Blending in the humanities: Course model and assessment results

Does technology de-place opportunities for meaningful engagement? Is the reduction of face-to-face time in a blended course a loss to students? And if so, what students are most affected by this shift? Can a blended course only work in disciplines that rely on teaching "facts" or can the recent emergence of digital humanities serve as a framework and provide disciplinary-specific insights for the use of teaching technology in the humanities? This chapter explores the use of learning technology and blended design in an introductory humanities course. Further, the chapter presents a blended course model, assessment data, and ideas for contextual reflection about how change in higher education paradigms is affecting the humanities in order to address them in a cooperative, non-disruptive way. Finally, the unique context, assumptions, and causes for resistance to change in the humanities with regard to technology and blended pedagogy are discussed. This chapter is intended to help readers anticipate and address particular disciplinary perceptions of blended learning.