What is Blended Learning?
This has sometimes been referred to as ‘hybrid learning’. Blended learning is an approach that seeks to take the advantages of different tools and methods and employ them in one organised programme. The term often refers to a mix of traditional face-to-face delivery with asynchronous self-paced learning (delivered over an ICT system). Though it could refer to any blend of approaches (for example; a blend of self-paced learning with collaborative projects).
Blended e-learning – if implemented effectively – can alleviate immediate educational pressures and problems, can increase the flexibility of taught programmes, can attract and retain student interest in a programme, can widen access and participation, and can enhance the quality of offered courses. The implications for supporting this activity potentially span technical, estates, pedagogical, human resources and organisational considerations.
A further reason for considering a blended learning model for a campus-based course is that a culture of distance learning is more likely to arise in departments which are already comfortable with using technology as an embedded part of their teaching and learning; effective blended learning is more likely to lead to effective distance learning, and the two are likely to share tools, platforms and resources.
Increased processing power, wireless networks and mobile computing hardware mean that the traditional image of a computer lab – rows of fixed machines – may be changing. Teaching methods across disciplines now call for the students to work more collaboratively and independently than in the past, and e-learning increasingly fuels this change in pedagogical culture. There is a need for spaces for collaborative working, and equipped with facilities appropriate for modern methods of study.
These ways of working may include:
- Computer-based study involving audio/video playback and recording
- Videoconferencing between locations
- Collaborative working around a common display
- Collective input to a common computer-based object (e.g. simulation models)
- Remote learning; where the students may access the material and communications from other locations
A survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres for the training specialist Skillsoft, found that for every pound spent on e-learning, £4 is still spent on traditional training. Among those companies uninterested in e-learning, the most common objection was that learners preferred being trained by real people. It is also why many training organisations, including IBM, continue to recommend that courses are at least partly classroom-based. One of its senior trainers states that he is “not be in favour of abandoning classroom training,”(Guardian Online) for these reasons.
There is also evidence from research from Stanford University to support a blend of self-paced and synchronous learning. ” Stanford University has over 10 years of experience with self-paced enrichment programs for gifted youth. Their problem was that only slightly more than half of their highly motivated students would complete the programs. They diagnosed the problem as a mismatch between the student’s desired learning style—interactive, social, mentored learning—with the delivery technology. Their introduction of live e-learning into their program raised the completion rate up to 94% by addressing these needs. The improvement was attributed to the ability of a scheduled live event to motivate learners to complete self-paced materials on time; the availability of interaction with instructors and peers; and higher quality mentoring experiences. The Stanford research strongly suggests that linking self-paced material to live e-learning delivery could have a profound effect on overall usage and completion rates—enabling organizations to radically increase the return from their existing investments in self-paced content” (’Building Effective Blended Learning Programs’ Harvey Singh).
Finding an effective ‘blend’ of approaches and tools is the issue.
Possible options considering the stability of the content (an question that might be asked is ‘will the course be online for one or five years’?) against the time allowed to implement the course. If the course will run for a short period and there is also a short development period; then emails, discussion boards and online links might be the most effective tools. If the course is regularly changing and there is a long development time; then live classrooms and archived discussion boards are worth considering.
Other considerations are the level of human interaction and staffing, against the budget constraints of the project. For example high budgets but low levels of staff-student contact time would suggest the production of simulations and image databases. Low budget and high contact time might suggest that discussion forums and online chatrooms are used.
A recommended book to consider these issues is “Strategies for Building Blended Learning ” by Allison Rossett, Felicia Douglis, and Rebecca V. Frazee.
The effectiveness of informal face-to-face learning should also be considered. The discussions carried over lunches with other students, and similar are often very valuable. These discussions, and the peer groups they generate, can be difficult to formalise in a programme of study, but are often more difficult to promote on a purely online model. Some distance learning courses try to blend face-to-face workshops or an informal social meeting into the course to try and overcome this difficulty.