Getting to know different blended learning models

Introduction

As a start of this module, this section provides you with a great opportunity to approach blended learning through a series of steps.

• Firstly, you can find some arguments on why blended learning can be beneficial, especially when working with adults with basic skills challenges.

• Secondly, we selected three definitions to highlight specific aspects of blended learning.

• Finally, we introduce three models for blended course design to give you some examples for the practical implementation.

Benefits

Blended learning programs can have a series of benefits. In a recent publication by Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020) titled The What, Why, Who, and How of Blended Learning for Adult Basic Skills Learners, the following reasons were listed to argue for blended learning program design.

Read these bits and try to think of which of these would be the most relevant ones for your practice!

It is important to add that whereas in cases it makes courses more accessible, in some settings blended learning design is not necessarily the best option for adult basic skills programs. There are conditions that make it impossible for learners to travel (e.g. lack of financial capacities, geographical difficulties, lack of time for traveling to learn etc). Nonetheless, it may still be possible to come up with a flexible blended learning solution, if those limiting conditions are carefully analysed.

For a more detailed list of benefits, look up the book titled The What, Why, Who, and How of Blended Learning for Adult Basic Skills Learners pages 8-14!

Definitions

Blended learning can be defined in many ways depending on where one places the emphasis, but generally there seem to be a few characteristics that are commonly held about blended forms of learning. We have collected the following attempts to define blended learning. Think about how these definitions relate to other types of learning settings and reflect on your own training and teaching practice too.

• How is your teaching practice different from these definitions?
• Are there any common points?

Examples for definitions:

Blended learning is an instructional approach that has a face-to-face class or tutorial integrated with online learning in which students have some “control over time, place, path, and/or pace.”

Reference: Clayton Christensen Institute Blended Learning Definitions. (webpage). URL: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning-definitions-and-models/.

The first definition highlights the composition of learning programs made up of online and presence-based constituents. It also postulates certain amount of learner autonomy directed to some of the learning’s external conditions.

The modalities along a student’s learning path are connected to provide an integrated learning experience, which may mean using data from online learning to inform and drive a student’s offline learning

Reference: Horn, M. and Staker, H. (2015). Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.

The second definition depicts a learning context in which online units are placed to motivate the ‘offline’ process, hence primarily referring to a setup which includes online learning merely as a supplement.

Blended learning should be viewed as a pedagogical approach that combines the effectiveness and socialization opportunities of the classroom with the technologically enhanced active learning possibilities of the online environment, rather than a ratio of delivery modalities. In other words, blended learning should be approached not merely as a temporal construct, but rather as a fundamental redesign of the instructional model.

Reference: Dziuban, C. et al. (2004). Blended Learning. In: EDUCAUSE Review, 2004(7).

The third attempt to define blended learning promotes it as an overall approach in which online and offline elements work together for the creation of an efficient, personalised learning program. This definition represents a synthetic and integrated “instructional model”. Other authors (e.g. Murphy, et al., 2017) also emphasise the fact that in blended learning the face-to-face and the online learning elements are integrated in way that they reinforce each other. For example, foreign language instructors may use blended learning models to integrate individualised instruction (online) with providing interactive language practice to learners (in the classroom).

Models

We chose three models here to show you examples of how blended learning can look like in practice. These models are recommended by Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020) for practitioners, course designers who work with adults with basic skills needs. Take a careful look at the model and read the notes and resources listed below. Think about how well these models would serve your practice. Could you adapt or integrate them? If so, how? If not, think of the reasons why? Please note, that the presentation of these models is primarily based on school education where young learners are involved. While going through the materials, think about how these models, activities would need to be changed to an adult learning setting.

Station Rotation

Source: Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020, p. 28).

This model describes a scenario where learners engage in different activities while they are in the classroom with the instructor or trainer. In this sense, it can assume a place-based learning opportunity with diverse simultaneous activities among which (groups of) learners take turns, but it can also imply that the online learning activities happen beyond the classroom, e.g. at home. Watch the following video presentation of a teacher named Catlin Tucker explaining her approach in adapting the station rotation model. While watching, please consider the following guiding questions:

• What could be the benefits of applying station rotation model in a lesson?
• What does Catlin mean by the classroom instruction change when teachers apply a horizontal approach instead of a linear activity plan when designing a lesson?
• How do learner activity change in a station rotation class?
• What is the role of the instructor in a station rotation setup?

After watching the video, you may visit a blog by Jenny White on Blended Learning Universe titled 3 secrets to successful station rotation.

Flipped Classroom

Source: Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020, p. 20).

Using a so-called flipped design in a blended learning program trainers can integrate more diverse content into their teaching and can better support learner-centred, collaborative, or hands-on projects during in-person classes. Watch the following video to learn about how the European project FLIP-IDEAL went about adapting a flipped design. The video introduces three people’s narrative: Mirjana, a learner; Barbara, a trainer; and Aljosa another trainer.

Before you watch the video, go through the following questions that will guide your attention. Try to answer them for yourself!

• How is flipped learning different from the traditional design?
• What did learners have to do at home, and what did they do with the trainer in class?

• How does Barbara start her flipped teaching? What steps does she go through with her learners first?
• How did older learners overcome the challenge of using ICT in the learning program?

• How did he help learners getting to know the online learning platform?

A La Carte

Source: Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020, p. 20).

In some cases, it is very useful to apply blended learning models that are predominantly online (e.g. due to limitations in mobility or in the recent COVID crisis where classroom instructions were closed). Such programs provide great flexibility to learners to take part in the learning process online, but they also require them to have access to internet and computers, not to mention the acquisition of skills to use technology. The so-called A La Carte model presents learners with a learning pathway in which they take an online course in addition to an in-person course. The main elements of this model are online independent learning opportunities (chosen by the learners themselves, supported by some in-person instruction facilitated by an adult educator. Read the following case study based on Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020, p. 29).

“One example of this model is a workplace ESL class held at the Minneapolis International Airport and taught by an outreach teacher from the Hubbs Center/St. Paul ABE in Minnesota. The in-class meeting is only two hours each week, although the students need much more instructional time to progress. In class, the teacher focuses on the language critical to success in work at the airport, including essential grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and spoken English to support customer service work and engagement with the public. Online, learners choose a course or curriculum that aligns with their needs and helps them spend more hours a week learning English. In this multilevel class, the learners with the lowest English literacy proficiency chose Learning Upgrade.”

Based on the introduction and case study on the A La Carte model try to answer the following questions for reflection:

• What are the main elements of an A La Carte learning setting?
• How is it different from the flipped model?
• What challenges do you see in adapting such a model for the trainer and for the learners?
• In what setting can you imagine this model be useful?