How To Enrich Blended Learning
Blended learning is one of the greatest burgeoning trends in education in 2017. The term blended learning is defined as a mixture of the use of educational technologies and traditional face-to-face instruction. It combines in-class learning with internet-based learning and allows students to control the pacing, place, and timing of their education. While blended learning does require a teacher to be present, it ensures that students are gaining skills of independence and responsibility.
1. Allow Students To Fail And Learn From Their Mistakes
One of the major aspects of blended learning is that it promotes student independence. Students will work at their own pace in a blended learning system and that will allow them to understand and appreciate the responsibilities of education as well as in life. By not having to rely on teachers for everything, it will prepare them for college and eventually the workforce. This is an extremely important aspect of blended learning, but it cannot and will not be achieved without students hitting some bumps along the way. Students will miss assignment deadlines, they will do poorly on some tests and they will not always perform as well as they may have if they were being constantly monitored like in traditional school setting. In blended learning, failure is crucial for students’ successes, and while they may initially get upset when it happens, it will allow them to learn from their mistakes and learn to do better next time. While it may seem counterintuitive to allow students to fail in order for them to succeed, it is an important lesson and it is imperative for blended learning to work effectively.
2. Have Students Work Together And Collaborate
Within any learning system, it is crucial for students and teachers to work together to allow students to achieve the best education possible. In blended learning and other contemporary teaching systems it is also important for students to collaborate amongst themselves as well. This idea is not new, but in recent years it has definitely become more prevalent within the teaching community. Students should be engaging one another when working on classwork, homework, projects, and any other activity that could be worked on as a group. While blended learning provides students with the ability to be independent, using their resources around them will allow for them to understand the importance of collaborative work. There are many ways that teachers can facilitate collaboration within the classroom, such as arranging desks in cooperative formations and having students exchange phone numbers and email addresses. If the school district has a content management system (CMS) where students can message one another, that is another excellent option for having students work together.
3. Manage Resources Efficiently
Efficiently managing resources is an extremely important aspect of blended learning. Being that technology is one of the key components of blended learning, it is imperative to make sure that the school’s technological resources are being used in the most effective manner possible. It is necessary for teachers to save and organize their computer-based resources before lessons and make sure that they are properly prepared. Teachers can use management tools such as BlendSpace, Symbaloo and many others in order to develop blended content. They can use these programs to aid in instruction in order to ensure that students are effectively being taught and are learning what they need to know. As well as teachers managing their resources, students should be managing theirs as well. If the school district has CMS software, students should know how to organize and work with these programs in order to receive the best education possible.
Final Thoughts
Blended learning is going to be the future of education. In 10 years, the idea of a traditional classroom setting will be preposterous, and technology will be incorporated into all schools all around the globe. What sets blended learning apart is not only its integration of technology, but also the way in which it allows students to learn independence, collaborate with one another, and effectively organize their resources. With schools constantly changing their curriculums and their programs, it is difficult to say what exactly will be integrated into future school plans; however, it seems extremely likely that in the upcoming decades blended learning will permeate into a majority of schools.
