A NEW BLENDED COURSE ARCHITECTURE

University-level instructors work in an environment where new technology-based teaching tools are created daily. Most instructors are not formally trained in these technologies, so they must determine by trial-and-error which tools are effective. This paper describes a research project that develops a new blended course architecture that combines the best traditional and online tools. The architecture was implemented into two classes and students were surveyed. The results of the survey show that 87.7 % of the students perceive the new architecture to be effective. Further, key components in the design are shown to be very useful individually and in combination