to LMS, which was done manually, made it liable for space in the server application.
suffering from writing errors. Moreover, the production process
undergoing continuous technological development was Constant attention to automation still played a central role in
susceptible for malfunctions of the new devices. The solution making the production lighter. Automation was a framework
applied was not an optimal substitute for teaching situations condition for all development work. It was necessary, as far as
where interaction played a major role, either. These kinds of possible, to automate the practices formed around the
situations included seminar-type lectures, which expect strong technological solutions to be deployed. At this development
participation from the student. The technologies and formats stage, the transfer of video files to the server was automated and
employed and solutions related to user management, among timed. Also, in addition to the implementation of video on- and
other things, affected equipment support, limiting that support off-switching, tools for carrying out central automation of
considerably. In practice, to play the videos, a PC with the recordings were created. Remote equipment control also
Windows operating system and a suitable video player were reduced the resources required for recording. The costs of video
required. production were, in practice, insignificant. Videos could be
produced of all courses for each run of the course in question.
At this stage, however, study participation with lecture
videos was not yet offered to the students as a solution enabling Automation also significantly reduced production
distance study but as a supplementary alternative for situations uncertainties due to human factors. Reliability was naturally
where participation in face-to-face learning was impossible for increased by the experience gained from the technologies and
one reason or another. the practices formed around them. According to research, the
production at this stage was very reliable: during 2008-2010, the
Lecture videos enable distance study and relocate the study, success rate was approximately 99%, and in 2011 it was already
to a certain degree, to take place farther away from the campus about 99.4% [10].
area. This means that new needs that are emerging advocate
moving many activities that traditionally have occurred in the Faster broadband connections for the students and
campus area to the web. For most of the students, the need to improvement in technologies and the practices formed around
visit the campus is reduced due to LMS and lecture videos. In them finally made it feasible to provide education also purely as
addition, face-to-face learning is arranged mainly for evenings distance study. The teaching provided at this stage was thus
and weekends, at the time when the office staff is not present. accessible in practice by all devices and, thanks to mobile
Physical encounters, for example for the purpose of study connections, also in a location-independent manner. High-
instruction, are often difficult to arrange in education that is quality, reliable and easily accessible teaching in the form of
organized in this way. For this reason, the degree program videos meant for the student that he/she could, at will, substitute
deployed a separate web conferencing software enabling face-to-face learning wholly with lecture videos. This made it a
distance guidance and also developed practices related to it. learning environment which is accessible to students regardless
Each member of the teaching personnel participating in the of time or place, which supports asynchronous or synchronous
supervision of the degree program was given an individual interactivity and which blends to the student's daily life to
virtual office linked to the software. The virtual office could be become a part of it.
used for the purpose of supervision, as required, and it could be
equipped with online tools designed to suit optimally to any use The lighter production process and the coverage of the video
situation. production made it possible to provide teaching over several
weekdays in smaller packages. Up to that point, it had been
C. Stage 3: Distance Learning Becomes Possible necessary to arrange teaching in compact blocks of several hours
The most important challenges for the next development in length to provide, to some extent at least, realistic
stage were improvements to be made to accessibility by opportunities for working students to participate in study with
expanding the equipment support, improvements to video the help of face-to-face learning or real-time video. On the other
quality, automation to be carried even further and improvements hand, large video packages had made the production of lecture
to be made in operational reliability. videos easier. As the production became lighter, there was no
more any need for that. Now the study could be split into smaller
Better device independence in video production was blocks, and the students could participate in it with the help of
achieved by moving to the use of the h.264 video format beside video if they couldn't be present at face-to-face sessions. The
Windows Media. This allowed watching the videos also with change that took place in the timing of face-to-face learning was
mobile equipment. In practice, the deployment of h.264 meant helped also by that the increased role of videos in study
using two parallel encoders when producing streaming video. participation reduced the number of those attending face-to-face
Therefore, also automation had to be expanded to deal with two sessions. Those who participated in face-to-face learning were
simultaneous video productions of the same lecture. The videos mainly students for whom the actual time of learning had no
were still distributed to students by linking them through LMS. significance from the viewpoint of participation.
D. Stage 4. Virtual Campus the lecturer to better observe the students studying with the help
Studying with the help of videos differs from study with the of lecture videos.
help of traditional face-to-face teaching. The biggest differences From the student's viewpoint, increasing opportunities for
are, naturally, related to interactivity. The traditional video interactivity and grouping significantly altered the participation
player used did not provide any kind of interaction channel from with the help of videos. The Lecturer's View module brought a
the student to the lecturer. Studying with the help of videos also change also to the lecturer's work. It allows the lecturer to see
created a challenge to the formation of groups among the who are attending with the help of video and makes it possible
students. In the previous solution, distance students were not also to communicate with them.
visible in a lecture situation. Both the lecturer as well as the face-
to-face students were unaware of their presence. Making the The text-based interaction channel of the video sharing
presence of distance students visible could help in the formation module is, naturally, unsuitable for example for seminar-style
of groups and would motivate the lecturer to pay more attention study where each student in turn presents his/her work to the
to those students. other participants in the seminar. For this purpose, so-called
Video Chat was introduced. Video Chat was created with the
The aim of the next development stage was to increase help of a commercial video conferencing software. Video Chat
opportunities for interaction, make possible learning situations enables real-time video-based communication and file sharing.
where interaction plays an important role and help the lecturers' Thus it is well suited for teaching situations where interactivity
chances to attend students studying with the help of lecture is required. The web conferencing software used earlier for study
videos. At the same time, the aim was also to lighten the user supervision was replaced with this same Video Chat module.
management related to video viewing. At this development The use of Video Chat does not, in any way, limit the recording
stage, there was a clear move from the improvement in of the teaching situation in accordance with the prevailing
accessibility to making the distance learning more relevant. The practices.
solution consisted of a video sharing module, which was suitable
for watching videos, on an open source-code multimedia LMS, which was used earlier already, the video sharing
platform. The multimedia platform is WWW-based and module, the Lecture View module and Video Chat were
provides support also for mobile devices. Thus videos can integrated into an as seamless whole as possible, into a virtual
always be accessed through an internet connection. This is learning environment called CiNetCampus Studies. Other
important to ensure that the learning environment of the degree modules such as Survey Tools and the Learning Style module
program is as easily accessible as possible. were integrated into the same whole. CiNetCampus Studies
forms a kind of virtual campus where the student can easily
The video sharing module replaced the traditional media choose the mode to access the teaching provided. In this way,
player, which the students had used up to that point for watching also the use of videos is integrated as a natural part to the existing
videos. Built in this module was an interaction channel from the learning environment. The integration of LMS as a part of the
student to the teacher to support study with real-time video. This virtual campus also made the centralized management of user
channel had not been a part of the earlier solutions. The rights possible. User management is taken care of with LMS's
interaction channel was implemented with the help of text-based tools and is automatically transferred to the use of the modules
chat. With the help of the module, students can also see the other forming the CiNetCampus Studies. With the help of the user
video viewers and communicate with them. rights the video sharing module has received, it can restrict the
Similarly, in face-to-face learning sessions, it is possible to student's access only to the correct lecture videos of a study
see who are attending the lecture with the help of videos. For course. The joint user management of the CiNetCampus Studies
face-to-face learning situations, the platform features a built-in has significantly reduced the amount of work. Previously,
Lecturer's View, as it is called. With the help of this view, the distribution of the rights for lecture videos was carried out with
profiles of all the students who have logged in into the video the help of the Kokkola University Consortium's Active
application to watch a real-time video about the teaching Directory, and it was kept separate from the courses' user rights
situation in question are displayed. In addition to the participants' in LMS. This caused management overlap and error situations
images, a chat-based interaction channel is thus shown in the due to information flow problems, which can be avoided in the
lecturer's view. In a face-to-face teaching situation, the view to new solution. In future, the CiNetCampus Studies learning
the module is realized by projecting the lecturer's view, in a environment will enable the incorporation of many kinds of
sufficiently large size, to the back wall of the teaching area with functionalities for example to activate the distance student.
the help of a data projector. This allows the lecturer to keep track IV. EFFECTS
of the students participating with the help of video and of the
messages sent by them. The lecturer can do this in a natural The improvement of the education model has had hardly any
manner, without moving his/her eyes away from the face-to-face effect on the work of the teacher. In fact, except for the last few
students. Also a module collecting attendance figures in the years, the transparency of the solution to the lecturer has been
classroom was integrated into the platform. With the help of it, one of the goals of the development work. As a consequence of
the face-to-face students could mark themselves as being video recording, the lecturer has been forced to switch from the
present. This also allows the distance students to see in the video use of the whiteboard to the document camera. Otherwise, there
sharing module who are attending the face-to-face session. The has been no attempt to restrict the work of the teacher or
solution had the aim to help students to form groups and allow presentation materials in any way. Neither has the lecturer been
given the responsibility for example for starting or ending the
recording of videos.
 Lecture videos of the face-to-face learning are produced with Stage 1, piloting of video production, didn't yet enable
very limited human resources. For the education provider, the blended learning during the course under way because the videos
education model has, in practice, incurred only the cost of became available to the students only after the course had ended.
buying the equipment, which is very modest and one-off. At a later stage, the videos were used, to a certain extent, as self-
study material. It is possible to think of that as the course or
The biggest impact from the improvement of the education program level blending, depending on whether the videos were
model has been on the student. The increasing role of used as substitutes for individual lectures or for whole courses.
technology, that is, the blending of technology to learning as a The use of videos for this purpose wasn't very extensive,
part of it and to study, and, through that, increasing accessibility however.
are significant changes from the viewpoint of many students. It
is also quite clear that, due to the increase in the role of From Stage 2 onwards, we are clearly talking about
technology, the way of study itself has changed. The biggest institutional stage blending. The provider of education was
changes are related to interaction and grouping, which are more consciously aiming to focus on a situation where all matter
challenging to implement in the blended model education. taught could be studied by both extremes and also by combining
these extremes in multifarious ways. One should remember that
On the other hand, there have been many positive changes in in the education model under scrutiny the student can decide
the education organized in that way. The student can pace his/her about the degree of blending of his/her studies for each lecture
study in the way desired, participate in the study when feeling and adapt them to his/her desires as far as blending is concerned.
alert, take advantage of revision in the study and study in one's The student can blend a part of his/her own study on a course
own peace when it seems convenient. Besides giving support to level defined by Graham by completing some of the course
accessibility, the provision of various participation alternatives through distance learning and some of it as face-to-face learning.
enables support also to students with different study preferences. The decision in the area of education discussed here is made by
One important added value offered by videos is naturally the the student and not by the teacher. On the other hand, the student
possibility for revision. Videos can be used for revision, can blend his/her own study on the program level by completing
regardless of the initial way of participation. It is understandable some of the courses wholly through distance learning and some
that the education in accordance with the blended model has also wholly as face-to-face learning.
impacted the students' learning results. This section examines
the blending of technology into study as a part of it, increase in In its current form, the education model contains, for some
accessibility and the effects of the education model on courses, also new features of activity level blending. For
interaction and learning results. example, in seminar courses some students give a presentation
with the help of video conferencing, using the video chat
A. Blending function. Seen through the eyes of a student engaged in face-to-
In the educational practice that developed in connection with face learning, activity level blending takes place during the
the master's degree education in information technology, the course.
student can decide about the degree of his/her own blending. The
student can participate in each lecture of a study course in many If we examine the way of blending from the viewpoint of
different ways by flexibly combining various alternatives. The Graham's [2] three blending categories, we may state that the
more the student takes advantage of the technologies provided original aim had been to make learning more accessible in
as aids for learning the more blended will his/her study be and accordance with the Enabling Blends category and offer distant
vice versa. Here the degree of blending refers to the importance participants more or less the same learning experience as
of the role that technological solutions have from the student's provided for those who participate in face-to-face learning. One
perspective. In extreme circumstances, the student can keep of the goals of the development work has been, specifically, to
studying without blending, either as a face-to-face student or as make the solution transparent to the lecturer. Nevertheless, with
a distance student completely supported by lecture videos. the advance of the development work, once accessibility has
However, here we should keep in mind that even students who reached an adequate level, it has been possible to move the focus
are engaged in face-to-face learning are compelled to use some closer to the Transforming Blends category, where it is possible
technologies. This is due, among other things, to management of to look for completely new pedagogical ways for teaching. This
communication and distribution of materials through LMS. is emphasized especially at Stage 4 of the development, where
the focus has been on building a learning environment which
The educational development steps that are the subject of this supports various kinds of pedagogical solutions.
research can be examined in relation to the Graham's [2] levels
of blending presented above. The first stage was still quite close In the education program under research, studying in
to traditional face-to-face learning. The education model accordance with the blended model is thus the student's own
included, however, some activity level blending. Transfer of choice. One could, therefore, assume that the extent to which the
some individual learning activities for implementation with the technologies are utilized indicates that the model is approved by
help of certain technologies took place. These kinds of activities students. The distribution of participation through face-to-face
included provision of learning material and communication learning and with the help of lecture videos has been investigated
outside lectures. The latter was implemented with the help of in the previous research [10]. The investigation showed that the
LMS. This kind of activity level blending with the help of LMS utilization of the technologies for participation in education
occurred at each stage. plays a fairly important role. As we can see in Fig.3,
approximately two-thirds of participation takes place with the
help of real-time or on-demand video. We may, therefore,
assume that the students themselves regard blended learning as the accessibility to education was concerned. After this, the
suitable for their needs. students could quite freely and in accordance with their own
wishes choose where and when to study.
Face-to-Face
The fourth development stage improved accessibility mainly
Real-time for learning situations where physical presence was required in
On-demand the past. Situations of this kind included for example a seminar
32 %
where the student had to make a presentation of some kind. The
50 %
solutions of the earlier development stages did not make the
student's own presentation possible because the interaction
18 %
channel was text-based. At the fourth development stage, the
video chat integrated into the learning environment made it
possible. Similarly, the video chat brought a new and better tool
for instruction and supervision. Generally, the fourth
Fig. 3. Relative shares of participation modes of all lecture participations
2008–2011 (n=2988) [10]. development stage made distance learning more relevant and
lecture videos more practical as learning tools.
Blending of technologies into normal study as parts of it has The improved education accessibility achieved with the help
been helped by the solutions used becoming more of various technologies now means, in practice, that students can
commonplace. Smart phones, tablets and for example viewing participate in the degree program education in many different
videos online are today familiar things to almost everyone. For ways. The students do not need to decide about their
example, the emergence of YouTube (launched in 2005) participation mode beforehand; they can choose to participate in
occurred almost at the same time as the increasing use of videos each lecture the way that suits best for their life situation or study
in teaching was taking place. If the technologies are those that preferences.
the student would use in his/her life in any case, their role and
importance in learning will naturally not be emphasized to such Research [11] has shown that before video recording started
an extent as when we are dealing with dedicated learning in 2005, the participation rate in face-to-face learning was about
technologies. 54%. The poor participation rate is explained by that the students
at that time were working adult students and education is offered
B. Accessibility only as face-to-face teaching. Once all study was offered also in
When arranging education for the needs of specific group the form of video, the participation rate grew by 70%. However,
like adult working students, among the motivations for when we look at Fig.3, it becomes clear that participation in face-
increasing accessibility, as presented above by Picciano and to-face learning has decreased.
Seaman [7], the emphasis is on the reduction of scheduling
conflicts. Lecture videos, of course, also provide the course C. Interaction
lectures for review for students who did not pass the course. Interaction in education along the lines of the blended model
is very different from that in a pure face-to-face learning
The accessibility of the education examined in this solution. The four dimensions of interaction presented by
publication has increased along with the development allowed Graham [2] describe the critical components of interaction very
by the technologies presented above. During the first well. The dimensions are shown in more detail in Fig.1.
development stage, accessibility increased, above all, with the Technological developments have brought the interactivity of
help of LMS, from where the students could get the lecture the face-to-face situations (on the left hand side of the
materials. The students' only option was to participate in face-to- dimensions) closer to the interactivity of distance learning (on
face learning. The education was thus still very time- and the right hand side of the dimensions).
location-bound from the perspective of accessibility. At the
beginning of lecture video production, not all of the offer of the At the first development stage of the environment under
education program could be covered, and the video distribution study, learning was still biased towards face-to-face sessions. In
took place in such a late stage that it didn't have much impact on practice, the students participated in study with the help of face-
accessibility. to-face lectures. Some of the activities had been transferred for
the implementation of LMS. At this stage, the situation was that
For students who possessed suitable equipment and a the interactivity of the face-to-face learning was indeed located
sufficiently fast Internet connection, the second development at the dimensions' left end and, when utilizing the technologies,
stage was easy to access already. To a quite considerable degree, at the dimensions' right end.
students like these could select at which time they wanted to
study. They were still location-bound, however: PCs were used Starting from the second stage of the development, distance
for distance study because there was no support yet for mobile learning was based, to a large extent, on videos, either in the
equipment. Nevertheless, face-to-face learning still played a form of lecture videos or in the form of a video conference in
major role, and lecture videos were being used, above all, for instruction situations. When studying with the help of videos it
reviewing. is possible to reach close to the same levels of fidelity as in the
face-to-face environment. Already from the beginning of the
The increase in location- and device-independence and the second stage, the student could participate not only with on-
increased production reliability brought by the third demand video but also with real-time video. Thus,
development stage were important as far as the improvement in communication from the teacher to the student became
synchronized on the time dimension. The absence of a return participation modes received slightly worse grades than the
channel from the student to the teacher in lecture videos however others.
made the interaction completely one-way, and in this sense it
was very different from the interaction in face-to-face learning. When the motives for the selection of participation mode
Communication that took place outside face-to-face learning were looked at in a further investigation [13], it was pointed out
was managed through LMS, which automatically gave it very that among the students who utilized both participation modes
asynchronous characteristics. The web conferencing software there were many students who would have liked to participate in
that was used in some learning situations provided then real-time face-to-face learning but who, for practical reasons, used videos
interaction to both directions. in study participation from time to time. They thus studied
partially contrary to their learning preferences. This may, to
The CiNetCampus Studies learning environment created some extent, explain their grades that were lower than the grades
during the fourth development stage significantly improved the of other students. However, it seems that this has had no effect
interaction. A chat-based return channel was created for videos: on passing a course.
first as text-based and later also aided by real-time video
conferencing. The text-based chat is used in all learning and the On the other hand, a research [14] that examined study
video chat, for the time being, is used in learning situations such participation times found that students who participate with the
as seminars, which require interactivity. The CiNetCampus help of videos at the pace of face-to-face learning – that is,
Studies also includes elements such as the Lecturer's View, with viewing the videos usually before the next lecture – achieved
which the intention is to engage distance students better with the better learning outcomes than students who studied completely
face-to-face space. We may assume then that there has been at their own pace without paying attention to the scheduling or
convergence also on the space dimension, even though actual pacing of the face-to-face learning.
mixed reality environments have not been developed. Increasing accessibility thus increases the rate of
Considering the interaction of the Humanness dimension, it is participation, which has a positive effect on learning outcomes.
likely that the solutions, for example the video chat work spaces However, learning outcomes suffer if flexibility is misused and
made available to the students, that improve team work among studying is moved to take place too near to the end of the course,
the students in the CiNetCampus Studies environment also bring in which case there is the possibility that too much information
the extreme ends of the dimension closer to each other. in too short a time must be absorbed.
Here we should emphasize that face-to-face learning has V. CONCLUSIONS
been a part of all the development stages in the education model.
The students have thus had opportunities for mutual interaction Technological development has enabled the staged
within that framework. During the first two development stages, development of the blended education model in connection with
participation in face-to-face learning was clearly prioritized. the Master Studies in Mathematical Information Technology at
Later there has been a change in the priorities: participation has the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius. The solution is
taken place more and more as distance learning with the help of aimed, above all, to improve accessibility to learning.
technologies. Already at the beginning stage, the challenges Improvement in accessibility has corresponded to the growth in
related to time use created a situation that made participation in the role of technology as a part of study.
face-to-face learning difficult in practice. This is evidenced by In the current model, the student can decide about the degree
the 50% participation rate in 2005. Thus, in practice, in half of of blending, as far as his/her own study is concerned, by utilizing
the cases it wasn't possible to make use of the available the available technological solutions in the way desired. On the
interaction in face-to-face learning. Coming to Stage 4, study one hand, with the help of technology, studying from distance
participation emphasized participation with the help of videos to only is perfectly possible, but, on the other hand, it is also
such a degree that it was seen necessary to provide distance possible to study with the support of a completely isolated face-
students with better interaction opportunities with the help of to-face setting, in which case LMS is the only technology that
technologies. the student has to use.
D. Learning Outcomes Some sub-areas of the education model developed have been
When the impacts of the blended education model from the evaluated from many viewpoints in earlier research. According
viewpoint of learning outcomes were examined in a research to research, technological solutions blend well to the study as
[12], it was found that the students who utilized equally both parts of it. This is evidenced for example by that students have
face-to-face learning and videos participated in the study more taken them extensively into use. Study with the help of lecture
than others and they also passed the courses better than the videos has come to play an important role in environments
others. Students who mainly utilized videos had a better resembling the one in this research.
participation rate as well as a better course-completion rate than
In education, in accordance with the blended model
students who mainly made use of face-to-face learning.
presented above, the concept of being present or attending is,
The investigation also took the grading perspective into naturally, completely different from the same concept in
account. When students participating principally through face- education where students participate only in face-to-face study.
to-face learning were compared with students participating With the passing of years, the degree of participation in face-to-
mainly with the help of videos, it was found that the students face study has decreased, but the improved accessibility has, on
aided by videos got on average better grades. In spite of their the whole, led to increased study participation.
better participation rate, students who evenly utilized both
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[11] M. Myllymäki and I. Hakala, ”Video-based blended learning practice in
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