Aim: This task helps you understand how to apply blended learning principles to your own learning materials.

Time: 20 - 30 minutes, approximately

Instructions

How can we plan effectively for blended learning? Let’s look at how one South African teacher creates blended learning experiences for his Grade 5 learners. Although this example looks at Grade 5, the steps that this teacher takes to blend his workbook materials can be applied to any grade – primary or secondary – and to any school subject.

Part One: Melokuhle’s Blended Lessons

Melokuhle is an EFAL teacher in the Northern Limpopo province. He often teaches his Grade 5 primary school learners using a blended learning approach. This means that he teaches some of his learning content in the physical F2F classroom, where his learners work in pairs and in small collaborative groups, and some of the content is completed by learners working independently at home. All of Melokuhle’s learners have access to simple mobile phones, so he often asks them to share their asynchronous homework with him via WhatsApp.

How did Melokuhle start working with blended learning? First, he tested using a blended learning approach in only one or two lessons, to gauge his learners’ engagement and motivation. Then, when he saw that it was working for his learners, he gradually increased the amount of asynchronous work that he expected his learners to complete at home.

Let’s look at exactly how Melokuhle blends activities for a Grade 5 EFAL lesson. You too can follow the steps Melokuhle took, to start blending some of your lessons with your own learners!

The first step in blended learning is to identify what learning materials you would like to blend, and what your learning objectives are. Melokuhle chose an upcoming lesson from his Grade 5 EFAL workbook (you can find the complete lesson online).

Part Two: Plan Your Own Blended Lesson

Look at an upcoming lesson in your own workbook/coursebook. Think about how you could blend the lesson, by considering these questions:

• Which lesson activities can best be done by my learners outside of class, from home? Why?

• Which lesson activities can best be done with my learners in the F2F class? Why?

• Which F2F activities could be done in a WhatsApp live lesson? How?

• Which activities could be done in pairs and/or small collaborative groups in the F2F class? How?

• How could I monitor my learners during pair or group work? What could I informally assess?

• How and when will I check my learners’ asynchronous homework?

By following the procedures and thought processes that Melokuhle uses to design his own blended lessons, you too can design effective blended lessons for your learners.

Download the PDF of this task