Blended Learning Could Hit or Miss

How do you define blended learning? Michael B. Horn and Heather Clayton Staker describe blended learning as “any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.” What – did I read that right, “with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace?” Students in charge of their learning, is this possible?

Yes, but . . . if all we do is add some online learning into the current model of education and let students set their own pace will students receive any better education than they do now? Probably not. The current system was built around the factory system and the school year is shorter than many other countries. Students are measured in seat time and calendar years not on individual learning and mastery of concepts.

To help school districts incorporate blended learning models that leads to better outcomes for students let’s look at “six “district clusters” or models, of blended learning” from this article:

1. Face-to-Face Driver – the teacher would use online learning on a case-by-case basis to supplement and/or for remediation.
2. Rotation – students would rotate between online learning, one-to-one, self-paced and traditional face-to-face instruction.
3. Flex – students learn mainly online with teachers providing on-site support as needed through tutoring or small group sessions.
4. Online Lab – students use an online platform for the entire course within the school building while taking other traditional courses.
5. Self-Blend – students take one or more online courses in addition to their traditional schooling.
6. Online Driver – online courses with online teacher delivering all curricula and students not necessarily in a school building.

When blended learning works students receive a personalized pedagogy that allows for working at his/her own pace with more students begin successful. Blended learning provides the opportunity for schools to require fewer, more specialized teachers and would use building space more efficiently. With so many veteran teachers retiring and new teachers so tech savvy blended learning could solve staffing issues and close achievement gaps for many students.

Good blended learning “models should allow for innovation across curriculum, culture, teaching, intervention, professional development, and leadership development.” But there are still obstacles to overcome. One main obstacle is the “historically inhospitable” climate of public K-12 educational systems and their resistance to change. The report created by Michael B. Horn and Heather Clayton Staker outlines what needs to happen for blended learning to be successful:

1. Integrated systems that support the seamless assimilation of online content from different sources.  Various LMS need to sync well with other LMS to provide online products to all students.
2. High-quality, dynamic content aligned to state standards needs to be developed.
3. Analytics – analyze student outcomes
4. Automation
5. Enhanced student motivation through applications that engage students in the learning process

In order for education technology companies to provide affordable, quality online content policy makers need to create a better framework for blended learning models that provides individualized learning for all students. If school districts are allowed to create new schools with more flexibility then transformation to a successful blended learning environment for all students could be achieved.

To read the entire article from eSchool News:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/02/10/report-blended-learning-could-hit-or-miss/

Personalize Learning with Online Tools

There are lots of ways that teachers differentiate learning and personalize learning for their students? How do you personalize learning in your classroom? Do you use any online tools?


Let’s look at a several fun, online tools that can be used in your classroom.

1. Story Jumper - http://www.storyjumper.com/  Free
• Build books from scratch or choose from one of the free templates.
2. Story Bird - http://storybird.com/  Free
• Collaborative storytelling where students can read a book, play them like games, or send them like greeting cards.
3. Glogster - http://edu.glogster.com/  Free
• Teachers and students can create interactive posters to express their creativity or share knowledge and ideas.

To help you find other exciting ideas to personalize learning in your classroom take a look at “10 Technology Enhanced Alternatives to Book Reports”
http://theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8529-10-technology-enhanced-alternatives-to-book-reports

If you’ve never checked out Sue LeBeau’s site I recommend that you browse through her "Tools for Teachers" at:
http://www.suelebeau.com/freetools.htm

Educational Gadgets

Need some new ideas to motivate your students? There are lots of gadgets available for teachers to enhance the learning experience for all students. What’s a gadget? They are free, online tools that make teaching easier. Here's a list of several websites worth checking out for free gadgets:

Education World   
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech249.shtml

Kathy Schrock’s Digital Gadgets
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/gadgets.html

Online Web Gadgets
http://onlinewebgadgets.com/gadget_education.html


Let’s look at a few gadgets listed at Education World

1. MotivatorStudents create a motivational-style poster or teachers can use the posters in handouts or multimedia presentations.
   http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php  
2. MindomoCollaborative mind mapping for projects, tutorials, problem solving or presentations
   http://www.mindomo.com/
3. Maps of War
   Interactive maps that can show several thousand years of history in about 90 seconds
   http://www.mapsofwar.com/

Check out the Gadget Archive listed in Education World to find gadgets for your students.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/gadget_tips.shtml

There's an App for that

Does your school system allow you to use iPhones, iPads or iPods in your school? If so, then you may be interested in these apps that can be used in the learning process. The recent issue of eSchoolNews has provided a list of apps that can “automate current classroom processes or present new ways to learn.”

Free Apps

1. Word Lens
• Translates signage from one language to another through the camera applicatio
2. Blackboard Molecules
• Students can enroll into classes or organizations and download posted assignments from instructors
3. Today in History
• Features a list of notable events in history and important figures students can use for trivia quizzes or facts of the day
4. Math Ref Free
• This free version of Math Ref offers 600 formulas, figures, tips and examples that students can use as a formula study guide or to view graphs of different equations

Apps for a small fee

1. P183 Graphing Calculator        Cost $0.99
• Features more than 100 math functions and is a clone of the TI-83
• Students can use as a calculator to input data and make graphs or matrices
2. Star Walk                               Cost $2.99
• Features an astral telescope for guided tours of the night sky or to find the location of astral objects
3. Cram                                      Cost $3.99
• Teachers and students can create flashcards for standardized tests, exams or study materials
4. eCLicker                               Cost $9.99
• Can be used in place of CPS, Activotes or Senteos in the classroom

How can you use iPhones, iPads and iPods in your classroom?  Or how can your students use these apps at home to help them learn and achieve?

Making Digital Learning Easier

Much has been written on how to improve education in the United States.  One improvement suggested is to offer students a blended learning environment which I wrote about last November - ED: Blended Learning Helps Boost Achievement.   From this post Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning stated, “the advantage of online or blended learning over face-to-face instruction alone ‘is the combination of rich student-teacher-peer communication and interactions that are both asynchronous and synchronous, better utilizing the precious resource of time during, and outside, the school day to maximize learning--and personalize it in a way never before possible.’”

In the latest issue of eSchool News, January 2011 I read about the "10 Elements of High-Quality Digital Learning".  The Digital Learning Council (DLC) led by two former governors, Bob Wise of West Virginia and Jed Bush of Florida, want to see two barriers removed form digital learning: the school funding formulas and seat-time requirements.  In December 2010 the DLC released a blueprint of how digital learning can transform education and Wise stated that "students today are living in a digital age, and they are learning digitally everywhere except for school." 

Susan Patrick believes that education can be improved by using blended learning to provide live teaching "and a variety of technological tool, including online learning, to educate students."  Lisa Gillis, project director of DLC states, students can ... learn at their own pace, and the curriculum can adapt on a lesson-by-lesson basis" because students can be assessed as they finish each lesson and not progress until ataining mastery. 

The DLC introduced these "10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning."

1. Student Eligibility: All students are digital learners.
2. Student Access: All students have access to high-quality digital content and online courses.
3. Personalized Learning: All students can customize their education using digital content through an approved provider.
4. Advancement: Students progree based on demonstrated competency, instead of rigid seat-time requirements.
5. Content: Digital content, instructional materials, and online and blended learning courses are high quality.
6. Instruction: Digital instruction and teachers are high quality.
7. Providers: All students have access to multiple, high-quality providers.
8. Assessment and Accountability: Student learning is the metric for evaluating quality of content and instruction.
9. Funding: Funding creates incentives for performance and innovation.
10. Delivery: Infrastructure supports digital learning.

To read the entire article please go to:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/current-issue/

To learn more about the Digital Learning Council please go to:
http://www.digitallearningnow.com/

To read the complete Elements of Digital Learning please go to:
http://www.digitallearningnow.com/?page_id=20