Blended Learning

First Definition:

Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns:

(1) at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace;

(2) at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home;

(3) and the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.

The majority of blended-learning programs resemble one of four models:

1. Rotation model — a course or subject in which students rotate on a fixed schedule or at the teacher’s discretion between learning modalities, at least one of which is online learning.

a. Station Rotation — a course or subject in which students experience the Rotation model within a contained classroom or group of classrooms.

b. Lab Rotation – a course or subject in which students rotate to a computer lab for the online-learning station.

c. Flipped Classroom – a course or subject in which students participate in online learning off-site in place of traditional homework and then attend the brick-and-mortar school for face-to-face, teacher-guided practice or projects.

d. Individual Rotation – a course or subject in which each student has an individualized playlist and does not necessarily rotate to each available station or modality.

2. Flex model — a course or subject in which online learning is the backbone of student learning, even if it directs students to offline activities at times. Students move on an individually customized, fluid schedule among learning modalities. The teacher of record is on-site, and students learn mostly on the brick-and-mortar campus, except for any homework assignments. These variations are useful modifiers to describe a particular Flex model.

3. A La Carte model — a course that a student takes entirely online to accompany other experiences that the student is having at a brick-and-mortar school or learning center.

4. Enriched Virtual model — a course or subject in which students have required face-to-face learning sessions with their teacher of record and then are free to complete their remaining coursework remote from the face-to-face teacher.

Second Definition

            Blended learning is a term increasingly used to describe the way e-learning is being combined with traditional classroom methods and independent study to create a new, hybrid teaching methodology. It has already produced an offshoot – the flipped classroom – that has quickly become a distinct approach of its own.

A learning model in three parts

There is a general consensus among education innovators that blended learning has three primary components:

·         In-person classroom activities facilitated by a trained educator.

·         Online learning materials, often including pre-recorded lectures given by that same instructor.

·         Structured independent study time guided by the material in the lectures and skills developed during the classroom experience.

 An individual semester of blended learning may emphasize classroom time at the beginning, then gradually increase the amount of work that students do online or during independent study. Many argue that class discussion boards, for example, are far more useful if the participants have met face-to-face first.

The “flipped” classroom, a more recent coinage, refers to classes that are structured almost exclusively around a reversal of expectations for lectures and homework. Students are expected to watch lectures online at home, and do homework while they are in class.

    Blended learning redefining teaching roles

               In some situations, the move to blended learning has inspired educators to redefine traditional roles. The word “facilitator” has emerged as an alternative to “teacher,” bringing with it a slightly different focus. The facilitator places an emphasis on empowering students with the skills and knowledge required to make the most of the online material and independent study time, guiding students toward the most meaningful experience possible. Facilitators focus on four key areas:

·         Development of online and offline course content.

·         Facilitation of communication with and among students, including the pedagogy of communicating content online without the contextual clues students would get in person.

·         Guiding the learning experience of individual students, and customizing material wherever possible to strengthen the learning experience.

·         Assessment and grading, not unlike the expectations for teachers within the traditional framework.

            By putting an emphasis on learning through supervised activities, blended learning has proven to be very adaptable to what some corporations are calling blended training. Trainers can shift their focus from the delivery of knowledge to its application, and companies spend less flying trainers around to oversee all instruction in person.

However, Blended Learning Education system is one of the alternative method to combine between tradition method (face to face) and e-learning activity (online). If teacher or lecturer can manage the combination in this method, the classroom will not lost the comfort in learning and there will be no boring class. (M. Ali Azhar)