Is it most helpful to think of blended learning as an online enhancement to a face-to-face learning environment, a face-to-face enhancement to an online learning environment, or as something else entirely?
In response to the question of how to conceptualize a blended course, I must say that based upon my experience, blended learning can’t easily be defined in terms of face-to-face vs online. Sloan defines blended as 30-70%, but I wonder if perhaps a better measure is how much the online portion impacts the rest of the course. 10% of a truly meaningful online experience could be more than adequate to influence the remaining 90% in the classroom, so is this web-enhanced, or truly blended?
To me, blended is more of a spectrum of implementation from
a single assignment online to the other extreme of a single meeting in the
classroom . My first experience with what I suppose could be considered blended
learning was in 1995 when I created a series of images based upon period for a
face-to-face art history course. The idea was to augment the classroom
experience by presenting students with themed artwork from a period or style to
support classroom learning. Each section had a quiz online attached. While that
differs greatly from many modern implementations, it illustrates to me that any
technology-enhanced online experience that supports or replaces portions of a
classroom experience can be defined as part of a blended course. That said, the
definition of blended makes no claim as to the quality of the final
product. That is a separate issue.
In what ways can blended learning courses be considered the “best of both worlds” (i.e., face-to-face and online)? What could make blended learning the “worst of both worlds?”
This has more to do with the quality of the content and the approach than anything else. Poor pedagogy that is not informed by best practices and a lack of awareness of the differences between blended and either online or classroom is going to lead to poor outcomes. Course design that is aware of best practice and that leverages ideas that can best be conveyed in a blended modality will result in a better outcome. It is more driven by the dewsign and commitment of the instructor than anything else.
In what ways can blended learning courses be considered the “best of both worlds” (i.e., face-to-face and online)? What could make blended learning the “worst of both worlds?”
This has more to do with the quality of the content and the approach than anything else. Poor pedagogy that is not informed by best practices and a lack of awareness of the differences between blended and either online or classroom is going to lead to poor outcomes. Course design that is aware of best practice and that leverages ideas that can best be conveyed in a blended modality will result in a better outcome. It is more driven by the dewsign and commitment of the instructor than anything else.
