Blended Learning

Early university elearning initiatives in late nineties fell short of expectations. Students found online courses dry, boring and lacking the social aspect of classroom learning. Education is too complex to rely on only one mode of learning. In the last decade, faced with technology advances and student demands for self- paced learning, traditional universities started to introduce blended learning as a combination of classroom and online teaching. Presently, the prevailing view in academia is that blended learning can deliver the best of both worlds: self paced elearning and social interaction of a classroom.

What is Blended Learning?

Though initially the term blended learning referred to a combined face-to-face and online instruction, its meaning has broadened to include a mixture of various methods of instruction and its delivery. For example, blended learning can include

combining face-to-face and elearning
combining face-to-face and social media learning
combining asynchronous and synchronous virtual classroom
combining classroom lectures and podcasts
combining online learning with access to a tutor
combining simulation games with structured courses

Benefits of Blended Learning

Education theory and practice have shown that using various teaching methods and delivery modes gives best learning outcomes. Blended learning has emerged as a superior learning method. Specific blended learning benefits are

Improved retention of knowledge compared to classroom and online learning (Sitzmann, Ely, 2009).
Reduced drop-out rate
Social support and interaction

How to Use Blended Learning in Course Delivery?

An effective use of blended learning could be combining synchronous and asynchronous delivery modes.

As students learn best in a social setting, a course might start with synchronous sessions. By communicating in real time, students will get to know each other, form a community and feel less isolated. As the course progresses towards more complex content and activities, it will be beneficial to switch to asynchronous sessions. They will give students enough time for reflection, creative and analytical work. Switching between the two delivery modes will also add variety and dynamics to the course and make students more engaged. Most importantly, students will be able to learn in their own time, which is typically the main reason for selecting e-learning in the first place.

In collaborative projects, there is also a need for a blended approach. In project planning, students need to exchange some relatively simple information and get a quick response. The work on project tasks, which requires critical thinking and deep understanding, is best tackled by asynchronous media, such as blogs or wikis.

Blended Learning Examples

Stanford University offers undergraduate mathematics elearning courses for self-motivated students who want the flexibility and self-paced learning.

The courses consist of synchronous multimedia lectures, in which narration is combined with text and graphics. In the asynchronous part, students are asked to study from traditional textbooks and to do exercises. Instructors provide support by email or phone. As courses are self-paced, a student can complete them in a shorter time than the standard period of eight weeks.

In another example from Stanford University, self-paced asynchronous programs used to be offered for gifted youth. The program faced difficulties as about 50% of students dropped out. A research study found a mismatch between the delivery mode and students’ preferred learning styles of interactive, social and mentored supported learning. The introduction of synchronous e-learning improved the program completion rate to 94%.

The University of Tennessee’s Physician Executive MBA (PEMBA) program for mid-career doctors is offered as a mix of synchronous e-learning, self-paced instruction and traditional classroom delivery. A research study showed that the program achieved an overall 10% higher learning outcome than face-to-face learning format.

Ericsson Education Ireland implemented blended synchronous and asynchronous elearning to deliver telecommunications courses for students from all over the world.

The first course component consisted of various asynchronous elearning forms, including web based elearning material, discussion boards, email queries, phone support, group work, assessments, tutorials etc. The second component consisted of a combination of instructor led training and synchronous elearning delivered by the virtual classroom software Centra.

Stanford, MIT, Oxford and University College London provide blended learning by combining mobile learning in the form of audio and video files, or podcasts, with traditional classrooms. The courses are stored in the iTunes University, a free education area within the Apple iTunes online music and video store. Thus students can study and review lectures at their own pace, anytime, anywhere.

If applied successfully, blended learning offers exciting learning opportunities for self-paced learning, with meaningful social interactions, focused on developing critical and deep thinking skills. Do you have experience in designing blended learning. We invite you to share your views and welcome your contribution to this post.