What is blended learning?

What is ‘blended’ learning?

‘Traditional’classroomlearning

Onlinelearning

But technology is everywhere...

‘We are not rethinking some part or aspect of learning, we are rethinking all of learning in these new digital contexts’ (2007)

But technology is everywhere...

For a physical space of learning to exclude the virtual, digital devices would have to be banned, switched off or inoperable. Otherwise the assumption must be that learning in real space is penetrated with information and conversations from elsewhere, and that real world learning events can be captured and amplified into virtual spaces. (2014)


Independentstudy

Guided/supportedlearning

better to think about...


Independentstudy


accessing online content

computer-based tutorialsand tests

producing digital artefacts

collating, curating, note-taking

reviewing, reflecting attending, apprehending

recording, note-taking

virtual tutoring/mentoring

referring to content

accessing virtual communities participating, interacting

presenting, sharing ideas


Independentstudy












All settings are ‘blended’...

Settings are ‘porous’ or leakyBoundaries between personal/institutional are blurring

(time, space, technology, content/services, tasks)

‣ learners are continuously connected

‣ technologies are immersive and intimate

‣ realworld locations aredata nodes

‣ continuous record -> ‘instant memorialising’

What (else) is blurring/blending?

independent taught/guided personal public/institutional informal formal real time record/representation ...? ...?

Impacts on the curriculum

New things to know‣ (Sub)disciplines: web science,

digital media, internet culture,animation, digital humanities...

‣ Interdisciplinary problems:digital bodies, globalisation,communication design, privacy...

‣Professional issues: ‘What does it mean to be a lawyer in this new ethical space?’

‣What new areas are emergingin your subject or profession?

New ways of knowing

‣ Data collection, analysis, management, re/use:what can be (done with) data?

‣ Secondary research: what andwhere is legitimate knowledge?

‣ Design, inc. research design

‣ Collaboration, inc. remotely

‣ Modes of representation, e.g.data visualisation, animation,virtual worlds, hypermedia, digital presentation...

‣Digital/information literacy is fundamental

New motives for learning‣ fewer traditional graduate jobs,

more informal ‘knowledge’ work

‣ most high value jobs involve digital technologies

‣ 7-10 career changes, loose ties, portfolio careers

‣ constant upgrade (the capable self as lifelong project)

‣ alternatives to a degree: informal learning, online credits, OERs, MOOCs, TED talks, Kahn academy, Google...

‣ Digital/information literacy is fundamental

New practices of learning

social media practices -> new assumptions about sharing, openness, credibility, authority...

personal apps/services -> new practices of collating, collaborating,

writing, referencing...

New practices of learning

reliance on image-based media & graphical interfaces -> new practices of searching, finding, visualising, communicating, managing info

experience of gaming -> high expectations of simulation

environments, micro-reward structures, assessment tasks (coding

as communication of ideas? )

New practices of teaching?

Borderless, blended, flipped classrooms Networked, connected, rhizomatic learning

Open, public, massive, online courses

New practices of teaching?

1. Students locate, evaluate and work with information2. Students collaborate using virtual tools 3. Students communicate ideas in a variety of media4. Students create digital artefacts and leave a digital trace5. Real time is precious: students are prepared, teaching is responsive6. Authentic (academic/professional) tasks: authentic digital practices7. Engagement and feedback from beyond the classroom/cohort8. Students’ digital resources - tools, services, skills, identities - are recognised and valued

Everything must change?

Independentstudy












Against the myth of digital ‘natives’‣ Students fundamentally divided

on uses of technology in learning

‣ Learners are different! May have limited or negative digital experiences

‣ Some enjoy virtual engagement, others see it as poor substitute

‣ Learners have difficulty transposing digital practices from social to professional/academic contexts e.g. evaluating information

‣ Creative production and knowledge sharing are minority activities to which most learners are introduced by educators (Selwyn 2011-14)

‣ NetGen (<25yo) use internet more for social/leisure but older, better qualified people use it more for study and self-advancement

‘Digital’ learners still want...shared places and spaces of learning

shared time-of-life, cohort experience

transformational encounters with inspiring teachers

sense of belonging

Universities still make a unique offer ...shared places and spaces of learning

shared time-of-life, cohort experience

transformational encounters with inspiring teachers

sense of belonging

high quality academic content

specialised digital practices

space to play: fluency, resilience, repertoire

‘a professional reputation, carefully managed’

... and must now reframe it in the digital space

A blended curriculum...

Independentstudy


... demands that students have information literacy...

... and relevant digital learning experiences

Continuities and disruptions

Independentstudy


Continuities and disruptionsIn pairs/small groups discuss and write on post-it notes:

What should we continue doing that supports students effectively with their learning?

What should we change to support students more effectively (and how)?

Education

What is blended learning?