Blended: What is it?

Task 1: Discuss

Task 2: Read & Watch

In my experience, blended learning tends to cultivate the development of students' 21st century skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity while also providing learners agency over time, place, pace, and path.

Though educators often associate technology integration with blended learning, the terms are not synonymous. This video illustrates the difference between using technology in the classroom, and leveraging it to personalize learning for students.

Another important focus of blended learning is how the technology can enhance these important interactions: learner-content, learner-learner, learner-instructor.

Let me give you a specific example. In a first grade classroom. Ms. Brown teaches a small group how to solve a story word problem (student-content, student-instructor) at her table. Meanwhile, at a computer station, three students collaborate to author and illustrate their own story word problem using Wixie (learner-content, learner-learner). Later, Ms. Brown can go into the Wixie project and provide written feedback to students (learner-instructor). Elsewhere, students use Dreambox to play math games, and the game adapts to their learning needs, advancing them to the next level when they can prove mastery (learner-content).

In this scenario, the technology is not the focus of the lesson, but it is being leveraged to amplify how these interactions take place.

Task 3: Turn & Talk

Turn and talk to table partner. After watching these videos, would you modify your definition of blended learning in the Activity 1 Padlet? What would you change? What did you learn?

Up Next:

Click here to take a virtual field trip to Poplar Tree Elementary School which is part of the FCPSOn initiative, to see how teachers have leveraged technology to restructure their classes to support student learning!

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