Defining Blended Learning

The most recent iteration of blended learning comes from The Clayton Christensen Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan “think tank” dedicated to improving the world through disruptive innovation. The Institute defines blended learning as the following:

"[Blended learning is] a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace; at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home; and the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience." (Christensen Institute, Horn and Staker, 2012)

One of the earliest definitions of blended learning came from the Higher Education Research & Development Society of Australia and stated that blended learning is:

"defined according to the proportion of learning activities that have been moved online rather than in the classroom, reducing but not eliminating classroom time" (Garnham & Kaleta, 2002 in Torrisi-Steele in HERDSA 2011).