Blended LearningFinding the right blend

What is Blended Learning?

▪ Blended learning is a method that combines traditional face-to-face activities with online education.

▪ A blended learning classroom uses technology to transform and improve the learning process.

▪ Students learn, at least in part, through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path or pace (this will vary from class to class and instructor to instructor).

▪ Blended Learning may include the opportunity for students to work off-site during the blended class period provided requirements for off-site participation are met.

What is Blended Learning?

What does Blended Learning look like?

• Students rotate on a fixed schedule or at the teacher’s discretion between learning modalities, at least one of which is online learning. Rotation

• Students move on an individually customized schedule among learning modalities. The teacher of record is on-site, and students learn mostly on the brick-and-mortar campus, except for any homework assignments. Face-to-face support is provided on a flexible and adaptive as-needed basis.

Flex

• Student takes courses entirely online to accompany other experiences that the student is having at a brick-and-mortar school or learning center. The teacher of record for the A La Carte course is the online teacher. Students may take the A La Carte course either on the brick-and-mortar campus or off-site.

Self-Blend

• Students have required face-to-face learning sessions with their teacher of record and then are free to complete their remaining coursework remote from the face-to-face teacher. Online learning is the backbone of student learning when the students are located remotely.

Enhanced Virtual

Why Should I Blend?

▪ Blended Learning gives students the benefits of both online learning and in-person instruction.

▪ Teachers can structure courses and deliver instruction more flexibly or creatively than in a traditional classroom setting.

▪ Blended learning allows teachers to spend less time giving whole-class lessons, and more time meeting with students individually or in small groups to help them with specific concepts, skills, questions, or learning problems.

Why Should I Blend?

▪ Students naturally acquire more technological literacy and greater confidence using new technologies.

▪ The blended-learning approach more closely resembles modern workplaces, in which employees may work largely on their own to meet specific objectives, only periodically checking in with their supervisors to give them updates or seek assistance.

▪ Students also learn skills such as self-discipline, self-motivation, and organizational habits they will need in adult life.

The Biggest Reason to Blend

Next Generation Assessments

▪ Delivered online

▪ Interactive

▪ Adaptive

▪ Use of manipulatives

▪ Use of simulations

▪ Use of multimedia

▪ Multiple part questions

Skills needed for Next-Gen Assessments

Click/tap Select object Use text Highlighter

Scroll Select text Use online calculator

Plot points Select area Use online protractor

Drag and drop Select and drag/slide Use online ruler

Type with text editor Deselect Use video/audio player

Are you convinced yet?

The Power of Blended Learning

The Power of Blended Learning

The Power of Blended Learning

Teacher Tips for Blending

▪ START SMALL…Don’t try to blended every class you teach. Pick one project/activity/lesson/unit and build from there.

▪ COLLABORATE…Find like-minded teachers and share the load. Blending your classes takes a lot of up-front work. Having someone to help is always a good idea.

▪ GET SOME ADVICE…Talk to peers who are already blending classes, read articles, take a class. Look for opportunities to learn more about Blended Learning.

▪ Most importantly, DON’T GIVE UP… Things seldom go exactly as we plan. Anytime we try something new there are bound to be bumps in the road. Learn from them and try again.

How do I get started?

What do I want students to learn?

What teaching and learning

activities will I use?

How will I check for

understanding?

How do I get started?▪ Outline your learning

objectives

▪ Introduce the topic

– Access prior knowledge

– Identify misconceptions

– Develop interest/engage students

▪ Plan specific learning activities

– Explain and illustrate the topic

▪ Check for understanding

– Formative and summative assessment

Getting StartedThere should be "flow" between your online lessons and your face to face ones.

▪ Learning should be as seamless as possible as students move between formats.

▪ Keep your learning goals in mind as you develop the lessons.

▪ What do you want students to take from this lesson?

▪ How can you take advantage of the online environment in developing the lesson?

▪ Which parts of the lesson will work better when you are face to face?

▪ Which will work better online?

▪ - See more at: http://thevhscollaborative.org/follow/blog/2013/05/07/designing-successful-lessons-blended-class#sthash.JFPz5l34.dpuf

Getting Started

The lessons should be engaging and interactive.

▪ Don't fall into the mistaken thinking that just because it involves the computer, kids will love it.

▪ Computer work can quickly become a drudge as all adults know.

▪ Kids love lessons that engage them, whether they involve technology or not.

▪ - See more at: http://thevhscollaborative.org/follow/blog/2013/05/07/designing-successful-lessons-blended-class#sthash.JFPz5l34.dpuf

Getting StartedThe lessons should take advantage of both the asynchronous nature of the blended class and the lowered affective filter that is provided by it.

▪ Discussions work well in an asynchronous format because students have time to think and consider their answers before responding. Similarly, some students will thrive in the online environment because the affective filter is lowered. The physical presence of the teacher and their peers, which may intimidate them in the face to face class, is no longer a hindrance to their expression.

▪ Discussions don't have to be text based. There are both audio and video tools for holding online discussions.

▪ See more at: http://thevhscollaborative.org/follow/blog/2013/05/07/designing-successful-lessons-blended-class#sthash.JFPz5l34.dpuf

Getting StartedThe lessons should promote independent learning as well as collaboration, critical thinking and communication.

▪ All of our lessons should include collaboration, critical thinking and communication. Those are such essential 21st century skills that we would be remiss in planning any assignment without those three C's in mind.

▪ Independent learning is unfortunately not often addressed in our classes, however it is still critical to our students' future successes.

▪ Our students will often be required to take responsibility for their own learning. Fortunately, this skill fits beautifully into online and blended lessons.

▪ To promote independent learning, your lesson can be discovery-based, or it can be as simple as allowing the students to choose which path they will take through the lesson.

▪ Your role is to guide them toward a meaningful path. Remember, it isn't about content. Content can always be Googled. It's about acquiring and honing skills.

▪ - See more at: http://thevhscollaborative.org/follow/blog/2013/05/07/designing-successful-lessons-blended-class#sthash.JFPz5l34.dpuf

Getting StartedAssessment should match the format of the lesson.

▪ For many teachers - and students - it is hard to give up that written test mindset.

▪ We think if there hasn't been a written test there hasn't been an assessment.

▪ If the learning objective of your blended lesson was to be able to perform a virtual knee replacement surgery, a written test will not accurately measure the skills involved.

▪ It takes some creativity to develop these assessments, but once you get started, the juices will start flowing and the ideas will come more easily

▪ - See more at: http://thevhscollaborative.org/follow/blog/2013/05/07/designing-successful-lessons-blended-class#sthash.JFPz5l34.dpuf

Review Lesson Planning

1. There should be "flow" between your online lessons and your face to face ones.

2. The lessons should be engaging and interactive.

3. The lessons should take advantage of both the asynchronous nature of the blended class and the lowered affective filter that is provided by it.

4. The lessons should promote independent learning as well as collaboration, critical thinking and communication.

5. Assessment should match the format of the lesson.

Components of a Successful Lesson Plan

1. The Essential Question– This is the learning "objective" − what is to be Learned/Done/Answered/Solved − as a result of

the lesson and the "task" to be accomplished during the learning experience.

2. The Hook– Get the students' ATTENTION and help them see their connection to the essential question.

Students must see the assignment as relevant to their lives. This could be a teacher demonstration, multimedia resource, or even a small group activity.

3. The Background Lesson– Use ten to twenty minutes to "teach" information specific to the concept. This adds to the

students' background knowledge − helping them understand the context of the essential question.

– From Designing the Perfect Web-Based Instruction Lesson at http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/WebBased/assignments2.htm

Components of a Successful Lesson Plan

4. Knowledge Building– Allow students to "discover" concept information in your class Online

Curriculum. The curriculum should include ALL the information needed to successfully accomplish the assigned task. Links are provided to quality resources for additional information (if needed).

5. Product Planning– The form of the assignment product will determine exactly what occurs here.

The product may be a typed and printed "paper", an essay constructed entirely in a virtual workspace like Moodle, a physical model, a mathematical proof, a multimedia presentation, or any number of other things.

– From Designing the Perfect Web-Based Instruction Lesson at http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/WebBased/assignments2.htm

Components of a Successful Lesson Plan

6. Product Evaluation– A teacher-prepared self-evaluation rubric is given to students when the

assignment is introduced. The rubric is to be completed by the student and turned in with the final product. If the student's evaluation is honest, they know their grade when the product is turned in.

7. Lesson Wrap Up– The teacher uses the student's completed self-evaluation rubric to evaluate the

product and assign the formal grade − Summative Assessment.

– From Designing the Perfect Web-Based Instruction Lesson at http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/WebBased/assignments2.htm

Back to the Moodle Page…Building a Lesson

Some Blended Learning Links

▪ http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/WebBased/WebBased.htm

▪ http://thevhscollaborative.org/follow/blog/2013/05/07/designing-successful-lessons-blended-class

▪ http://blended.online.ucf.edu/

▪ https://www.diigo.com/list/cdworrell/blendedlearning

▪ http://www.edutopia.org/blended-learning-resources

▪ http://www.inacol.org/

▪ http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/37-blended-learning-resources-you-can-use-tomorrow/

▪ http://dkfoundation.org/our-work/blended-learning-resources

Questions?

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