Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Students: Cruz Alexander Garay

Ángel David Barahona Argueta

Glenda Vanessa Reyes Funes

Karla Vanessa Preza Turcios

Katherine Patricia Gómez

Subject: Educational Technology

Teacher: Lic. Ismael Merlos

Group: B3
 Abstract
Nowadays, the trend of e-learning is increasing day by day and one of the tools to
implement this concept is through Blended Learning. This paper gives the overview
of the concept of Blended Learning from different perspectives such as the Holistic
Perspective, te Educational Perspective, the Pragmatic Perspective, the Corporate
Training Perspective and the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Perspective. It also
describes the various blended learning strategies. This paper also discloses the
methods used in Blended Learning such as the synchronous instructional method
and the asynchronous instructional method, which will help the readers to select the
best instructional method. Besides this, the paper also reveals the dimensions of the
blended learning approach i.e. blending offline and online learning, self-paced
blending and live blending, collaborative learning, and blending structured and
unstructured learning. This paper also describes the areas where this technique is
beneficial, along with the challenges faced by this technique such as technical
Challenges, organizational challenges and instructional design challenges. Then the
Blended Learning process is described in terms of its various advantages. Factors
that promote successful blended learning are also mentioned in this paper.
 Blended learning

Blended learning is an approach to education that combines online educational

materials and opportunities for interaction online with traditional place-based
classroom methods. It requires the physical presence of both teacher and student, with
some elements of student control over time, place, path, or pace.

"Blended learning" is sometimes used in the same breath as "personalized learning"

and differentiated instruction.

Technology-based training emerged as an alternative to instructor-led training in the

1960s on mainframes and mini-computers. The major advantage that blended
learning offers is scale, whereas one instructor can only teach so many people. One
example is PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations), a
system developed by the University of Illinois and Control Data. PLATO in particular
had a long history of innovations and offered coursework from elementary to the
college level.[16] Mainframe-based training had a number of interface limitations that
gave way to satellite-based live video in the 1970s. The advantage here was serving
people who were not as computer literate. The major challenge was the expense
required to make this work. In the early 1990s, CD-ROMs emerged as a dominant
form of providing technology-based learning as bandwidth through 56k modems
weren't able to support very high quality sound and video. The limitation to CD-ROMs
was tracking completion of coursework, so learning management systems emerged
as a way to facilitate progress tracking. The aviation industry used this heavily to
track how well one did on courses, how much time was spent, and where someone
left off. AICC, Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee, was formed in
1988 and companies such as Boeing used CD-ROMs to provide training for
personnel. Modern blended learning is delivered online, although CD-ROMs could
feasibly still be used if a learning management system meets an institution's
standards. Some examples of channels through which online blending learning can
be delivered include webcasting (synchronous and asynchronous) and online video
(live and recorded). Solutions such as Khan Academy have been used in classrooms
to serve as platforms for blended learning.[17]

There are a lot of different strategies for learning. The education sector has benefited
from a great many pioneers and the way our students are taught today is very
different to how they were taught fifty or even twenty five years ago.

Much of this innovation has been related to the growth of technology. Computers
have become extremely valuable teaching tools and have opened up a whole new
world of online learning.

Some of the most effective educational establishments are using dynamic digital
tools such as elearning software alongside more traditional classroom practices to
create blended learning models.Blended learning is defined as a formal education
programme that’s made up of in-person classroom time as well as individual study
online using elearning software. It is a type of multichannel method that incorporates
tutor-led activities, images, video, digital tasks and face-to-face discussion. Courses
that follow the blended learning model often take place in a real ‘brick and mortar’
classroom with a dedicated tutor, but offer additional learning opportunities by way of
a digital platform. Digital learning elements are often open to self-pacing by each
individual student and can usually be logged in to at any time and in any place

Why is it so effective?

More and more education establishments are coming to rely on the blended learning
model. Their reasoning is simple: a multichannel teaching method offers the best of
classroom and online learning all in one place.

Each student has a range of different strengths and requirements and a blended
learning approach allows tutors to acknowledge this. When they are given the ability
to use tools from both traditional and digital spheres, tutors are able to present
necessary information in a range of different ways designed to suit the varying
learning styles of their students.

Where is blended learning being offered?

The multichannel learning method is becoming more and more common. It’s being
used in a very wide range of learning environments, including primary schools,
universities, language schools, professional development centres and online course
providers.
Whether a student is learning about mathematics, languages, strategic development
or child psychology, they’re likely to discover their tutor using blended learning
elements during the course

Blended learning is a term increasingly used to describe the way e-learning is being
combined with traditional classroom methods and independent study to create a new,
hybrid teaching methodology. It represents a much greater change in basic technique
than simply adding computers to classrooms; it represents, in many cases, a
fundamental change in the way teachers and students approach the learning
experience. It has already produced an offshoot – the flipped classroom – that has
quickly become a distinct approach of its own.

No single, reliable definition of blended learning exists, or even a universal

agreement on the term itself. Many use terms like hybrid, mixed, or integrative to
describe the same trend. But the trend is significant. In 2000 an estimated 45,000 K-
12 students took an online course, but almost a decade later more than 3 million took
courses that way, many of them using computers in the schools themselves.

A learning model in three parts

There is a general consensus among education innovators that blended learning has
three primary components:

In-person classroom activities facilitated by a trained educator.

Online learning materials, often including pre-recorded lectures given by that same
instructor.

Structured independent study time guided by the material in the lectures and skills
developed during the classroom experience.

A course created in a blended learning model uses the classroom time for activities
that benefit the most from direct interaction. Traditional education (especially at the
college level) tends to place an emphasis on delivering material by way of a lecture,
while in a blended learning model lectures can be videotaped ahead of time so the
student can watch on their own time. The classroom time is more likely to be for
structured exercises that emphasize the application of the curriculum to solve
problems or work through tasks.
An individual semester of blended learning may emphasize classroom time at the
beginning, then gradually increase the amount of work that students do online or
during independent study. Many argue that class discussion boards, for example, are
far more useful if the participants have met face-to-face first.

The “flipped” classroom, a more recent coinage, refers to classes that are structured
almost exclusively around a reversal of expectations for lectures and homework.
Students are expected to watch lectures online at home, and do homework while
they are in class.

Blended learning redefining teaching roles

In some situations, the move to blended learning has inspired educators to redefine
traditional roles. The word “facilitator” has emerged as an alternative to “teacher,”
bringing with it a slightly different focus. The facilitator places an emphasis on
empowering students with the skills and knowledge required to make the most of the
online material and independent study time, guiding students toward the most
meaningful experience possible. Facilitators focus on four key areas:

Development of online and offline course content.

Facilitation of communication with and among students, including the pedagogy of

communicating content online without the contextual clues students would get in
person.

Guiding the learning experience of individual students, and customizing material

wherever possible to strengthen the learning experience.

Assessment and grading, not unlike the expectations for teachers within the
traditional framework.

By putting an emphasis on learning through supervised activities, blended learning

has proven to be very adaptable to what some corporations are calling blended
training. Trainers can shift their focus from the delivery of knowledge to its
application, and companies spend less flying trainers around to oversee all
instruction in person.

Applying the definition

Let’s also use this definition in a hypothetical situation to see whether it is an example
of blended learning.

Tracy is a language arts teacher who has posted all of her lesson plans,
assignments, and quizzes online so that students can access them at home, as well
as at school. Tracy’s school recently implemented a one-to-one program in which
each student has access to a personal computing device. To leverage the
technology, Tracy has all of her students follow along on their devices during a
guided reading exercise, during which the teacher and students examine a piece of
text together. After a class discussion on the text, Tracy has the students switch over
to Google Docs where they each write their own agreement or disagreement with the
central argument of the text. During this time, Tracy roams the classroom making
sure students are on task and answering any questions that arise.

Is Tracy using blended learning in her classroom? No. Let’s understand why:

By posting all class material online, Tracy is using the Internet to merely host
information, not to manage the delivery of content or instruction.

The fact that Tracy’s school is a one-to-one program is irrelevant to whether blended
learning is taking place. One-to-one is not synonymous with blended learning, as it
doesn’t imply a shift in instructional delivery or an element of student control.
Although equipping all students with devices can be a crucial component of creating
a blended-learning program, if not implemented correctly, the devices themselves
can easily be used to support traditional instruction (as in Tracy’s case).

Tracy’s students are all using the personal computing devices to read and write, but
they are moving through the content as a single batch doing the same thing at the
same time with no element of control over the time, place, path, or pace of learning.

Tracy’s use of Google Docs for the student writing exercise is no different than if her
students were writing with pencil and paper.

Tracy is participating in a “technology-rich” classroom, not a blended one.

Technology-rich instruction shares the features of traditional teacher-led instruction
with technological enhancements. This includes electronic whiteboards, digital
textbooks, online lesson plans, Google Docs, virtual reality, and so forth. These tools
may enhance learning experiences, but do not fundamentally shift instruction in a
way that gives students some element of control.
By understanding blended learning as an instructional delivery model that gives
students some element of control over their learning and by leveraging the
opportunity of personalization that blended learning can provide at scale, educators
can start to address challenges and opportunities in their schools that will enable
them to move the practice of blended learning forward