What is blended learning?
Well, it's not as easy as slapping down a couple of iPads in front of your students and letting them watch Ted Talks all day. It actually has a lot more to do with efficient classroom management than with putting your students education (literally) into their own hands. Possibly the best example of blended learning I can think of is the Flipped classroom. Most of us by now have heard about Flipped classrooms and are pretty familiar with them. But for those of us who might still be out of the circuit (I made a funny) the the Flipped classroom takes the lecture home and the homework to class. Instead of telling your students what to do and then using up precious class time trying to explain everything, you send them home to watch prerecorded video's, pod-casts, screen-casts, and even Ted Talks at home through Khan Academy. They then put what they learned into practice in the classroom with the teacher acting more like a guide than a lecturer who answers questions with the time to go more in-depth than ever before. There is no actual homework. If the students don't take the time to watch the video's (many are only 10 minutes in length) then they can't fully participate in class.
By making your students responsible for their own learning you can give them a feeling of responsibility and achievement at their successes. Empowerment is key! Blended learning works extremely well if your an educator who wants to better incorporate Keller's ARCS model into your teaching. I like to keep the ARCS in mind with a simple mantra:
"Catch your students Attention by making the material Relevant to their needs, Challenge them to build their Confidence so that they gain Satisfaction through their Successes."
Here is short video that explains just what the Flipped classroom is, it's directly from one of the inventors of this method, Aaron Sams:
Of course, the Flipped classroom is still something that many schools and teachers can only dream about with the lack of technology in schools or at homes. Today, many people are under the illusion of the Digital Native (I may go into my beliefs on this on another post) and that everyone has internet access (I do when my service feels like working) or owns a iPhone (I don't) or an iPod (I do). So, a blended classroom will take a little bit of creativity. You need to know your students, your students ability to access the internet from home or have access/ownership to other types of portable technology, and you need to know that their parents are supportive of your endeavor. Families that are strict about internet use or who heavily moderate their children's technology access may need to be convinced of your intentions. And then you will also need to convince your fellow teachers and the school Principle that the blended classroom can and will work.
Well, it's not as easy as slapping down a couple of iPads in front of your students and letting them watch Ted Talks all day. It actually has a lot more to do with efficient classroom management than with putting your students education (literally) into their own hands. Possibly the best example of blended learning I can think of is the Flipped classroom. Most of us by now have heard about Flipped classrooms and are pretty familiar with them. But for those of us who might still be out of the circuit (I made a funny) the the Flipped classroom takes the lecture home and the homework to class. Instead of telling your students what to do and then using up precious class time trying to explain everything, you send them home to watch prerecorded video's, pod-casts, screen-casts, and even Ted Talks at home through Khan Academy. They then put what they learned into practice in the classroom with the teacher acting more like a guide than a lecturer who answers questions with the time to go more in-depth than ever before. There is no actual homework. If the students don't take the time to watch the video's (many are only 10 minutes in length) then they can't fully participate in class.
By making your students responsible for their own learning you can give them a feeling of responsibility and achievement at their successes. Empowerment is key! Blended learning works extremely well if your an educator who wants to better incorporate Keller's ARCS model into your teaching. I like to keep the ARCS in mind with a simple mantra:
"Catch your students Attention by making the material Relevant to their needs, Challenge them to build their Confidence so that they gain Satisfaction through their Successes."
Here is short video that explains just what the Flipped classroom is, it's directly from one of the inventors of this method, Aaron Sams:
Of course, the Flipped classroom is still something that many schools and teachers can only dream about with the lack of technology in schools or at homes. Today, many people are under the illusion of the Digital Native (I may go into my beliefs on this on another post) and that everyone has internet access (I do when my service feels like working) or owns a iPhone (I don't) or an iPod (I do). So, a blended classroom will take a little bit of creativity. You need to know your students, your students ability to access the internet from home or have access/ownership to other types of portable technology, and you need to know that their parents are supportive of your endeavor. Families that are strict about internet use or who heavily moderate their children's technology access may need to be convinced of your intentions. And then you will also need to convince your fellow teachers and the school Principle that the blended classroom can and will work.
- Dedication for one thing, it takes a lot of work outside of class to make sure blended learning works in class. As an educator you will need to make sure that you have access to resources that have been evaluated by either your state educational governing body or fellow teachers. You may need to spend some time either evaluating materials that haven't been already looked into or you might need to go about creating your own. The good thing is that once you have created your materials you can generally use them repeatedly with minor adjustments as needed over time.
- Access to technology. For a blended classroom to truly be blended it requires that it's students have access to at least some form of technology. Video's can be upload to iPads, iPhones, iPods (pretty much anything with 'i' in it) as well as being sent via email or viewed on you-tube or over your LMS. Ms. Katie Gimbar offers her students alternatives if they do not have access to technology at home:
- A platform. You need to have a Learning Management Systems (LMS) that is easy to use and access by both you and your students. The LMS helps you keep organized and gives your students access to the materials they need all from one place. One LMS that I enjoy using is Moodle. It's free, it's easy to use and it comes with a variety of downloadable language packs in case you need to offer translations for lower level ELL students. It's available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
- Communication. LMS's allow you to communicate and collaborate with your students on a daily basis. Which is an important part of blended learning, you must be able to reach your students and they must be able to reach you when assistance is needed or they have questions that need answering.
- Discipline. Even in a blended classroom there will be disruptive students and you need to make sure your students know that you are still the teacher and they must respect you. Students will be generally unfamiliar with the apparent freedom of the blended/flipped classroom and may feel that it is more "fun and games" than actual learning, which is the point, but it is still a class and they are still in school. Ms. Katie Gimbar has another excellent video on maintaining discipline in the flipped classroom:
How blended learning can be used to
teach three specific standards in ELL:
Blended learning can raise a student's self-esteem and confidence by giving them independence and letting them know that you trust in their own abilities do their work. Blended learning can be used to teach a variety of skill areas:
Blended learning can raise a student's self-esteem and confidence by giving them independence and letting them know that you trust in their own abilities do their work. Blended learning can be used to teach a variety of skill areas:
Listening Accomplishments Grades 3-12
L.1 Comprehend spoken instructions.
L.1.1 Follow one-step directions.
L.1.2 Follow two-step directions.
L.1.3 Follow multiple-step directions.
Reading Accomplishments Grades 3-12
R.3 Comprehend written instructions.
R.3.1 Follow one-step directions.
R.3.2 Follow two-step directions.
R.3.3 Follow multiple-step directions.
R.1.3 Comprehend simple phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and passages.
Writing Accomplishments Grades 3 -12
W.2.3 Construct correct sentences, including a variety of sentence types and styles.
W.2.4 Develop a central idea and support it with relevant details.
W.2.5 Organize ideas in writing to ensure coherence, logical progression, and support for ideas.
Most likely you will make use of screen-casts (another post will be on this) to supplement your classroom. In this case students will need to be able to both listen to and read the instructions in the screen-cast in order to complete their tasks. When working with ELL students make sure you speak clearly and keep an even tone so that it is easier for students with low listening abilities to keep up with. You should also make sure that, when recording yourself writing, it is legible and large enough for students to see. Also, make sure that you allow ample time for reading. ELL students, depending on their level and how long they have been learning, will still be in the process of learning their sight-words and may need time to recognize and piece together vocabulary and grammatical forms in order to comprehend what they are being taught. Additionally, by having the students keep notes (such as in a KWL chart) you can be assured that they watched and understood the materials. They can finish filling out the chart in class as they complete tasks for the lesson.
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