The term blended learning is a term used to describe an educational course in which a mixture of face to face student/teacher instruction and online instruction are used together for any given class. The most exciting part of this process is to decide how to transform the teaching and learning experience into one, so that the student's creativity and thinking skills are enhanced to a higher degree.
Blended Learning Describes a Wide Variety of Teaching Approaches
The term Blended Learning has been used to describe a wide variety of approaches. The term blended learning is also be used to describe arrangements in which conventional, offline and non-electronic based instruction happens to include online tutoring and/or mentoring services. One such course that would be enhanced with blended learning would be a science experiment, where students access their instruction on a computer, and then walk over to a lab table to conduct and experiment.
E-Learning and Traditional School
In most cases blended learning, e-learning is used in a traditional brick and mortal school, to help enhance the students educational experience and to make the teaching of courses more efficient.
Why Dabble In Blended Learning?
Its about getting students to learn. Its also about saving on cost of textbooks. After decades of teaching students using textbooks, current students are accustom to reading off a computer screen. Ink on paper is boring to them. They need interaction, instant gratification, multiple actions and movement. Blending face-to-face instruction with a computer screen gets todays student to learn.
There are more significant reasons: At risk students and exceptional students tend to excel with computer instruction. Rather than being lost among a group of 24 students in a classroom, an at-risk student will often surprisingly excel when offered computer instruction. With a system that offers tracking, a teacher can track progress of each student and pinpoint students who need special assistance in certain areas.
Exceptional students enjoy computerized instruction because they can proceed at their own pace and are not tied down by students in a classroom who need extra help.
How to Get Started in Blended Learning
The smartest first step in blending classroom instruction with technology is to use a Learning Management System. There are several different learning management systems on the market. Capterra.com offers a list of Learning management systems along with a breakdown of each systems features and cost. Some cater to businesses that wish to train their employees. Others, such as Blackboard, are used in the college market. IQity is a learning management system that is especially useful in K12 classrooms. IQity offers an attractive solution to instructors seeking to get involved in blended learning because of its innovative no-risk cost structure. (Schools do not need to outlay huge amounts of money to begin using IQity because schools only pay if they use course content plus a small per student hosting fee.)
