Blended learning has been an effective instructional strategy for teachers and students over the past decade or so. Even more so since the onset of remote and hybrid learning, blended models have been both necessary and effective. Though not as common as it used to be, blended learning still occurs in many schools and it's highly effective for students who learn differently. For educators who have heard some benefits of blended learning, but not tried it, we hope to ease your apprehensions. There are so many blended learning examples and, because of this, sometimes, it can be overwhelming or tricky to implement new resources, but teachers can often find success with a little persistence.
The Basics of Blended Learning
To best utilize blended learning, it’s important to know its meaning, how to implement it, and how to achieve success. Typically, in our Eduporium Weekly posts, we dedicate a section to explaining and defining the main theme of the week, which is how we'll kick this one off. Basically, blended learning consists of a mixture of traditional, instructor-led learning and online learning activities. The online experiences don't necessarily require teacher supervision or support, giving them the opportunity to problem solve on their own. By incorporating technology—both physical tech tools and online platforms—into the instruction they facilitate, teachers can expose students to these tools so that they can continue using them outside of the classroom.
Using video to engage students.
Blended learning involves strategically using instructional technology and digital resources to enhance learning and help students gain a greater understanding of key topics. One of the most commonly used technologies in blended learning is video. Whether it's YouTube or any other site, educators can leverage video to help kids see things in a new way. This also helps students who learn differently begin to understand concepts they may have missed previously. These days, it’s easy for teachers to share a video link and for students to watch it on their device. This often works best when they watch it at home, share their thoughts on a communal channel, and then discuss their reactions in the next class. It typically increases their engagement levels, helps them think critically, and even gives them some digital literacy practice.
Preparing students for the future.
Since students often work in groups, this presents a good opportunity for teachers to incorporate blended learning even if kids are at home some of the time. They can still collaborate on blended projects and use online platforms to communicate, giving them a sense of real-world, real-time collaboration. After completing projects or assignments, which can be short- or long-term, students can also take online assessments so teachers understand their comprehension. Since technology has developed so rapidly in recent years, there's a greater demand for tech-enabled learning in all subject areas. Plus, digital learning helps prepare students for the future—one in which they might have to work quickly with others in different locations to produce projects on the fly.
The Pedagogy of Blended Learning
While the blended learning model certainly does work in many cases, educators play a pivotal role in its success. They’re not entirely letting go of students and still must provide support in a number of ways. In blended instruction, pedagogy is very important even though kids are doing about half of the learning on their own. At a fundamental level, it’s good for teachers to remember that blended instruction consists of how they're able to enhance the educational experience for students by using technology. And, blended learning itself takes place when students use technology to take control of their learning and its pace. Of course, the resources educators have to work with and their students' ages are also important.
Student-centered instruction.
A blended approach provides teachers with the opportunity to make learning more personal for each student. Since they’re doing a lot of the learning on their own, kids are able to choose the method that’s best for their individual needs and learning preferences. To achieve this, teachers should focus on shifting their instruction from teacher-centered to student-centered. Since EdTech tools have evolved a great deal, this process is a lot simpler and the opportunities have been amplified. Relying on traditional instructional techniques isn’t the worst thing teachers can do, but they should also try new strategies when implementing blended learning. The best pedagogical practices in blended environments include small-group instruction (working with one group at a time), regularly checking for understanding, differentiating when necessary (and possible), using formative assessments, and providing actionable feedback consistently.
Ingredients for blended learning.
Perhaps the most important element of blended pedagogy is empowering students to take ownership of their learning. If those learning experiences are also personalized, then that’s even better. To do this, educators can focus on increasing student agency, creating flexible learning spaces, and assigning tasks that students can complete with technology. The path, pace, and place of blended learning are all important for students as is providing choice whenever possible. As for proven models, some of the favorites include station rotation, choice boards, and the flipped classroom approach among others. Each provides a unique learning experience and, when coupled with the right pedagogy, can make a world of difference.
Blended Learning Types and Myths
Blended learning is sometimes as simple as trying one new thing in the classroom. There are (at least) a few different types of blended learning—each with its own set of benefits and ways of helping students depending on how the classroom is set up. The first is station rotation, in which students simply rotate through learning stations based on a structured schedule (at least one of them involves online learning). Another is lab rotation, in which students move to a computer lab for the online portion of their learning. A third is individual rotation, in which students rotate through stations, but stick to schedules that work best for them. Next, the flipped classroom involves students doing a lot of learning at home using online lectures, videos, and assessments. And, educators can adapt each of these in the way that works best for the students who are taking part.
Blended learning perceptions.
There are also some myths associated with blended learning and the first is that it's exclusive to education. Well, we just shared four different ways to do it, so that’s probably not true. Practicing blended learning also doesn’t necessarily mean that teachers need to abandon other instructional innovations. There's still plenty of time and multiple entry points for innovation, like the addition of STEM tools, for example. Another myth is that personalized learning and blended learning are different and shouldn’t happen at the same time. This is untrue because, if a teacher is personalizing learning for students, then, chances are, they’re using technology. And, when using technology in the classroom as well as at home, students are participating in blended learning.
Different ideas of successful instruction.
Also, some teachers and parents tend to conclude that kids wearing headphones and staring at screens is not learning. This, however, is blended learning at its finest—a personal setup for each student that helps activate as much engagement as possible. The content they consume is also often personalized for them. And, finally, one last blended learning myth is that technology use alone is already helping improve learning for students. Simply using tech, however, doesn’t always do a lot to disrupt the traditional educational environment. In fact, blended learning doesn’t even mean that kids should be using technology as much as possible. To create the ideal ‘blend,’ there needs to be a balance between tech and no tech, which is why it’s good to know about the different blended learning models.
Benefits of Blended Learning
Besides the long-term benefits of blended learning, it also helps make in-class experiences better in a lot of cases. There are a variety of blended learning benefits for students—and they cover a lot of different aspects of education. For one thing, blended learning experiences help improve communication among students. Since most have grown up using technology, they should be pretty tech literate already, but educators can enhance these kinds of learning experiences with effective communication. Blended learning often requires student-to-student communication, which helps them see what communicating in the real world is like. Also, in blended environments, teachers gain more freedom to use EdTech and even AR and VR to engage students, helping create more appealing learning exercises.
Blended learning and personalization.
We’ve already mentioned the opportunities for personalization blended learning creates, but it doesn’t hurt to go into more detail. With larger class sizes, it's often difficult for teachers to understand and address the needs of each individual student. By blending their instruction, however, teachers can save a lot of time and help make this possible. This also helps them emphasize or de-emphasize certain points based on what students already know or need to focus more on. As for time saving, blended instruction helps teachers a lot when planning their curricula. This allows them to spend more time on one-on-one instruction with certain students, which, of course, helps them shore up any weaknesses they might have, including intellectual or social-emotional.
Benefits beyond academics.
Particularly for students, blended learning creates improved access to educational content and a more flexible academic experience. They’re able to access supplemental content on their own time and learn at the pace that is best for them. Also, the different ways that blended experiences accommodate students lead to increased satisfaction in a lot of situations. Plus, being able to participate silently or anonymously in digital environments helps level the playing field for introverted learners. Finally, blended learning can help enhance retention by allowing students to revisit the content any time and from anywhere. Whether they’re in the classroom or at home, blended learning helps them carry on and progress with regularity.
The Best Blended Learning Strategies
So, we’ve talked about what blended learning is, implementing it, and what to look for to determine its success. To cap things off, here are some strategies for using blended learning to create a connected classroom. Students today are digitally savvy, but the way they understand, interact with, and use technology is also a bit complex. This is part of the reason why blended learning has been adopted in so many classrooms—and resulted in success. Teachers are constantly expanding and improving blended learning methods, which gives them a great opportunity to weave it into their instruction successfully. Using any of the blended learning models, teachers can show practical examples, illustrate content, incorporate EdTech, flip their classrooms, keep instruction hands-on, receive digital feedback, differentiate learning, and more.
Easing into blended learning.
When getting started with blended learning, there are some strategies teachers can try to increase their chances of success. The first of those is to simply take things easy. There are a lot of things to consider with a shift to blended instruction and it’s important to understand that students aren’t always completely prepared. Some factors to consider from the onset are the space and budget restrictions teachers may face, whether or not their blended instruction will incorporate a BYOD policy, whether or not they’re purchasing new technology, and how that technology will be used and maintained. This leads to the second useful strategy—getting a clearer picture. Obviously, this is important for many reasons but, namely, it helps teachers connect with students and the digital world. It also helps them find a way to ‘blend’ digital learning and traditional instruction.
Blended learning and future readiness.
To use blended learning to prepare students for the future, educators could also try the 'students as leaders' approach. This helps them engage kids in a unique way and allows students to demonstrate and reinforce what they’ve learned. Another idea is to try using movement in blended activities. This entertainment, stimulation, and added variety is likely to keep students interested and engaged for longer periods. Finally, teachers can create their own blended learning challenges that are useful to them and their students. All projects should inspire children and challenge them to use critical thinking. This is done so that, when they leave school for the day, they can continue using those critical thinking skills on the blended learning tasks they do at home. All of these elements (we know, there are a lot) put together should help create great blended learning for students.
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