What is Blended Learning?
The definition of blended learning can be quite broad as it contains many models and variations on the models. According to Graham (2006), blended learning combines face-to-face learning with distributed learning systems that rely heavily on technology. Horn and Evans (2013) describe blended learning as learning that “combines online learning with elements of a brick-and-mortar experience” (p. 22). Staker and Horn (2012) extend this definition by adding that there must be “some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace” (p. 3). Watson (2008) views blended learning as a “pedagogical approach that combines the effectiveness and socialization opportunities of the classroom with the technologically enhanced active learning possibilities of the online environment, rather than a ratio of delivery modalities” (p.4). Others have also extended the blended learning definition into the pedagogical realm rather than focussing on the modality; Patrick, Kennedy and Powell (2013) explain that blended learning involves an “explicit shift of the classroom-level instructional design to optimize student learning and personalize learning” and should provide “greater student control and flexibility in pathways for how a student learns, where and when a student learns and how they demonstrate mastery” (p14).
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