{"id":15390,"date":"2011-02-21T20:40:32","date_gmt":"2011-02-22T01:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/?p=15390"},"modified":"2011-02-22T13:03:34","modified_gmt":"2011-02-22T18:03:34","slug":"putting-the-learning-in-blended-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/2011\/02\/21\/putting-the-learning-in-blended-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting the Learning in Blended Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Putting the Learning in Blended Learning<\/strong><\/a> — from Faculty Focus by Ike Shibley, PhD. in Instructional Design<\/p>\n

Blended learning involves using a combination of face-to-face interactions and online interactions in the same course. Students still regularly meet in the classroom in a blended course, but the frequency of those meetings is usually decreased. The goal of blended learning is to facilitate greater student learning and could thus fit within a learner-centered paradigm.<\/p>\n

Many discussions about blended learning, however, focus not on learning but on blending. \u201cBlended\u201d is an adjective and \u201clearning\u201d is a noun; why has our focus been directed at the adjective? Do we assume, as is often done in the teaching paradigm, that learning is automatically assumed? I think that blended learning has become widely established enough that attention can now be paid to the learning portion of the name.<\/p>\n

In higher education learning must be the focus\u2014the push for learner-centered teaching is a noble, pedagogically defensible goal. Improving the cost-effectiveness of teaching should play only a secondary role. An instructor should not begin a blended design by asking how many face-to-face hours are really necessary, even though some administrators may use reduced hours as a starting point. The course should be designed to maximize learning.<\/p>\n

Also see:<\/p>\n