ProLiteracy Guide

AlphaPlus

Blended learning is often defined as any combination of face-to-face and online instruction, but not all combinations are blended learning. For example, in some adult education programs, educators support learners who are participating in online independent study courses that are designed and delivered by external organizations, without input or control over the content or delivery. While this can be an effective way to create a hybrid of learning environments that meets the need of learners who want to learn online and build their capability to learn remotely, it cannot be said to adhere to the principles of blended learning because the educators and learners are not actively engaged in creating and transforming the curriculum.

ProLiteracy

Blended learning is an instructional approach that has a face-to-face class or tutorial integrated with online learning in which students have some “control over time, place, path, and/or pace” (Blended Learning Definitions, 2019). It is not distance education, which is entirely, or almost entirely, online learning. The key difference between blended and hybrid learning, which also has both a face-to-face and an online learning component, is that in blended learning the face-to-face and online components are integrated (Murphy et al., 2017). They may be integrated in a variety of ways, but the goal is to have the two components reinforce each other.