Editorial Type: Feature Book Review & Citations
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Online Publication Date: 01 Jun 2014

Feature Book Review & Citations

Article Category: Research Article
Page Range: 78 – 80
DOI: 10.12930/0271-9517-34.1.78
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F. S. Glazer (Ed.),
(2012) Blended Learning: Across The Disciplines, Across the Academy
Sterling, VA
Stylus
138 pp
$24.95 (paperback). ISBN
978-1-57922-324-3

Amidst calls from policy makers and the general public for more affordable higher education and a better prepared workforce, institutions are undergoing transformation. With encouragement to use online tools to further institutional change, instructors reconsidering their curriculum and pedagogical approach quickly find that adding an online component to a course is not as simple as moving lecture content onto the Web. Glazer discussed the steps involved in redesigning a course and addressed the benefits and challenges of the endeavor.

Glazer defined blended learning as the full integration of face-to-face instruction with online learning experiences in a way that maximizes the strengths of both. She outlined the many benefits of it: Blended learning demands active learning, supports numerous pedagogical approaches, creates time, gives all students a voice, maximizes the value of face-to-face time, helps students organize their knowledge, and encourages self-directed learning. While Glazer's book is clearly biased toward the blended learning model, it addresses the challenges of implementing the complicated format, including the significant amount of front-loaded work that must be done during the redesign process.

Blended Learning provides specific examples of lessons learned from instructors who have attempted to create a blended learning course, and it highlights best practices from professors who have undertaken a course redesign from traditional or fully online to a blended format. The book does a good job of offering baby steps for attempting a move to the blended learning approach and gives warning of potential pitfalls. It also includes example syllabi, lesson plans, and assessments.

Although Glazer wrote Blended Learning for an audience of postsecondary instructors, advisors can benefit from the lessons she offers. Advisors should conceptualize their campus and advising practices and consider ways their approach can work within a blended learning model. They might contemplate the components of advising that are more effective when offered in a face-to-face setting and those most suited to an online venue. One of the most important lessons in Blended Learning explains the importance of timing, and advisors should consider the advisee assignments best completed online before and after the face-to-face appointment.

Many programs already use a blended approach, requiring students to fill out an online form or attend an information session before they schedule an in-person meeting with their assigned advisor. Some advisors use technology to send automated follow-ups to students after the meeting.

Glazer addressed the concern of students' degree of access to the technology required for a blended learning course. As more students can use smart phones, tablets, and wireless Internet 24 hours a day, advisors must remember that not all students possess these tools. Therefore, when designing advising programs and requirements with online components, advisors should know students' level of access and understanding of technology.

I would recommend this book to advisors. It is a very short, easy read and offers some important lessons for working with students in the current political and technological climate. Blended Learning would be a particularly smart read for those advisors who also act as instructors or trainers. Advisors using a blended approach will increase their overall interactions with students and improve learning outcomes.

Reviews posted since the last Journal issue include (members may find complete reviews for referenced books on the Journal's web site at http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Journal/Current-Past-Book-Reviews/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2058/Book-Review-Index-for-Issue-341.aspx):

B+ Grades, A+ College Application. (2013). Book by Joie Jager-Hyman. Review by Ted Lind. Emeryville, CA: Ten Speed Press (Random House). 256 pp., $14.99. ISBN 978-1-60774-341-5.

Blended Learning: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy. (2012). Book by Francine S. Glazer (Ed.). Review by Erin Justyna. Sterling, VA: Stylus. 138 pp., $24.95 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-57922-324-3.

Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct. (2002). Book by P. M. Forni. Review by Kim Wright. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillian. 196 pp., $12.99 (paperback). ISBN 0-312-30250-9.

College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students. (2013). Book by Jeffrey J. Selingo. Review by Alison A. Sommers. Boston, MA: New Harvest Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 238 pp., $15.60. ISBN 978-0-544-02707-7.

Collegiate Transfer: Navigating the New Normal. (2013). Book by Janet Marling (Ed.). Review by Julie R. Nelson. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 96 pp., $29.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-118-70102-7.

Confessions of a Community College Administrator. (2013). Book by Matthew Reed. Review by Neete Saha. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 176 pp., $36.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-1180-0473-9.

Contemplative Studies in Higher Education. (2013). Book by Linda Sanders (Ed.). Review by Liz Murdock LaFortune. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 112 pp., $29.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-118-70098-3.

Creating Balance and Finding Happiness. (2010). Book by Diane Lang. Review by Heather T. Zeng. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt. 65 pp., $30.19. ISBN 978-0-7575-9949-1.

Discovering Your Personality Type. (2013). Book by Donrichard Riso and Russ Hudson. Review by Theresa Lyon. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 224 pp., $13.95. ISBN 978-6182-1903-2.

Foundations of Counseling People: A Guide for the Counseling, Psychological, and Helping Professions. (2013). Book by Michael E. Illovsky. Review by William E. Smith, III. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 286 pp., $59.95. ISBN 978-0-398-08863-7.

From Entitlement to Engagement: Affirming Millennial Students' Egos in the Higher Education Classroom. (2013). Book by Dave Knowlton and Kevin Hagopian (Eds.). Review by Christine Simone. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. 112 pp., $29.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-118-77010-8.

Get into College. (2009). Book by Rachel Korn and Jennifer Kabat (Eds.). Review by Molly Morin. Atlanta, GA: Hundreds of Heads. 560 pp., $17.95 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-933512-15-0.

The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing. (2011). Book by Tonette S. Rocco and Tim Hatcher. Review by Craig M. McGill. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 368 pp., $35.00. ISBN 978-0-470-39335-2.

How to Change the World. (2012). Book by John-Paul Flintoff. Review by Veronica Wilson. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. 177 pp., $16.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-250-03067-2.

How to Survive Your Freshman Year. (2013). Book by Hundreds of Heads. Review by Pooja M. Sampat. Atlanta, GA: Author. 322 pp., $15.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-933512-61-7.

New Realities in the Management of Student Affairs: Emerging Specialist Roles and Structures for Changing Times. (2012). Book by Ashely Tull and Linda Kuk. Review by Caryn N. Morgan. Sterling, VA: Stylus. 232 pp., $29.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-57922-576-6.

Preventing College Student Suicide. New Directions for Student Services, No. 141. (2013). Book by Deborah Taub and Jason Robertson (Eds.). Review by Christine R. Cook. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 112 pp., $29.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-1186-9843-1.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. (2013). Book by Susan Cain. Review by Renée Jones. New York, NY: Random House. 352 pp., $16.00. ISBN 978-0-307-35215-6.

Reframing Retention Strategy for Institutional Improvement. New Directions for Higher Education, No. 161. (2013). Book by David Kalsbeek (Eds.). Review by Cathy Kennemer. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 120 pp., $29.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-1186-4085-2.

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. (2013). Book by Jonathan Haidt. Review by Mike Kennamer. New York, NY: Random House. 528 pp., $16.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-307-45577-2.

Selected Contemporary Assessment Issues. (2013). Book by John Schuh (Ed.). Review by Anita Carter. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 112 pp., $29.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-118-73227-4.

Teaching Harry Potter: The Power of Imagination in Multicultural Classrooms. (2013). Book by Catherine L. Belcher and Becky Herr Stephenson. Review by Amber Kargol. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. 216 pp., $28.00 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-137-32289-0.

The Thinking Life: How to Thrive in the Age of Distraction. (2011). Book by P. M. Forni. Review by Meghan Ingstrup. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. 170 pp., $12.99 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-312-62572-6.

Welfare Brat: A Memoir. (2006). Book by Mary Childers. Review by Tiffany N. Labon. New York, NY: Bloomsbury. 262 pp., $11.99 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-582-34589-5.

What Color is Your Parachute? (2013). Book by Richard N. Bolles. Review by Jeffrey T. Domagala. Emeryville, CA: Ten Speed Press (Random House). 368 pp., $18.99 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-60774-362-0.

World Scouting: Educating for Global Citizenship. (2013). Book by Eduard Vallory. Review by Margaret Mbindyo. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. 256 pp., $29.22. ISBN 978-1-137-35356-6.

The book reviews are compiled by Marsha Miller and Damian Whitney. For an up-to-date list of titles available for review and for submission instructions go to http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Journal/Available-Books.aspx.

Copyright: 2014
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