Analytic Quality Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2004–8, Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/
This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for amendments or additions.
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Blended learning
Blended learning is a flexible approach
that combines
face-to-face teaching/learning with remote (usually internet-based) learning.
explanatory context
Blended learning has similarities with
distributed learning that comes from distributed
education.
analytical review
New South Wales
Department of Education and Training (2002) provides a simple definition:
Blended
Learning is learning which combines online and face-to-face approaches.
Kurtus (2004) states:
Blended
learning is a mixture of the various learning strategies and delivery methods
that will optimize the learning experience of the user. Classroom training
sessions, Computer-Based Training (CBT) via a CD-ROM,
Web-Based Training (WBT) can be combined as a way to
train the learners. WBT can be on demand or at a
specific time with an instructor and other students involved.
According to Reid-Young (undated)
Blended
learning is simply a flexible approach to learning delivery that recognises the
benefits of delivering some training and assessments online, but also uses
other modes to make up a complete training delivery service. These other modes
may range from classroom sessions to mentoring arrangements, or the support of
a subject matter expert in the same office or area.
Rovai and
According
to Colis and Moonen (2001),
blended learning is a hybrid of traditional face-to-face and online learning so
that instruction occurs both in the classroom and online, and where the online
component becomes a natural extension of traditional classroom learning.
Blended learning is thus a flexible approach to course design that supports the
blending of different times and places for learning, offering some of the
conveniences of fully online courses without the complete loss of face-to-face
contact. The result is potentially a more robust educational experience than
either traditional or fully online learning can offer.
Smith
(2004) suggests:
Blended
learning is a fairly new term in education lingo, but the concept has been
around for decades. Essentially, blended learning is defined as a method of
educating at a distance that uses technology (high-tech, such as television and
the Internet or low-tech, such as voice mail or conference calls) combined with
traditional (or, stand-up) education or training.
Course
design
Rovai
and Jordan (2004) suggest:
From a course design perspective,
a blended course can lie anywhere between the continuum anchored at opposite
ends by fully face-to-face and fully online learning environments. The
face-to-face component can be either on the main university campus or the
professor can travel to a remote site in order to meet with students. Martyn (2003) described a successful blended learning
model. It consists of an initial face-to-face meeting, weekly online
assessments and synchronous chat, asynchronous discussions, e-mail, and a final
face-to-face meeting with a proctored final examination.
Dziuban and Moskal (2001)
reported that blended courses at the
Voos (2003) suggested that it is unlikely that the blendedness makes
the difference in such courses, but rather the fundamental reconsideration of
course design in light of new instructional and media choices and the learning
strengths and limitations of each. Joyce Neff (1998, p. 154), a professor of
writing, found that teaching a blended course had profound effects on her
teaching. She wrote: “[t]he ways I perceived and manipulated the medium, the
ways I imagined the subjectivities of my students, and the ways intermediaries
affected my authorities all influenced… my writing pedagogy”.
Privateer
(1999, p. 72) summarized the direction needed with the following passage:
‘Opportunities for real change lie in creating new types of professors, new
uses of instructional technology and new kinds of institutions whose continual
intellectual self-capitalization continually assures their status as learning
organizations’.
Smith (2004) argues that blended
learning is widespread that:
If, for example, you have offered
the following kinds of continuing education sessions, you are using the
concepts of blended learning in your educational options:
·
Traditional workshops or seminars in
conjunction with a teleconference feature
·
Traditional courses with a
continuing e-mail connection or ongoing dialog with the participants