Blended Learning

                The recent appearance of books, trade magazines and journal articles, conferences, and campus initiatives focusing on “blended learning” would lead one to believe that a new educational phenomenon has been discovered. In actually, the blending of face-to-face instruction with various types of non-classroom technology-mediated delivery has been practiced within the academy for more than four decades. DeZure, Buckley, Barr and Tagg, and others note that the confluence of new pedagogies, new technologies, and new theories of learning are enabling entirely new models of teaching and learning and that this change is of sufficient magnitude to be described as an educational transformation of paradigm shift.

            The term “blended learning” refers to courses that combine face-to face classroom instruction with online learning and reduced classroom contact hours (reduced seat time). The latter point is an important distinction because it is certainly possible to enhance regular face-to face courses with online resources without displacing classroom contact hours.

            Between the two Web-enhanced courses and blended courses that combine face-to face and online instruction with reduced seat time. Blended learning should be viewed as a pedagogical approach that combines the effectiveness and socialization opportunities of the classroom with the technologically enhanced active learning possibilities of the online environment, rather than a ratio of delivery modalities.

            Blended learning should be approached not merely as a temporal construct, but rather than as a fundamental redesign of the instructional model with the following characteristics:

·         A shift from lecture- to student-centered instruction in which students become active and interactive learners (this shift should apply to the entire course, including the face-to-face contact sessions);

·         Increases in interaction between student-instructor, student-student, student-content, and student-outside resources; and

·         Integrated formative and summative assessment mechanisms for student and instructor.

Maximizing success in a blended learning initiative requires a planned and well-supported approach that in includes a theory-based instructional model, high-quality faculty development, course development assistance, learner support, and ongoing formative and summative assessment. Weather fully online or blended, is the resulting increase in student (and probably instructor) information literacy, providing students with new abilities that benefit them throughout their entire academic and employment careers.

Blended learning also benefits the institution by improving the efficiency of classroom use and reducing on-campus traffic and the associated need for parking spaces. It is also possible to apply the blended model in innovative ways to both increase student learning outcomes and reduce instructional delivery costs.

Blended learning also brings new operational challenges. For most institutions, it is difficult to optimize the classroom scheduling process to capture all classroom hours left unused by blended courses.

Blended courses are highly likely to require a computer, projector, and internet access in the classroom used for the face-to-face class meetings. As the number of blended courses increases, the demand for multimedia-equipped classrooms may exceed the supply.

Blended learning in higher education is an evolving phenomenon that offers promise for addressing challenges such as access, cost, efficiency, and timely degree completion. In addition, this approach will impact aspects of the academy such faculty development and rewards, student retention, college and department structure, as well as the notion of lifelong learning. Our experience is that blended learning is a transformational force, even at the outer edges of its influence. In a real sense, “It has only just begun!”