Blended courses are intended to blend the best aspects of in-person instruction with online teaching techniques. But how can instructors determine the right mix? Below are some strategies for thinking about your course that will aid in making determinations for how different activities and objectives can be accomplished. To begin, look at your syllabus or outline for the course and ask yourself the following questions:

• What am I hoping to accomplish by using these proposed instructional methods?
• Do the instructional methods need to be changed and why might they need to be changed?
• What will be gained and lost if they are adjusted?
• What media am I currently using and what are the alternatives?
• Is there a way to combine media within a unit to produce a more desirable effect?
• What will it take to produce and deliver the proposed media?
• How will content changes affect the production or delivery of the media?
• Who can I recruit to test my chosen methods and solicit feedback from before the class goes live?

These may be the answers to your questions:

• make best use of strong points of your model
• make in-person time more efficient
• allow external preparation and best use of in-person time
• group work/discussion may benefit from in-person interaction
• some people prefer the personal touch