District's answer to overcrowding: Blended learning. Manchester, N.H., superintendent’s plan would put students in virtual courses to overcome crowded classrooms From wire service reports Read more by staff and wire services reports November 21st, 2012 The proposals are part of an education reform agenda pushed by Mayor Ted Gatsas following an outcry over crowded classrooms. Could technology help solve the problem of crowded classrooms? The Manchester, N.H., school district is poised to find out as soon as next semester, when it plans to offer virtual classes that students at the three high schools would be able to take without physically being in the same room as a teacher. Superintendent Thomas Brennan has presented the plan to the school committee in the form of a report titled “Maximizing Educational Opportunities.”
Under Brennan’s plan, students also would be able to take college-level courses through the University of New Hampshire-Manchester. Gatsas wholeheartedly agreed. 37 Blended Learning Resources You Can Use Tomorrow. 37 Blended Learning Resources You Can Use Tomorrow by Dr.
Justin Marquis Remixing the curriculum – compiling resources from a variety of sources such as free online texts, proprietary information from publishers, and self-created media such as podcasts – is starting to push its way into K-12 and higher education. Get ahead of the curve with these tips for remixing your own online course materials. Gathering the Ingredients Before Remixing Like any course development process, there is a good deal of research that goes into remixing the contents of a new or existing class curriculum. Beyond your own knowledge and expertise, providing high-quality resources for your students is the key to a successful class.
Consider including a small selection of remixed materials at first and expand each time you teach the class. Free Courseware Free Online Texts Video Resources 37 Blended Learning Resources You Can Use Tomorrow is a cross-post from onlineuniversities.com and Dr. Why Haven't Districts Adopted Blended Learning Faster? - Vander Ark on Innovation.
Is the Technology 'Ready' for Blended Learning? To Make Blended Learning Work, Teachers Try Different Tactics. By now, most would agree that technology has the potential to be a useful tool for learning. Many schools have invested in some form of technology, whether it’s in computer labs, tablets, or a laptop for every student, depending on their budget. But for many schools, finding a way to integrate the use of tech in a traditional setting — teacher-centered classrooms — is proving to be a challenge. What educational software should be used? What criteria should the software be judged against? And what happens to the role of the teacher and classroom activities when students are using software for practice exercises?
At this point, just a couple of years into the movement, there are no definitive answers yet. “It’s going to be more about teachers having nimble classrooms.” But for any of those tactics to work, educators agree that the key is to have a clear vision of what the technology is being used for, and how that will affect the teacher’s role. That might be easier said than done.
Related. Blogs on Blended Learning. Blended Learning: Combining Face-to-Face and Online Education. There's this myth in the brick and mortar schools that somehow the onset of online K-12 learning will be the death of face-to-face (F2F) interaction. However this isn't so -- or at least in the interest of the future of rigor in education, it shouldn't be. In fact, without a heaping dose of F2F time plus real-time communication, online learning would become a desolate road for the educational system to travel. The fact is that there is a purpose in protecting a level of F2F and real-time interaction even in an online program. In education, the components of online and F2F are stronger together than apart. The power is in a Blended Learning equation: Face-to-Face + Synchronous Conversations + Asynchronous Interactions = Strong Online Learning Environment And if distance learning is to have the level of quality that we dream for it, we as educators need to proactively be a part of the Blended Learning that is inevitably coming our way.
The Threat Ahead in Teacher Interaction $%#^$^&?!!! 1. Blended Learning: Strategies for Engagement. There are methods and models for implementing blended learning -- from the flipped classroom, to the flex model. All of them are on the continuum of just how much time is spent online and in the online classroom. Blended Learning can provide a unique way of not only engaging students in collaborative work and projects, but also personalizing and individualizing instruction for students. However, there is still one piece that is missing from a great blended learning environment: engagement! As an experienced online teacher of both K-12 and higher education students, I am familiar with the challenges of engaging students in virtual work.
Luckily, the blended learning model still demands some in-person, brick-and-mortar learning, so there is a unique opportunity to use this structure to engage students. #1 Leverage Virtual Class Meetings with Collaborative Work One of the most prominent features of blended learning is the virtual meeting or synchronous class meeting. . #3 Reflect and Set Goals. What Will Work in New Blended Learning Experiment? Lenny Gonzales As the blended learning movement grows in the U.S., schools will need to experiment with what works best in different types of settings.
There’s still a lot to learn about different types of blended learning models, and a new nonprofit called Silicon Schools will raise and invest $25 million toward that effort. With partial grants from the Bay Area’s Fisher family (owners of Gap), and the advice of board members Michael Horn from the Innosight Institute and Salman Khan of the Khan Academy, the nonprofit, which has raised $12 million so far, aims to fund new and innovative approaches in existing blended learning programs with grants to each school. The effort is led by Brian Greenberg, who chronicled the successes and challenges of piloting the Khan Academy in Oakland’s Envision Schools on the Blend My Learning blog. Giving students more responsibility for the learning process was also a significant outcome of the Envision pilot program. 'Embodied Learning' Blends Movement, Computer Interaction.