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What is Blended Learning

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How to Grow a Classroom Culture That Supports Blended Learning. The excerpt below is from the book “Moonshots in Education: Launching Blended Learning in the Classroom,” by Esther Wojcicki, Lance Izumi and Alicia Chang. This excerpt is from the chapter entitled “Trick in the Blended Classroom,” written by Wojcicki. It all started in 1987, when I got a grant from the State of California. The state sent me eight Macintosh computers, never asking if I knew how to use them, and when they arrived I had no idea how to even turn them on.

I realized then that I was going to fail if I didn’t get some help quickly. I looked around for colleagues who could help, but none of them had any idea. Our school had no IT department. The students were absolutely thrilled to help me (can you imagine being asked to help a teacher?!) I was soon sold on the idea of collaboration, respect, and trust in the classroom. Computers, tablets, and other electronic devices alone are not going to change the classroom. The students also put out a newspaper or magazine. David M. Blended Learning Starter Tool by the HEA. What is blended learning? Blended approaches use multiple methods to deliver learning by combining face-to-face interactions with online activities. Where did blended learning come from? Blended learning (sometimes referred to as hybrid learning) has a complex heritage that has evolved from the distance and open education movements and the development of online or e-learning.

The earliest references to the term ‘blended learning’ are from the late 1990s and, since that time, definitions of its meaning have varied according to particular combinations of pedagogy and technologies (Friesen 2012). The detail of the ‘blend’ is context specific influenced by institutional culture, learner need and is often bounded by the digital capabilities of teachers. How does blended learning work? Sector Snapshot Where is blended learning currently being used and how?

Case studies are emerging which document the benefits of blended synchronous learning. Getting Started Next Steps References Talk & Share. Benefits of Blending. What is Blended Learning? (short) Examining Blended Learning Models: Student To Student Interactions. In part 1 of this 6-part series, Thomas Stanley looked at an overview of blended learning, specifically the critical interactions of a blended learning model.

In part 2 below, Stanley looks specifically at student-to-student interaction, and the reality of synchronous and asynchronous access. Examining Blended Learning Models: Student To Student Interactions by Thomas Stanley, Project Learning LLC Student-to-Student Interaction Used to expand the students’ education and learning experiences, the student-to-student exchange is a critical part of a quality online class. There are a series of important questions that need to be answered: What is the value of a student-to-student relationship in the online world? What expectations should a school or program have about the depth and breadth of student interaction? What is the value of intensive student-to-student exchanges? What expectations should a school or program have about the depth and breadth of student interaction? How Should We Define 'Success' in the Blended Classroom? It’s one thing to set goals for student achievement. It’s entirely another to define what success looks like for blended learning programs.

That very challenge, however, evolved as a prevalent theme at the November 8 - 11 2015 iNACOL symposium, which brought together 3,000 educators, edtech entrepreneurs, nonprofit representatives, and thought leaders to Orlando to discuss blended learning. Issues around personalized frameworks and virtual schools all slipped into conversations. Yet the question of assessing “success” popped up over and over again. Among the voiced questions: Should we point to test scores as emblematic of a blended program that works? Is that limiting?

Fresh research also took center stage: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation debuted its report, Continued Progress: New Evidence on Personalized Learning, that showed evidence that personalized learning can improve students' outcomes in math and reading. Test Scores: Not Quite the Bottom Line Overhyped claims are a flag.