“The online classroom is a potentially powerful teaching and learning arena in which new practices and new relationships can make significant contributions to learning. In order to harness the power this creates in education, instructors must be trained not only to use technology but also to shift the ways in which they organize and deliver material. Making this shift can increase the potential for learners to take charge of their own learning process and facilitate the development of a sense of community among them” (Palloff and Pratt, 2013).
eLearning at Fanshawe College
eLearning is a fast-growing trend in higher education and an increasingly popular option for student learning, so it is likely that you may be asked to engage in a form of eLearning delivery as part of your school’s program or your chosen discipline. At Fanshawe, there are three methods of course delivery, each of which supports the College's strategic goal of expanding access to flexible learning options. All courses, whether they are delivered face-to-face (web-facilitated), in a blended format, or fully online, include an e-Learning component as outlined in Fanshawe’s eLearning policy.
eLearning includes all forms of electronically-supported media, information, and communication technologies used to support teaching and learning. It can occur in or out of the classroom and be self-paced, synchronous, or asynchronous. FanshaweOnline (FOL) is the College’s Learning Management System (LMS) used to host course content for all three modes of delivery.
Modes of Delivery Defined
Course work is completed during normal class hours in a face-to-face format and the online component is used to supplement face-to-face time. FanshaweOnline is utilized to give professors access to services such as quizzing, grade-books, drop boxes, and communication tools to complement the students’ classroom learning experience.
A term often used interchangeably with “hybrid learning.” Blended is a model of course design that combines traditional, face-to-face (F2F) class time with online and out-of-class course work. Blended courses typically deliver some content online and may provide opportunities for online discussions, team projects, and activities. Lecture capture, video, and other forms of rich media as well as computer-mediated communications may be employed in place of classroom hours.
Is a course where all or almost all of the content is web-based with no or a very small number of face-to-face meetings. Course content delivery is dependent on the same computer and network-based technologies used in Web-facilitated and Blended courses, but here they become the principal method of student engagement and learning.
Quick Reference Guides
These Quick Reference Guides (QRGs) are designed to support teaching and learning pedagogy at Fanshawe College. Each guide provides condensed information on a focused teaching, learning or technology-enabled topic, which can be viewed in PDF online or printed for off-line convenience.
For more information about any of the topics covered in our QRGs, go to FanshaweLearns to register for a scheduled session or contact Organizational Development & Learning for more details. You can also visit:
eLearning Resources
Web-enhanced (F2F) Teaching and Learning
Blended Learning
- Blended Learning Overview: The Blended Recipe
- Teaching Blended Courses: Recommendations
- Planning Online Activities: Active and Authentic Activities
- Building Blended Modules: Tips and Structure
- Blended Learning Techniques: One Approach
- Blended Learning: Steps to Success
- Blended and Online Learning Tools
Online Learning
eLearning Quality Assurance and Quality Matters
Accessibility and Universal Design
Fanshawe Online and Educational Technology
Publications, Journals, and Blogs
- The EDUCASE Library
- Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT)
- Merlot II: Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching
- The Online Learning Consortium (OLC)
- Faculty Focus: Online Education (High Ed Teaching Strategies)
- Teaching in a Digital Age (ebook) by A.W. (Tony) Bates
- This book examines the underlying principles that guide effective teaching in an age when all of us, and in particular the students we are teaching, are using technology. A framework for making decisions about your teaching is provided, while understanding that every subject is different, and every instructor has something unique and special to bring to their teaching.
- The 10 Fundamentals of Teaching Online for Faculty and Instructors by (A.W. (Tony) Bates
- These ten short guides are drawn from 517-page, Teaching in a Digital Age listed above. For additional resources, visit the blog, Online and Distance Education Resource.
Teaching Resources and Open Content
- Blended and Online Teaching Modules (Carleton University)
- Faculty Guide and Online Module (Brock University)
- Teaching Resource Database (eCampus Ontario)
- Online Teachers' Resource Site (OntarioLearn)
- TeachOnline.ca resources (Contact North)
- Educator Development Program Online Modules (Ontario Western Region Colleges)
- BlendKit Course: Blending Learning Toolkit (University of Central Florida)
- Open Educational Resources (OER Commons)
eLearning Pedagogy
Technology for Learning
- Technology for Teaching (Algonquin College)
- Desire2Learn’s Brightspace Community (the makers of FanshaweOnline)
Educational Technology Committee (ETC)
The Educational Technology Committee (ETC) is a subcommittee of the Coordinating Committee of Vice-Presidents, Academic (CCVPA), and represents the colleges’ practitioner knowledge-base on matters pertaining to technology-enhanced teaching and learning. The sharing of ideas, best practices, and teaching and learning strategies related to the use of technologies inside and outside of the classroom is a central characteristic of the committee.
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