What is Blended Instruction?
From LiteracyTentWiki
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment 1052] What is blended Instruction?
From:Leecy Wise leecy at fone.net
Date:Thu May 10 09:29:16 EDT 2007
Before commenting on our topic for these two weeks, I wanted to make
sure I understood the term "blended instruction." I found that it may
mean something a little different than what I had thought. Following
are just three of the definitions among others:
- 1."Blended learning follows a framework that orchestrates movement from one learning experience to the next, so that each step builds on the previous one. Blended learning models enable organizations to move up the educational and collaborative scalestarting with a low-level information exchange and extending to mastery. The power of blended learning models comes into play when you think of combining the tiers in a single learning solution." "Blended learning models may consist of learning from information, interaction, collaboration and classroom experiences. The first three tiers can take advantage of e-learning technology, allowing a company to minimize costs associated with travel, private instructors and time away from the office. " (Learning Strategies: Blended Instruction, June 2005 - Hemant Minocha)http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_article.asp?articleid=982&zoneid=62
- 2."One of the most distinguishable characteristics of blending learning is its ability to combine two different forms/setting of learning and instruction. (Singh, 2001) In blended learning, instruction takes place in an offline and online setting. In the offline setting, the instruction takes place in a traditional, face-to-face classroom. The online setting usually takes place using the Internet. Although there are distance courses solely designed to have all of its instruction take place online through the use of the Web, blended learning utilizes the atmosphere of both offline and online settings." ( Blended Learning in K-12/General Comparisons in Blended Learning, From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection)
- 3. Other institutions and authors refer to blended instruction as that offered through "online/on campus or online/televised delivery. Some consider blended instruction as that which simply uses more than one instructional medium, perhaps along with onsite contact.
I must admit that my perception has matched the third, or last,
interpretation, which also matches the definition for hybrid
learning. In that sense, I've been offering blended instruction for a
long time through interactive video, TV, online, onsite,
teleconferencing and Web conferencing. There are several advantages
to this blended or hybrid format, among them, the ability to engage
several "intelligences" (Gardner) and to meet the technology capacity
of different populations. With blended instruction, we also can make
up for technology glitches that occur in one format or another.
The challenges I've encountered are fewer in terms of the media used,
and more in terms of the overall issue of getting teachers to sign on
even for the best designed training and opportunities. I have found
that shorter is better, with lots of choices in schedules for
participation. It also takes experience, in my view, to be able to
effectively juggle different technologies and environments
effectively. Some trainers are better at using just one vehicle;
others are able to juggle more. Thus, team training may be one
approach to quality blended instruction, as I've defined it.
Finally (whew), teachers still resist the idea that communities can
be as effectively formed or more effectively formed through blended
formats. I still hear, "Oh, but you can never replace the person."
That's when I simply smile and walk away. If you look closely, you'll
see the hair standing on the back of my neck! (We don't replace the
person; we offer students the person in many more ways than
previously possible. You have more, not less, contact with people!)
And there you have my prejudices revealed.
Leecy
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment 1055] Re: Definition of Blended Learning
From:Dr Elizabeth Hanson-Smith ehansonsmi at yahoo.com
Date:Thu May 10 14:27:59 EDT 2007
I tend to use the second of your definitions, Leecy--
two settings: online and on land, perhaps because it is the one
commonly used by the communities of practice I belong to.
I think teachers are sometimes surprised to find that they are
using blended learning in that sense already:
they answer questions via email, they post a Web page with
class information, and so on. It's just a short step to making
lectures available via podcast, eh?
And I also agree with your "prejudice"--teachers have
much more contact with students in an online setting than
on a campus. It's counter intuitive but true!
My daughter-in-law is taking a blended Masters degree
program at SJSU in California--she hates the boredom of
8-hour sessions at the end of the semester when oral
presentations are given "live." They would be much more
exciting in an interactive video or Internet conference, I suspect.
--Elizabeth Hanson-Smith
