Try This Simple Asynchronous Online Lesson Design Template

We know there is a lot that goes into a high quality asynchronous lesson. If designing online is new to you, you might be feeling overwhelmed right now. That's completely understandable! There are a few things you can focus on to begin with that will have a big impact on the asynchronous learning opportunities you provide your students. 

Check out the following infographic with a four-step on-demand lesson design template. This is not the only way to design an online lesson that students work through at their own pace, but it is one solid example. If you include these four things in your digital lesson, you can be sure that you will have a highly interactive and engaging lesson that will give you valuable data to help you make better use of your live or face-to-face time with students. 

For a full-size PDF version: On-Demand Lesson Template PDF 

Step 1: Introduction

Welcome your students and set expectations. You might even create a video showing students what they are going to be doing for the lesson. These demonstrations are even more helpful right before each activity. Use this time to also activate prior knowledge.

Step 2: Direct Instruction

Create a video lesson. Consider how students will actively engage with the material. 

• Will you include the video in an EdPuzzle and make it interactive? 
• Will you give stop and reflect prompts for students to write down on a piece of paper? 
• How will you know students watched it?

Keep videos under 6 minutes. If you need longer, break up the video into smaller chunks with activities between.

Step 3: Collaboration and Interaction

Create an opportunity for students to work together. Google or Microsoft tools are great for this. You can also leverage tools like Flipgrid, Padlet, or the discussion board. 

Respond to posts, either some individually and/or by addressing the whole class in a video announcement.

Step 4: Independent Reflection and/or Assessment

Create an opportunity for students to independently practice or get private feedback from you that guides their learning. This could be a simple metacognitive activity asking students to reflect on what they understand or what they are struggling with. 

Using This Template

Use the data from asynchronous or on-demand lessons like these to drive your small group instruction. When we intentionally design independent learning experiences to give us data about our students' progression toward mastery plus create opportunities for them to engage with each other in meaningful ways, our ability to effectively teach online or in a blended environment grows. 

If you would like to map out a lesson using this template, either independently or with your team, check out the following Spark Post. Clicking on the image below will take you to a remixable template of an Adobe Spark Post. Select remix this design below the image to get your own editable copy. 

Make your own version of this template at Adobe Spark

Download your finished template as an image and share it on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #PerfectBlendBook. I'd love for you to tag me in your post (@micheeaton) to see what you are planning! 

What to Teach In-Person in a Hybrid Model Part 3: Choosing Your Face-to-Face Learning Activities

This is Part 3 in a three-part series of blog posts on making decisions about what to teach live and in-person while working within a hybrid classroom. Visit the Part 1 post to read about integrating the in-person and online modalities and the Part 2 post to dive into different models of hybrid learning.

Learning Activities for In-Person vs. Online Instruction

As you begin to think about how to best structure your hybrid classroom, based on your content, students, and personal teaching style, the next step is to consider what activities are going to be best suited for in-person instruction. What are the activities that can be easily designed online for flexible student learning? How are you going to prioritize your limited live time with students? 

Here are some ideas:

Possible In-Person Activities

• Hands-on activities
• Experiments
• Answering student questions
• Speaking and listening activities
• Small group instruction
• Socratic Seminar
• Debates
• Critical thinking and problem solving activities
• Conferencing and feedback with students

Possible Online Activities

• Active reading
• Videos
• Problem sets
• Discussion
• Assessment
• Peer feedback and review
• Projects
• Writing
• Reflection

Choosing In-Person Learning Activities based on Content or Curriculum

As I have shared in previous blog posts in this series, what you choose to do online versus in-person could be heavily influenced by the content that you are teaching. For elementary teachers, it may vary from one subject to the next. For secondary teachers, that means your class time may look significantly different from the teacher's down the hall. That's okay! Here are just a couple of examples that might get you brainstorming and reflecting about how to best maximize your in-person time within a hybrid model. 

Special Area Classes or Career Preparation

An art teacher or a culinary arts instructor may find that there are simply some things they have to teach in-person because of the hands-on nature of their content. Other content they teach might be able to happen away from the classroom. For these teachers, they may find themselves in a hybrid model where half of their content is taught from introduction to assessment online and the other half is taught in-person. 

World Language

I have spoken with several world language instructors who are taking different approaches to hybrid learning. Some are prioritizing the speaking and listening activities for their in-person instruction while teaching other content like grammar completely online. 

Meanwhile, others are incorporating more of a reteaching model. In this model, most initial instruction happens online (flexibly completed both in-person and remotely), while the teacher spends their in-class time doing whole group or small group reteaching based on the data they receive from the online learning. 

Social Studies

Many of the social studies teachers and elementary teachers I have spoken to have indicated that when teaching social studies, the live time with students for things like discussion, debate, and projects is critical. To prioritize these types of learning activities in the physical classroom, online learning is used as the foundation of the curriculum delivery. 

Math

Math teachers around the country and world were already flipping their classrooms pre-COVID because it gave them the opportunity to work directly with students while they were applying the skills they learned. This flipped classroom model transitions well to a hybrid environment, allowing direct instruction to happen remotely and guided practice to happen in-person. 

A small group model may also work well for math instruction. If the bulk of initial instruction is delivered online both while students are working remotely and in the classroom, teachers can use in-class time to meet with small groups. This small group instruction can be designed based on the data teachers collect from the online learning portion of the class. 

Reading and Writing

So much of reading and writing instruction happens in small groups or through conferencing. To prioritize this time in-person, some direct instruction and independent and collaborative practice must happen online. Like all of the subjects mentioned above, when the online portion is designed intentionally to make learning transparent and to give the teacher data about what the students know and can do, that data can be used to maximize the limited time available in-person with students. 

Final Thoughts

As you make these decisions about how to spend your live time with students, I encourage you to reflect on what your most important function is in the physical classroom and what tasks can be done really well leveraging technology. 

Another question to reflect on might be "Why do you value in-person learning?" What are the things that make physically being in a classroom with students something that is hard to replicate or replace? And how can we align our learning activities to honor our priorities as instructors and the opportunities we want to create for our students, even if we have limited face-to-face time in the class? 

As you begin to experiment with your personal hybrid model, I encourage you to seek out feedback, especially from your students. Ask them to share on a regular basis what is working well, what they wish they could do online, and what isn't working. They will be able to give you some incredibly useful insight about how to adjust your digital lessons. And if you incorporate their ideas, you will likely see boosts in engagement as students see that not only their opinion matters, but it directly impacts what learning looks like for them in the classroom. 

Ultimately, don't be afraid to redesign when necessary. It's not going to be perfect, but we can continue to grow and iterate as we continue to create educational experiences for students that keep learning going no matter the environment. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts about hybrid learning and what is working in your classroom. Share in the comments or on Twitter using the hashtag #PerfectBlendBook. 

What to Teach In-Person in a Hybrid Model Part 2: How to Structure Your Weekly Learning Experiences

This is Part 2 in a three-part series of blog posts on making decisions about what to teach live and in-person while working within a hybrid classroom. Visit the Part 1 post to read about integrating the in-person and online modalities.

Models of Blended Learning Suited for a Hybrid Environment

There are several models of blended learning, but Thomas Arnett of the Clayton Christensen Institute confirms that there are two that stand out above the rest as ideal for a hybrid learning environment. The flipped model and the enriched virtual model are both well-suited for implementation in a hybrid structure.

Excerpt from The Perfect Blend:

Flipped Classroom: The basic premise of flipped learning is that online learning is used as a homework tool, freeing up the teacher during class time to help with student application. The online learning portion of the instruction could be as simple as a video lecture that students watch at home. Students could work through more sophisticated online lessons at home, as well. 

Under the Flipped Classroom Model, instead of spending class time providing basic instruction, teachers are able to essentially replicate themselves. The teachers move the basic instruction online in a carefully crafted assignment and is "present" when the student is learning at home. The teacher then dedicates subsequent in-class time to helping students apply that learning.

Enriched Virtual: The Enriched Virtual Model uses online learning as the primary vehicle for instructional delivery. This method of instruction allows the students to complete the majority of their work outside of a traditional brick-and-mortar setting. Because it is still a blended learning model and not fully online, students are asked to come for face-to-face learning sessions at specific times. Online learning is the primary mode of learning, and the face-to-face opportunities in a brick-and-mortar setting supplement the learning. 

Your Interaction with Students in Each Model

Adapted from a chart originally made by McKinsey & Company, I recreated this visual for a recent presentation to hybrid teachers in my district. This chart showcases where interaction with students happens in each of the models, with in-person and remote there for comparison. 

The slides template I used for the presentation was created by Slidesgo, including images from Freepik.

As you can see in the chart, the flipped model essentially flips the homework model on its head, allowing for initial instruction to happen online while students are home. The enriched virtual model gives a bit more flexibility over what happens at home, since the foundation of the learning is in an online environment. 

The model you choose will be based heavily on your teaching style and your course curriculum. What works for one teacher may not work well for another. As you read in Part 1, the first step is to really reflect on your role in the classroom and what is best-served as live instruction for your particular context.

Suggested Ways to Structure Your Hybrid Classroom within These Two Models

Here are just some of the ways you might structure your course throughout the week to effectively blend instruction while students are physically in the classroom only a few days a week. 

• Flipped: Design all new instruction through online lessons. When students are in-person, use that time for active practice. 
• Different Content: Prioritize some content for in person and other content to be learned online. This model works if you have some flexibility over when each of the learning objectives could be taught throughout the week (if it's okay that some students would learn certain content at the beginning of the week while the other half of the class learns it at the end of the week). 
• Same Content: If online learning is the foundation for instruction delivery, students at home could be learning the same content as the students who are physically in class. Everyone is moving through the same online material at the same time, regardless of environment. The teacher would use the in-person time to meet in small groups for more focused instruction. Work that was not completed in class would turn into homework. 
• Weekly Flexibility: Instead of daily online lessons when students are home, all students could be given more flexibility to complete a week's worth of online learning at their own pace throughout the week. The teacher would supplement that instruction when the students were face-to-face, either providing whole group instruction or allowing the students to work online while she pulls small groups or conferences with students. 
• Reteaching: This structure would put the bulk of new instruction, guided practice, and assessment online, similar to the "same content" structure above. The teacher would use data from that online instruction to identify gaps in understanding and to focus on either whole group and/or small group reteaching of material in class. 

What structure makes the most sense for your classroom? Are there additional ways to organize your weekly instruction not listed here that you could share? Use the comments feature below to share your ideas or share on Twitter using the hashtag #PerfectBlendBook. 

Stay tuned for Part 3 where will take a look at instructional activities well-suited for in-person instruction within a hybrid model.