Week 9: Teaching, assessment and feedback in a blended or open learning platform

Blended learning refers to any time a student learns, at least in part, at a brick and mortar facility and through online delivery with student control over time, place, path and pace (http://www.knewton.com/blended-learning/).  Staker and Horn (2012) define blended learning as “a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace and at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home.” (Staker & Horn, 2012, p.3).  Graham (2004) proposes that blended learning is “the combination of instruction from two historically separate models of teaching and learning: traditional F2F learning systems and distributed learning systems” (Graham, 2004, p.4). Skrzypek (2013) summarises blended learning as a combination of face to face instruction and online learning:

Blended learning is becoming more significant in the educational sector, especially in higher education institutions for several reasons:

• Blended learning provides a more time efficient and cost saving method of instruction for the teacher. S/he is able to make better economic use of time in lesson preparation and delivery.
• Blended learning suits the learning needs of students who come from varied backgrounds (e.g. students who have to manage employment, part time studies and the demands of family life etc).
• Blended learning is a favourable teaching-learning platform to cater for the growing number of students pursuing higher education as it can reach a wider student audience.
• Blended learning appeals to the 21^st century learner who relies on multi avenues for learning such as information technology and the use of smart devices to facilitate learning and research.
• Blended learning promotes collaboration and sharing among students especially those who are too shy to share their views in a face-to-face platform.

Besides these benefits listed above, research by Osguthorpe and Graham (2003) identified six benefits in blended learning: (1) pedagogical richness, (2) access to knowledge, (3) social interaction, (4) personal agency, (5) cost effectiveness, and (6) ease of revision. Graham, Allen and Ure (2003) found that BL is chosen for three reasons. First BL improves pedagogy. Next, it increases access and flexibility to students, and finally BL increases cost effectiveness.

Reflection

Blended learning (BL) in my organisation is becoming more significant and important as a tool of delivery and feedback. Teachers are using BL to enhance teaching and providing feedback in many subjects in classroom and at home. Several school wide initiatives have impacted teaching and learning such as the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative, e-learning day and varied methods of formative assessments and presentations that use technology.

While the benefits of BL are significant, there is still a high priority given to face-to-face (f2f) instruction and the special relationship a teacher has with his/her students in the intimacy that only a physical classroom can offer. Ramsden (1992) observed that technology itself is not likely to surpass quality teaching.

In many ways, nothing can really substitute the effectiveness and power of good f2f instruction of middle school students if BL is compared to f2f. However, if BL is viewed as a complement to f2f and vice versa, then the significance of BL in the future of education will be even greater and more important for educators.

For further consideration
How does BL impact  student outcomes in toto? Does a possible over emphasis in technology etc lead to any negative effects (e.g. personality fragmentation (DSM), and/or any other disorders?) and have there been any studies that might verify this?

References

Graham, C. R. (2004). Blended learning systems: Definitions, current trends and future directions. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer Publishing

Graham, C. R., Allen, S. & Ure, D. (2003). Blended learning environments: A review of

the research literature. Unpublished manuscript, Provo, UT.

Osguthorpe, R. T. & Graham, C. R. (2003). Blended learning systems: Definitions and

directions. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 4(3), 227-234.

Ramsden, P. (1992). Learning to teach in higher education. London: Routledge.

Skrzypek, F. (2013, March 26). What is blended learning? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIh4jJlvF44

Staker, H. & Horn, M.B. (2012). Classifying K-12 blended learning. Innosight Institute. Retrieved from http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Classifying-K-12-blended-learning2.pdf