Table of Contents

On-Demand: Writing Blended Learning Guides (DRAFT)

Jason Carroll Updated by Jason Carroll

Importance

The questions for the Blended Learning Guide (BLG) support interested organizations in leading a group discussion after completion of the On-Demand lesson.

Start

  1. To start, open the following tools: 
  • In Wrike: The Write Content for On-Demand OD Tab Wrike task for the course you are reviewing
Set the Write Content for On-Demand OD Tab task status to In-Progress. When conversion notes, assessment, BLG, lesson description, and learning outcomes are in the CPT, as well as completing the ID checklist, assign to Dayna Papaleo and set the status to Ready for Review.Day na will mark it done once CE is complete.
  • In Canvas: The full-length course you are reviewing in Canvas 
  • Video transcripts from the full-length course.
  • Course Planning Tool (CPT): The CPT for the full-length course
  1. In the CPT, navigate to On-Demand OD tab
  1. Locate the Blended Learning Guides section. Follow the guidelines below to write BLG questions.

Guidelines for Writing Questions

Audience: Facilitators leading a workplace discussion.

Goal: Provide the facilitator, who is most likely a team lead or manager with no formal teaching experience, some prompts to get a good discussion going.

  • The students may or may not be part of the leader’s own workgroup, but they will all work for the same company.
  • In a large organization, the assembled students might be whoever signs up for a lunch-and-learn session to take this training by their manager.
  • The facilitator may or may not have any specialized knowledge about the lesson content. 
Do not write trick or “gotcha” questions where they have to look up the answers; these are just discussion seeds.

Guidelines for Review Key Concepts section of BLG

  1. When writing the BLG Review Key Concepts section, use the module wrap-up of the relevant lesson (or combine multiple if ID review determines that lessons need to be concatenated).
  2. Edit out or adapt references to items that have been specified for removal/adaption. These guidelines are presented to IDs in their start guide as follows:
  • Discussions in the module will be removed in the On-Demand lesson and often adapted into Blended Learning Guide questions.
    Tip: If you have any notes about how you’d like this to be done out of the ordinary, you can note those in the form.
  • Project parts in the module will be removed in the On-Demand lesson and potentially repurposed (if they are not mostly a vehicle for instructor feedback, and don’t make the lesson time exceed 90 total minutes) as either:
    • Ungraded activities - often delivered in Qualtrics with the ability to print out a summary at the end
    • Blended Learning Guide questions - if the majority of the project part is open-ended questions
    • Takeaway tools - this is rarer, but some project parts lend themselves well to this adaptation
IDs should provide notes on how they think the project parts should be adapted IF they determine that content is essential to the lesson and can be adapted to not rely on instructor feedback”

Question Types

  1. Develop seven to ten unique, lesson- and content-specific questions that lend themselves to group discussion. Draw the question content directly from the course material, paying particular attention to the lesson's learning outcomes.
  2. The questions should be categorized into the following three categories. Each category gets two to three questions (a minimum total of seven):
    1. Overview-based questions: Questions on the whole-lesson level or whole-concept level
      Example: When you think about the task of trying to “motivate” another person, what do you think of first?
    2. Experience based questions: Questions relating to personal experience and challenges
      Example: Describe a time when you’ve tried to motivate someone to do a great job. What did you try to do?
    3. Application based questions: Questions about organizational application of concepts or strategies from the lesson
      Example: Consider the workplace goals you currently have. How do they relate to motivating people to a better performance?
Tip: Three to five of the questions can be adapted more or less from the list of question seeds below in “Discussion Question Samples” -- these should also lend themselves to lively group discussion. However, we also want the people taking this blended workshop to feel like the questions are tailored and not merely copied and pasted into every blended guide. Create meaningful, tailored questions, but it’s valid here to make them more generally as shown below: What was interesting about XYZ? Which strategies about XYZ are most relevant? Etc.

Repurposing Discussion Seeds

Discussion seeds (questions from preexisting discussion in the parent dev course content) can be reworked into BLG questions, so they are more targeted towards organizational application as opposed to personal experience/opinion/analysis. We don’t want to require the students to do any additional research or inquiry here, so if the original Discussion seed requires them to go investigate something on their own before participating in the Discussion, that would not be the best choice for this purpose. Time here is limited to 30-45 minute group discussion overall.

Best Practices

  • Directly reference the lesson content:
    • Example: What was most interesting to you about Professor Bacharach’s theory of change?
    • Non-example: What did you find most interesting in this lesson?
  • Use second person (“What did you find challenging…? Why do you think…?”)

Stock Questions 

You can come up with questions on your own so that not every Blended Learning Guide is exactly the same. Sample questions are below to give you an idea of tone and language and question construction:

Reflect
  • What information in the lesson [about XYZ] did you find most valuable?
  • Was there anything in the lesson that you found surprising or enlightening?
Share
  • Describe a challenge that you have faced at work that you could have addressed using this lesson's strategies. What would you do differently next time?
  • Discuss a time when you needed to [XYZ]. What happened? How were you and other employees affected?
  • Describe a time when you have tried to [XYZ].  What kind of success did you have in that instance? What would you do differently next time?
  • Discuss your experience in [XYZ].  How did you handle it?
  • Think of a time when you had difficulty with [XYZ]. What kind of response did you experience? How did you deal with it?
Apply
  • In what specific ways does [the lesson content] relate to your current job role?
  • How do you think you can apply the strategies [from the lesson] to your work?
  • Consider the workplace goals you currently have. How do they relate to [XYZ]?
  • What were some of the ideas offered in the lesson that you will apply in your own situation? How?

Review Key Concepts example 

In this lesson, you examined what constitutes a true motivation problem. You need to be able to tell for sure whether someone’s poor performance can be attributed to a lack of motivation or to some other issue. To figure this out, you took a sample performance issue that you suspected was due to a lack of motivation. You conducted a root-cause analysis to determine its cause. You examined the psychological meaning of what motivation is—and what it's not.

Sample BLGs

To see a sample of BLG content within the context of a completed document, look a the .pdf files with “SAMPLE” in the title within the same folder as this document. They contain not only the completed structure and layout, but also examples of questions for guidance as to how the questions should be categorized and framed.

Or, see links below:

Example #1

Example #2

Discussion Question samples

Reflect
  • The lesson presented several ideas on verbal communication, specifically on speaking vs. listening. What points stood out to you?
  • Think of someone you know who is an effective communicator. What connections can you make between his or her success and the recommendations in this lesson?
  • The lesson discussed the importance of understanding nonverbal communication. What are some essential points that every leader should know?
  • Emotions can be a factor during a project, especially when a failure or mistake has occurred. What ideas about managing emotions most stood out to you?
  • The lesson discussed several methods of project communication. What are some positive and negative aspects that you see for each of these?
  • What are some ways you feel kickoff meetings can help accomplish project goals? What are some steps to avoid?
  • The lesson offered strategies on how to handle damaging communication. Were there any ideas or practices that surprised you?
  • As a project leader it is imperative for you to listen effectively to your team members. What key points did you take away from the lesson on listening?
  • Steve Moolin gave real-life examples of the importance communication plays in the success of a project. What were some ideas that every leader should follow?
  • What suggestions for making good sales calls were the most valuable to you? Which suggestions do you see being the most challenging for you personally? What ideas do you have for dealing with those challenges?
Share 
  • Discuss your experience with the “flip the script” exercise. Did it go as you expected? What did you learn?
  • Describe a time when you were in a meeting and you spent the whole time talking, where others spoke very little. Why did you choose to do most of the talking in that instance? What were your goals for that particular meeting? 
  • Have you experienced a time when you struggled communicating with someone, no matter what you tried to do? Describe your experience in the context of this lesson.
  • Do you spend over 80% of your project time on communication as the lesson recommends? What has been your experience in managing your time for customer and team communication versus other tasks?
  • What best practices have you discovered for getting the most value from kickoffs? Share 1-2 specific tips.
  • Discuss a time when you reacted emotionally to a mistake made by a project team member. How did you handle it?
  • Describe a time when a project team member was criticizing or gossiping about a coworker. How did you handle it?
  • Have you experienced a time in your work when you were speaking and the listener was clearly not listening fully? Describe how you felt in that situation.
Apply
  • What are some verbal communication strategies that can assist you in successfully leading projects in the future?
  • In assessing your current abilities as a communicator, what are some goals to consider going forward?
  • Nonverbal communication can be an effective tool in working with others. What are some ways you can improve your nonverbal communication?
  • The lesson presented several ideas about face-to-face team communication. What opportunities do you see for improvement in this area of communication?
  • What are some common communication issues that could be addressed with the teachings from this lesson?
  • Consider your objectives in communicating with project customers. What can you apply from this lesson to enable more effective customer communication?
  • The lesson presented several ideas about effective listening. What opportunities do you see for improving your ability to listen to project team members?
  • Consider damaging communication that you’ve encountered in your role as a project leader. What strategies can you apply from this lesson to better handle this communication and strengthen your project teams?

How did we do?

On-Demand: Writing Quiz Questions

On-Demand: Lesson Description and Objectives (DRAFT)

Contact