Blended Learning

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Blended Learning

EDU372: Educational Psychology

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Blended Learning

Blended learning is a newer concept in schools throughout the nation, where the

traditional classroom, pen and paper learning, meets the latest and greatest technological

advances in online learning. To say students in classrooms today are getting the best of both

worlds would definitely be an understatement, as the old ways of lecture-learning are becoming

more and more extinct, while small group, engaged instruction, and online learning are

becoming more relevant and more successful than ever thought possible.

As explained in The Fundamentals of Blended Learning video (2012), “Blended learning

is about leveraging digital content to provide students with skills and practice. Meanwhile, the

teacher focuses on depth and application of concepts to teach higher order of thinking skills”

(Education Elements, 1:29). In order to accomplish all the goals that blended learning seeks out,

there are four different parts within the instruction that make it possible. The first is a lab

rotation, in which students go to the familiar computer lab and learn content from internet

programs in the particular area of study that they are working on, to gain a more interesting and

fun way of learning. The second is in a class rotation where the students are split into several

different small groups and rotate to different centers/stations, such as small group with the

teacher as the instructor, small group with computers as the instructor, and guided practice

(Education Elements, 2012). The third part of blended learning is the flex model in which the

students work in what may look like cubicles in an office, doing individual instruction, while the

teacher may pull one student out at a time to work on direct, one on one instruction at any given

time. The fourth and final type of blended learning is the Pod concept, where there are numerous

grade levels within any given classroom and the teacher is often looked at in a new light, wearing

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different hats such as advisor or behavior specialist to sustain each pod (Education Elements,

2012). These four important areas make up what is known as blended learning.

The theories that inform blended learning the most include Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive

Development and Bruner’s Theory of Discovery Learning. Piaget’s Theory informs blended

learning in that it points out how vital and important active experiences are, rather than just

listening to lecture and writing with pen and paper. Piaget points out that in order to gain a full

perspective and understanding of the world around them, children should gain experience

through doing and experiencing, and social interaction should take place as well, in order to gain

that total understanding (LeFrancois, 2011). Within the blended learning classroom, we can see

Piaget’s theory shining through as the students are doing hands-on activities and learning

through many different outlets.

Perhaps an even closer theory that informs blended learning is Bruner’s Theory of

Discovery Learning, a constructivist concept that calls on the students to be detectives in their

learning, as they must figure out each lesson in a way that involves less of the teacher and more

self-guidance in order to discover, “… the formation of categories or, more often, the formation

of coding systems, which are defined in terms of relationships (similarities and differences) that

exist among objects and events” (LeFrancois, 2011, sec.6, p.3). Discovery learning basically

happens when students are to figure out concepts and key information with only the small

amount of materials provided to them, thus constructing their own way of doing and

understanding any one thing (Alfieri, et.al., 2011). In blended learning classrooms, the students

are often left to their own devices, whether at the computer lab or in small groups, discovering

their own unique ways to understand things and problem-solve, which is a huge part of both of

these aforementioned theories.

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A huge advantage to the blended learning classroom is the engagement that students tend

to have verses a normal, lecture-style classroom. Because these classrooms call on different

areas of each student’s domain and learning style rather than just the one-dimensional way of

learning, the student is able to become and stay engaged in any lesson at hand, as each lesson is

unique and interesting, oftentimes within varying environments (Education Elements, 2012).

A second advantage to blended learning is the ability for individual paces to be set; those

struggling with current material would not feel bad about themselves and would not be pressured

to go faster to catch up to those at a higher level within the room, and vice versa – brighter

students would be able to go at a faster rate should the material become too easy for them.

Further blended learning classroom advantages include smaller group instruction, more focused

teacher attention in both class rotation and flex model, and easier classroom management for

teachers who normally may struggle in dealing with an entire group of 25 or more students at

once (Staker & Horn, 2012).

A disadvantage of the blended classroom is the fact that many students simply do not

have as strong of IT knowledge as their peers, making it difficult to accomplish much of the

blended classroom tasks, considering how much technology is utilized in this type of setting.

Even if a student is strong in any given subject, if he or she cannot understand how to do simple

things on a computer that the others understand, it can make it that much more difficult to

complete individual computer assignments and could then fall behind. A second disadvantage is

the fact that teachers will need to restructure their entire way of teaching and curriculum, as they

go from teacher to facilitator, often guiding the students in their discoveries online and in small

group activity. Having to teach their students how to organize their time and trouble-shoot new

concepts and new courses by themselves is a challenge in and of itself, as the old ways of

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lecture-based curriculum goes out the window and the new classroom is an entirely different

dynamic.

As an educator, blended learning is changing my role from teacher/lecturer, to

organizer/mentor/facilitator. Rather than standing in front of a room full of students and talking

all day, writing on the chalkboard, and calling on hands, I will be implementing a number of fun

and often computer/technologically-based learning activities for the students to discover their

own learning from. Students will be in small group activity, learning around the room in the

room’s stations, creating their own understanding of the world around them and lessons that are

student-led and facilitated through me. I will introduce key tools on the internet for the students,

such as Storybird, which will help them with reading and storytelling, and Google Docs, which

will open up their worlds to real-time cloud usage and document sharing.

Storybird is truly a remarkable and fantastic website that I foresee using with my future

students to help in the creation of fun and interesting stories. As a teacher, I will definitely

utilize this site in reading and writing lessons as a new way to put pen to paper, so to speak, in

order for my students to get more out of being creative and having fun with school, rather than

the “boring” old routine of sitting at a desk and zoning out, thinking about what the next

paragraph will talk about. I especially like this as a teaching tool for young writers as it allows

them to write from a different angle. Instead of making up a story off the top of their heads, they

get to choose the path of the story through pictures on the site, allowing them to get new ideas

coming in from all different angles. I think the later elementary school grades – third through

sixth – would definitely benefit from using this tool as they are old enough to type up a logical

story and understand how to use the site with little help.

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Google Docs, on a different scale, is also incredibly remarkable in that it allows students

to create and share documents in real-time. Google Docs provides a common place for others to

edit your work, which can be extremely helpful with group projects. For instance, when students

are working in small groups, and they are all working on a project together, they can utilize

Google Docs from their homes and each continue their part of the small group project, uploading

their part to the cloud in real-time. Each person can also edit the paper to their own liking, while

still keeping the original intact within the document itself. Under the “file” tab, you can see

revision history and among the revisions, you can go to the original one submitted and can

restore the document. Furthermore, students can chat, which is needed when doing a project

with several people; students can begin a group chat with everyone about the project. Google

Docs eliminates the need for everyone to physically be in the same room together, yet still being

able to be together, sharing ideas and creating a project.

While blended learning may seem a little foreign and uncomfortable to many, it is truly a

big step up in terms of fostering strong leadership and independent skills among students at

young, pivotal ages. By incorporating the ever-evolving world wide web into the daily routine

of each student’s life, and in a huge way, we are not only providing them with tools they will use

in the future, but we are paving the way for their dreams to come true and for them to be

prepared and ready to work in order for those dreams to come true. By implementing blended

learning into everyday life, every child is truly getting the best of both worlds and gaining more

than just an education; they are gaining life skills that will follow them down each of their paths.

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References

Alfieri, L., Brooks, P. J., Aldrich, N. J., & Tenenbaum, H. R. (2011). Does discovery-based

instruction enhance learning?. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 103(1), 1-18.

doi:10.1037/a0021017 Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-

library.ashford.edu/

Education Elements. (2012). The Fundamentals of Blended Learning [Video file] Retrieved

from http://vimeopro.com/edelements/education-elements/video/29536658

LeFrançois, G. (2011). Psychology for teaching (11th ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint

Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/

Staker, H. & Horn, M. (2012). Classifying K-12 Blended Learning. [pdf file]. Retrieved

From http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-

content/uploads/2012/05/Classifying-K-12-blended-learning2.pdf