Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review AbstractThe design of blended learning environments brings with it four key challenges: (1) incorporating flexibility, (2) stimulating interaction, (3) facilitating students' learning processes, and (4) fostering an affective learning climate. Seeing that attempts to resolve these challenges are fragmented across the literature, a systematic review was performed. Starting from 640 sources, 20 studies on the design of blended learning environments were selected through a staged procedure based on the guidelines of the PRISMA statement, using predefined selection criteria. For each study, the instructional activities for dealing with these four challenges were analyzed by two coders. The results show that few studies offer learners control over the realization of the blend. Social interaction is generally stimulated through introductory face-to-face meetings, while personalization and monitoring of students' learning progress is commonly organized through online instructional activities. Finally, little attention is paid to instructional activities that foster an affective learning climate.

The design of blended learning in response to student diversity in higher education:Instructors' views and use of differentiated instruction in blended learning. AbstractThe implementation of blended learning in higher education is increasing, often with the aim to offer flexibility in terms of time and place to a diverse student population. However, specific attention for the diversity of this group, and how to cater individual needs, is still scarce. Therefore, this study explores instructors' strategies for and beliefs about differentiated instruction in blended learning, together with how the differences between instructors can be explained. A total of 20 instructors working in two adult education centers participated in semi-structured interviews focusing on their (a) use of strategies for differentiated instruction, and (b) beliefs about designing blended learning to address student diversity.The findings reveal that the most commonly used differentiated instruction strategy in a blended learning context was providing students with additional support throughout product development. In addition, three instructor profiles about designing blended learning to address student diversity emerged from the data: (1) disregard: instructors considered no additional support in the blended learning arrangements to match students' needs, (2) adaptation: instructors believed that increased support in the existing blended learning arrangements was sufficient to match students' needs, and (3) transformation:instructors thought that blended learning arrangements should be designed in a completely different way, and be tailored to the characteristics of the students. The results show that half of the instructors considered a transformation of their blended learning arrangements in response to student diversity.Furthermore, instructors' beliefs appear to be strongly connected to the organization and trajectory in which they work. A major implication of these findings is that professional support focusing on instructors' beliefs is of crucial importance to unlock blended learning's full potential. As such, it is important for organizations to develop a clear stance on this issue, which pays explicit attention to responding to learners' needs in blended learning contexts.

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Cutis laxa is an inherited or acquired disease characterized by redundant, sagging and inelastic skin. In inherited cutis laxa an abnormal synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins occurs due to genetic defects coding for diverse extracellular matrix components. Recently, different inborn errors of metabolism have been found to be associated with cutis laxa as well. In some of these metabolic conditions the pathomechanism of cutis laxa remains unknown. Cutis laxa can be inherited in an autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive and X-linked recessive inheritance pattern. Besides the skin abnormalities, in most inherited forms multiple organ systems are involved, leading to a severe, in some forms even lethal, multisystem disorder. To date no effective treatment is available for cutis laxa. This chapter focuses on inherited forms of cutis laxa, offering a practical guideline for clinicians, biochemist and geneticist to diagnose and differentiate between the different forms of cutis laxa, and providing a concise theoretical reference.

Postprint version ofDe Wever, B., Hämäläinen, R., Voet, M., & Gielen, M. (2015). A wiki task for first-year university students: The effect of scripting students' collaboration. The Internet and Higher Education, 25, 37-44. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2014.12 The UGent Institutional Repository is the electronic archiving and dissemination platform for all UGent research publications. Ghent University has implemented a mandate stipulating that all academic publications of UGent researchers should be deposited and archived in this repository. Except for items where current copyright restrictions apply, these papers are available in Open Access.This item is the archived peer-reviewed author-version of: Developing authentic learning environments in higher education calls for pedagogical approaches to foster online collaborative learning. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a collaboration script for a wiki task. A collaboration script is a set of instructions to improve collaboration between learning partners. Participants were first-year university students in Educational Sciences (N=186) collaborating in groups of five during a three-week period to create a wiki on peer assessment in education. Two conditions were contrasted: a scripted and a non-scripted condition. The effect of scripting was measured in four ways (questionnaires, log-file analyses, group product scores, and individual pre-posttest scores). Results show significant positive effects of scripting with respect to the collaborative group processes and students' feelings of shared responsibility. No significant effects of scripting were found with respect to the developed wiki products. As for students' individual learning outcomes, results showed a significant increase from pre-to post-test for all students. Although the increase was higher in the scripted condition, the difference between the conditions was not statistically significant. KeywordsWiki, script, collaboration, collaborative learning 2 A wiki task for first-year university students: the effect of scripting students' collaboration