Blended Learning Strategies: Unit Three
Activity: Blend your lesson
Introduction: In most cases, the use of blended learning is used for whole classroom or school environment. The goal of this activity is start thinking about how blended learning works, the concepts behind it, how to implement your lesson, and the challenges that might come up.
- First, you will want to think back about the questions asked at the end of unit one and two. Keep those in mind as you move along.
- Think of a lesson you currently use in the classroom that you will turn into a blended learning lesson
Things to Consider
As you start to look at your current lesson, many thoughts about how to transform it may come to mind. Before diving in to make changes, consider these things:
- Are there any policies at your school that would require approval before starting a blended lesson?
- Some states may require specific certifications to use blended learning lessons and classrooms
- Does your school set aside or have special funding for projects that fit blended learning strategies and implementations?
- Has anyone in your school tried using blended learning? Do they have data or information that would help support your goals?
- Technology:
- Are there current technologies in your classroom or in the school that can be utilized for your blended lesson?
- Does the technology help make the lesson more engaging or will it slow students down trying to learn how to use it?
- Can technology be shared between students in the lesson or will each student need their own personal device?
- Time and scalability:
- Does creating a blended learning lesson take more time for students to complete?
- Keep in mind time for students to learn the technology
- Keep in mind time for students to learn the new model and the process
- Will additional teachers(para-teachers) be needed to help in different sections or for support?
Plan
After going through the things to consider, the next step is to start planning. Since you are using a lesson that already exists, you can use this as a base to start transforming.
Choosing a Model
Looking at the different models from Blended Learning Strategies: Unit Two, the first step will be to pick which one will support your lesson the best and is feasible for you and your students. The chart below provides information on the models and what resources will be needed. This will be helpful in picking the best option:
Roles
Using a blended learning lesson will require a shift in your role as the teacher and the students role as a learner. In the parts of your lesson where you drive the instruction, consider how students can find information on their own or use technology to discover new concepts of interest.
- Being a new concept to the students, consider how you will model how to learn and how to find information and answers. Read how to help students ask better questions
With the role of facilitator, in the blended learning environment, think about how you can field questions as students start to ask them as they move along the lesson.
- How can students communicate with you(both in person and outside the classroom)?
In your new role, with the learning in the hand of the student, consider the opportunity to collect data on the lesson. With the chance to individualize the learning for students, more data on how they are progressing can be collected. This data can also help get your school or other teachers on board to the idea of blended learning.
- If the lesson was used previously and data was collected, can this be compared to the new blended learning lesson? What changes do you think will happen?
Content
Changing a lesson to a blended learning lesson will not only change how content is learned but it will change how it is delivered.
- Using online resources, do they align with the goals of the lesson? Are all students able to easily locate the content needed to succeed?
Content can now be discovered by the student either in the classroom(in a station) or online through different sites and tools.
- Which resources will be used or needed for students as they work on their own or in groups?
Activities can be done at any time, and lessons are more hands on.
- Implementing technology, what new activities can be used?
Timing will be something to consider when implementing your new blended learning lesson.
- What activities will students complete in-class or online, outside the classroom?
- Do students need extra time on certain aspects of the lesson?
Use of Technology
Technology is a driving factor in the use of a blended learning lesson or classroom. Many forms of technology can be used to help students engage and discover content. In today's educational world, the possibilities and programs are endless. Some ideas on technology that can be used:
- A free or cost-friendly LMS(Learning Management System).
- Moodle (free) Link to learn about Moodle
- Sakai(free) Link to learn about Sakai
- Blackboard(cost) Link to Learn about Blackboard
- Applications on tablets or smartphones.
- Many applications for education are free to download and use. As they change often, you may want to search depending on the subject your are teaching about.
- Technology to collect student data.
- Assistments: Link to learn about Assistments
- Mastery Connect: Link to learn about Mastery Connect
Consider the type of technology that will be most beneficial to student engagement and support. It is highly recommended to first test out any technology that will be used as both the instructor and as a student. This will also help when students have questions and will be useful when trying to write directions for students to follow.
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