Impact

Impact:

In order to access online/blended learning, technology is essential whether it is the new standard of Google Chromebooks or an iPad. This is the first step towards blended learning within the K12 classroom setting. Many schools have a limited number of laptop carts, but the trends seem to indicate that it will be essential for schools to be 1:1 with technology and students.

Getting districts to spend a large amount of money to roll out a 1:1 system is a significant challenge. However, there are also many grant options available if teachers are willing to take the initiative while waiting on school funding. In addition, providing necessary training for teachers to transition to blended learning system and troubleshoot technology issues would also cost money and time. According to Pulham, Graham, and Short (2018), “The number of full-time students enrolled in blended or online schools is increasing: between 2014 and 2015 blended school enrollment increased by 6.5%. Preparing teachers for these environments is of concern to many.” Clearly, there is a need for both incorporating technology into classrooms, and educating typical K12 teachers how to utilize blended learning within their own classrooms. (p. 33)

Audiences:

The adaptability of curriculum to better serve students with impairments is beyond what most teachers would consider beyond their capacity in the regular classroom. The options and the ease of adapting lessons to better serve impaired populations is expanding constantly. Text can be adapted for students with visual impairments. Readings and articles can be chunked, annotated, and can even be plugged into free websites that provide text to speech accessibility features. Specific content areas could also utilize blended learning in new ways. Math, which is notorious for being an area of struggle for students, has potential to reach all kinds of new audiences.

“Studies of other populations have shown blended learning to be more effective than traditional mathematics… Blended learning was more effective with middle school students with disabilities than traditional instruction, and the students who received blended instruction outscored their peers who were enrolled in face-to-face courses.” (Balentyne and Varga, 2017, p. 59).

Outcomes:

Blended learning in higher education is widely researched, while less research at the K-12 level exists at this time. As blended learning becomes increasingly popular, the research will be more available. Current research shows that blended learning has led to better student performance due to the ability of catering the learning material to each student. A study by Dr. Deborah Stirling; Dr. Gary Bitter, and Paul Skiera, M.Ed (2015) discussed the success of blended learning in classrooms over the past ten years. The researchers found that “the pedagogical pattern used with online learning makes the difference. For instance, when students experience blended learning with both collaborative learning activities and teacher-directed instruction, the blended learning students significantly outperform students only engaged in active self-study.” (p.7)

In particular, learning is becoming customized to the individual. The researchers stated “online learning systems that determine students’ level of understanding, customize the material for them, provide an interactive set of instructional activities with feedback to students, produce detailed reports about students’ progress, and offer teachers who supplement instruction by explaining concepts and facilitating student discussion yield higher results for low-achieving students on state assessments.” It also allows for material to be accessed at a student's own preference in pacing whether that is at a slower rate or a more increased rate. In addition, much of the content is more flexible in the form students can submit or interact with the curriculum. For example, the assignment might be the same, but the final product could be based off the student's preference in deciding between different forms of media (Stirling, Bitter, Skiera, 2015, p. 8).