Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Different types of "Blended learning"

The term "blended learning" has become a lot used word in educational sciences, and in general in the filed of e-learning and technology enhanced learning (TEL). It's almost a "passe-partout", a term used to mean a little bit of everything.

I came across a paper that had identified 6 models or categories of blended learning. I'll copy them here and I look forward to reading the whole paper!  



Choose Your Blend*
In 2010, more than 4 million K-12 students participated in some sort of online learning (up from 45,000 in 2000). An Innosight Institute survey of schools that have adopted blended learning was able to identify six basic models.

  1. Face-to-Face: Most material is taught in the traditional manner. The teacher uses online learning as a supplement or remediation.
  2. Flex: This is online learning but in a school setting. Teachers provide support as needed, generally through tutoring, either one-on-one or in small groups.
  3. Self-Blend: Students supplement traditional school by taking online classes from home. This model is used mostly to take AP and foreign language courses.
  4. Rotation: In this model, used in Rocketship schools, students spend a scheduled portion of their day learning online. Essentially, they rotate from classroom to online computer lab and back.
  5. Online Lab: Courses are conducted entirely online, including interaction with the teacher, but students do coursework in school (rather than at home). 
  6. Online Driver: Schooling is online: Students take classes and work with teachers remotely.
*Source: Heather Staker et al., The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning, Innosight Institute, innosightinstitute.org

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