BLENDED LEARNING
The
simplest definition of the term blended learning is the use of
traditional classroom teaching methods together with the use of online learning
for the same students studying the same content in the same course. It is a
“thoughtful fusion of face-to-face and online learning experiences” (Garrison and
Vaughan, 2008). There are also blended programmes, in which students study
some courses in face-to-face classrooms and other courses are delivered fully
online.
In
other words, blended learning is a term applied to the practice of providing
instruction and learning experiences through some combination of both
face-to-face and technology-mediated learning. During the technology-mediated
components of these learning experiences, students are not required to be
physically together in one place but may be connected digitally through online
communities. For example, one blended learning course could involve students
attending a class taught by a teacher in a traditional classroom setting while
also completing online components of the course independently, outside of the
classroom, on an online learning platform.
Classroom
instruction time may be replaced or augmented by online learning experiences,
and online learning can include varying degrees of interaction or just time
alone in independent study and learning activities. However, in a quality
blended learning experience, the content and activities of both in-person and
online learning are integrated with one another and work toward the same
learning outcomes with the same content. The various learning experiences are
synthesised, complement each other and are planned or orchestrated to run in
parallel.
Blended
learning is sometimes called hybrid or mixed-mode learning.
These systems of instructional design use many types of teaching and learning
experiences and vary in design and implementation across teachers, programmes
and schools.
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