Blended Learning
Presented by:
• Garth Ferrante
.
.
. Host
• Chris Graber .
.
.
. Interviewee
• Heather Nydam
.
.
. Hostess
WHAT IS
BLENDED
LEARNING?
Blended learning
• Blended learning is a mixture of online and face-to-face learning
using a variety of learning resources and communications
options available to students and lecturers.
• Blended learning mixes e-learning with other more traditional
types of learning.
• The conveniences of online courses are gained without the loss
of face-to-face contact.
• This creates a learning environment that is richer than a
traditional face-to-face environment or a fully online
environment.
POST-SECONDARY LEVEL
• Use WebCT, BlackBoard, Canvas, etc.
• Considered “Blended” if 30% to 80% on-line
• Predicted 80% to 90% of courses will be
blended environments (Young, 2002)
What is the Ratio Between On-line
Time and Seat Time?
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Percentage time is undefined
Student-centered instruction
Increased convenience for students
Flexible approach is preferred
The “Best of Both Worlds”
OPTIMAL LEARNING
• How is the learning ensured?
• What teaching methods are used by teachers?
• What types of technologies are used?
• What kinds of assessments are used by staff?
Evaluation of a
Blended Learning Initiative
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Also, the vision is that the blended learning model, currently used only during the afterschool credit recovery program, will become an integral part of instructional implementation
during the school day in at least three major content areas as well as in career/technical
courses offered at the district’s career-technical and thematic schools.
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The goal is that, within the context of a blended learning model, teachers will structure and
supplement online course content to customize learning experiences and, thereby, create
personalized learning opportunities for identified individual students – those who require
remediation, those ready for course acceleration, those with specific interests, and/or other.
•
To achieve this, over the course of the next five years, dedicated time and funding will be
needed to support curriculum customization of available online courses by content teachers
and supervisors.
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Customized course requirements will include tasks such as (but not limited to) modifications
of course modules and inclusion of teacher-designed tasks (e.g., performance task
expectations, rubrics, links to multi-media resources, other) to be included within the
“Dropbox” feature of each online course.
“Old Wine in New Bottles”
How is Blended Learning different?
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Rigorous curriculum
Required to complete with fidelity
Pre-assessments
Target specific areas
Instant feedback
Data drives instruction
Goals are significant
How are Parameters for Blending
Learning Programs Established?
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Trial and error
Organization
Right people in the right places
A specific forum
Evaluation of a
Blended Learning Initiative
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Several gaps in PLATO implementation were documented and are being addressed.
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Offering of PLATO courses to the after-school evening credit recovery program, while effective in
addressing graduation rates, limited its impact and excluded more direct, focused involvement by
daytime staff - teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators.
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Through expansion of available licenses commensurate with each high school’s actual student
enrollment, student participation in PLATO online courses will begin to be extended throughout the
school day to include teacher-facilitated/monitored credit recovery and course remediation and/or
acceleration opportunities during the regular school day in addition to continued opportunities for
asynchronous learning beyond the school day during the district’s Credit Recovery Program or as
part of personalized learning opportunities for select courses.
•
Inclusion of online courses and individual online course modules during the daytime school program
will also provide a more seamless link between students’ progress in their daytime courses and their
online coursework; it will involve daytime classroom teachers and counselors (currently a missing
component) – not only the hired after-school program staff - in the credit recovery process and,
thus, apportion responsibilities for students’ graduation among all stakeholders.
Evaluation of a
Blended Learning Initiative
GRADUATION & PERSONALIZATION GOALS:
Credit Recovery/ Blended Learning
•The goal of implementing a blended learning credit recovery system include an
increased graduation rate as well as expansion of opportunities for academic
enrichment and college and career readiness.
•Through the district’s after-school Credit Recovery Program, students who are atrisk for not meeting their graduation requirements are afforded opportunities to
regain lost ground by making up failed courses and recovering credit toward
graduation.
•They do so through enrollment in PLATO which provides personalized credit
recovery in the context of standards-based online courses or, depending on
student needs, individual course modules which can be accessed anytime and
anywhere, thus offering students numerous flexible opportunities to fulfill their
credit requirements.
Evaluation of a
Blended Learning Initiative
• In addition to the vision articulated above intended to expand the blended learning
model, other noted gaps have been addressed within the district’s Credit Recovery
Program .
• E.g., an aggressive multi-faceted effort was launched to ensure more targeted and
effective involvement by the Guidance Department in respect to the district’s
graduation goals.
• Professional development was provided to guidance staff to illuminate their critical
roles in the provision of scheduled updates relative to students’ progress toward
graduation.
• Expectations and specific tasks were defined, data collection forms were created,
and clear protocols and timelines were developed to ensure up-to-date, ongoing
data-driven articulation between the guidance departments, the district’s Credit
Recovery Program, each school’s administration, and Central Office.
Evaluation of a
Blended Learning Initiative
• Students progress through the PLATO online learning process by completing course
tutorials which rely on multi-media delivery of instruction combined with face to
face instruction.
• To measure and verify content mastery, students complete the available battery of
assessments within the online system - pre and posttests, ongoing progress
monitoring within each course module, and unit mastery tests.
• Teachers, principals, school-based Credit Recovery administrators, as well as central
office stakeholders rely on the program’s reporting tools to monitor student
progress and intervene to provide help as needed and ensure that students
complete their courses and fulfill their graduation requirements.
Does the teacher still score the
open-ended questions and essays?
• The teachers need to be doing the
assessments
• There always needs to be a teacher facilitating
the class
POSSIBLE “ROAD BLOCKS”
FOR IMPLEMENTATION
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Scheduling
Setting (Centralized Location)
Data
Infrastructure
– Plug-ins work
– Computers up-to-date
– Filtering software is able to access external links
Blended learning
• Students are open to select their preferred
learning style to some extent
• Educators utilize blended learning because they
see that students may not be able to manage a
fully online course and because they wish to
introduce students to technology or because they
want to give additional support to weaker
students (Raj and Abdallah 2005).
Teachers Responsibility and
Accountability
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Supervisors
Credit Recovery/Blended Learning Monitors
Programs that provide usage and data reports
Digital walk through
Physical walk through
Evaluation of a
Blended Learning Initiative
• Closer monitoring and refinement of
“independent study” arrangements is planned
over the course of the next two – three years.
Inclusion of a board-approved policy to govern
“independent study” is among the planned
action items.
COMBINED SCHOOL SITES
CR Blended Learning Program 2013
TOTAL STUDENT ENROLLEMENT
PASS, FAIL, DROPOUT
How is the
success rate
determined?
• District graduation rate
was increased
• These numbers
represent only the
students with in the
Credit Recovery
Program
492
# Students Enrolled
as of July 3
1117
109
# of Students with
passing grade
# of Students with
failing grade
# of Studed who
dropped out
826
Students:
• Participated in
the modules
• Increased
attendance
• Completed
course work
COMBINED SCHOOL SITES
CR Blended Learning Program
2013
STUDENT COMPLETION, PASS, FAIL
% Students with
failing grade = 12%
109
% Students with
passing grade = 88%
826
# Students who
completed program
935
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Evaluation of a
Blended Learning Initiative
Guidance Counselors
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As a result of the focus on Guidance roles and procedures in 2012-2013, one of the most
successful changes involving counselor attention to graduation goals was implementation of
revised procedures for student enrollment into Credit Recovery Summer School
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The result was a doubling of enrollment and program completion as compared to previous years
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Finally, unrelenting monitoring of students’ progress toward graduation with ongoing involvement
of and follow-up by guidance and other stakeholders was implemented and will be expanded.
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Toward that end, for the 2013-2014 school year for the first time, guidance staff dedicated to
monitoring the credit recovery after-school program have been hired to service individual school
sites; they plan to monitor student progress, provide counseling, contact parents, contribute to
routine data collection, and maintain articulation between the after-school and daytime school
programs.
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Additional funding for counselor-specific PD as well as for expansion of available hours for the
credit recovery guidance are needed.
Course Success
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Determined by the student’s digital literacy
Satisfaction of with on-line courses
Self-motivation is critical
Ability to manage one’s time effectively
Ability to work and learn independently
Instructors availability
(Akkoyunlu and Soylu, 2008)
Face-to-Face
“Based on student perceptions, data reveals that more
than 60% of students still prefer some face time
(Akkoyunlu & Soylu, 2008) .”
Why?
• Receive answers to questions
• Experts view point (Instructor as the expert)
• Clarify expectations of assignments, exams, and other
requirements
• Orient feelings
• Uncomfortable sharing ideas in an on-line forum
• Needs more support with the on-line forum
K-12 Research for Blended Learning
“There is a lack of blended learning research in K-12
environments. Yet, there is evidence that online and
blended learning options are becoming increasingly
popular with massive opportunities for growth in this
market (Picciano & Seaman, 2007; Picciano, Seaman, Shea, & Swan, 2012;
Staker et al., 2011).”
“There will be a great need for researchers to look at
blended learning in K-12 contexts, where adolescent
learners have very different needs from adult learners
(Cavanaugh, Barbour, & Clark, 2009; Moore, 2007).”
Common Challenges
•Expanding instructional time beyond the school day
•Keeping students engaged in their learning
•Meeting the needs of diverse learners
•Encouraging parental involvement
Shortcomings of Blended Learning
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Equity
Poverty
Theft
Providing accommodations
Digital Divide
– Lack of device
– Lack of internet
Blended Learning
“Students who took all or part
of their class online performed
better, on average, than those
taking the same course through
traditional face-to-face
instruction...”
US Department of Education 2009
Reference
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Akkoyunlu, Buket; Soylu, Meryem Yilmaz. (2008). A Study of Student’s Perceptions
in a Blended Learning Environment Base on Different Learning Styles. Educational
Technology & Society, 11(1), 183-193.
Delialioğlu, Ö. (2012). Student Engagement in Blended Learning Environments with
Lecture-Based and Problem-Based Instructional Approaches. Journal Of Educational
Technology & Society, 15(3), 310-322.
Department of education (need to cite)
Dziuban, Charles; Hartman, Joel; Moskal, Patsy. Blended Learning. Ecucause Center
for Applied Research: Research Bullentin. Volume 2004, Issue 7
Gerbic, P. (2011). Teaching using a blended approach – what does the literature tell
us?. Educational Media International, 48(3), 221-234.
doi:10.1080/09523987.2011.615159
Halverson, L. R., Graham, C. R., Spring, K. J., & Drysdale, J. S. (2012). An analysis
of high impact scholarship and publication trends in blended learning. Distance
Education, 33(3), 381-413. doi:10.1080/01587919.2012.723166
Hyo-Jeong, S., & Bonk, C. J. (2010). Examining the Roles of Blended Learning
Approaches in Computer- Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Environments:
A Delphi Study. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 13(3), 189-200.
Reference
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Miyazoe, T., & Anderson, T. (2011). Anonymity in Blended Learning: Who Would
You Like to Be?. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 14(2), 175-187.
Moe, C., & Rye, S. (2011). Blended learning: communication, locations and work-life
practices. Educational Media International, 48(3), 165-178.
doi:10.1080/09523987.2011.607320
Pombo, L., Loureiro, M., & Moreira, A. (2010). Assessing collaborative work in a
higher education blended learning context: strategies and students'
perceptions. Educational Media International, 47(3), 217-229.
doi:10.1080/09523987.2010.518814
Purvis, A. J., Aspden, L. J., Bannister, P. W., & Helm, P. A. (2011). Assessment
strategies to support higher level learning in blended delivery. Innovations In
Education & Teaching International, 48(1), 91-100.
doi:10.1080/14703297.2010.543767
(Raj and Abdallah 2005) (need to cite)
Young, J.R. (2002) “Hybrid” teaching seeks to end the divide between traditional and
online instruction. The Chronicle of Higher Education.