Blended Learning models

One clear advantage of blended learning in education is its connection with differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction involves “custom-designing instruction based on student needs.”¹ In differentiated instruction, educators look at students’ learning needs and styles, interests and abilities. Once these factors have been identified, we can decide the curriculum content, learning activities, products and learning environments that will best serve those individual students’ needs. For example, educators can alter the learning environment where students work collaboratively online. Teachers could also add relevant curriculum content that would be unavailable or difficult to comprehend outside of the internet. Learning activities and products can also be changed to use technologies in a classroom that uses blended learning.

Blended learning can be identified by 6 current delivery models varied by teacher roles, physical space, method of delivery and timetabling. Although the three key environments are classroom, online and mobile learning, what is being blended is face-to-face with computer-mediated activities. The models have been identified by researchers for a report, The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning: Profiles of Emerging Models. According to the report’s authors, these models are helping to “disrupt” traditional education in ways unlike technologies that came earlier.

¹deGuia, M., B. Hoffman. ed. Differentiating the learning environment

Image adapted from:

http://knewton.marketing.s3.amazonaws.com/images/infographics/blended-learning.jpg

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_learning

http://www.knewton.com/blended-learning/

http://www.slideshare.net/cmcculloch/blended-learning-models-presentation

http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/05/04/report-6-blended-learning-models-emerge.aspx

Multi-choice Photography self test

We have a group of 15 Year 9 students undertaking an NCFE level 2 qualification in Photography as a 20 week course. They are given one 50 minute lesson a week by the host school and need to attend an after-school class for 2 hours per week. Much of the time is needed for practical photograph taking and digital-darkroom on Adobe Photoshop. Consequently, theory based activities tend to be PowerPoint lectures and few notes are taken, especially in the 2 hour session as this is seen by the students as ‘their time’ and semi-voluntary. Reinforcement of key principles are reiterated during lessons, however I am unsure as to how much is retained. This will become more important when students undertake one of the their three final coursework studies where marks are awarded for understanding as well as use of principles such as lighting, composition and file optimisation.

To ascertain the students’ level of understanding I had hoped to make an exciting interactive game involving Flash-based drag and drops etc. This was too ambitious considering time-constraints at this time of year. I resolved to make a simple multi-choice test that could be completed in the 50 minute lesson using Hot Potatoes 6. It is possible to develop this test further and even host on the school’s VLE with a bit more tweaking. However, for first use it will be sufficient to give me an idea of the depth of understanding of some students and act as a diagnostic for those who seem not to have taken in any of the theory lessons.

The Java based version of Hot Potatoes 6 for Mac OSX has proved to be very easy to use and customisable per project. The output to HTML ensures that I can use it in our iMac base or develop for the school’s VLE and home learning.

Google Apps in Education – join GTAUK

Google Teacher Academy UK (#GTAUK) pressure group here – sign up to add your voice! (http://bit.ly/GTAUK)

In the US, around 50 innovative educators are selected to attend each GTA based on the merits of their online application. Potential applicants include classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, technology specialists, librarians, administrators, professional trainers, and other education professionals who actively serve K-12 teachers and students.

Participants are selected based on their professional experience, their passion for teaching and learning, and their successful use of technology in K-12 settings. Since the program relies on a “train-the-trainers” model, we are particularly interested in educators who actively provide technology-related mentoring or training for classroom teachers.

The Google Teacher Academy is a FREE professional development experience designed to help K-12 educators get the most from innovative technologies. Each Academy is an intensive, one-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google’s free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues, and immerse themselves in an innovative corporate environment. Upon completion, Academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K-12 educators in their local region.

Top 10 Tools on the Web

Here’s my list: http://bit.ly/qSH4p. Check out the Top 10 rated globally on the same site….

A very useful web site it is too – in full:

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/damoward.html

Jane Hart is also a useful person to follow on twitter for insights and links to international e-learning websites and discussions.

Online tool partially completed, learning journal submitted

Most of my online tool for the MSC is done now although it needs a bit of tweaking. Some of the links don’t seem to work and I’ve noticed the odd formatting typo etc. Being a perfectionist I want it to be near perfect. The method of delivery also needs a bit more thought although I have adapted my webspace for the future inclusion of all my projects.

Completed the 2000 word learning journal tonight although the bulk was done over the January holiday (New Years). I have a good idea as to my presentation on Saturday but again nothing finalised. Heavy snow here today (brrr).

Online collaboration

I have been giving some thought to online collaboration tools. I have used Skype for a while as a communication tool and have shared documents between small groups in Google docs. Working with Colin at Uni, we wanted an integrated approach.

So Colin and I agreed to work online collaboratively every Wednesday evening from 8 to 9 pm. We initially started using Skype (tested during Day 1), however, audio can be a bit hit and miss at times depending on the network and your physical site of your computer. Colin, I believe was in a public library! Consequently, he set up and sent me the link today to his Groundwork trust ning social site… this worked really well and we were able to share our progress, ideas, resource files and even slides. Read through our Forum commentary here. Suitably impressed by Colin’s ning site, I have created one for my work colleagues, although it may be difficult to tear them away from Facebook.
Explore Colin’s ning social site at: http://groundworklearners.ning.com/

Interesting that others’ sites were done in pbwiki and wetpaint. Room for some more discovery research here.

WikiMindmaps – just see how useful this tool is!

Ever thought you’d like a mindmap instantly created online AND with links with extra detail? Wikimindmap does just that… incredibly useful I think.

Using Internet forums to debate and challenge

Unfortunately, “chatrooms” and the like are all to easily abused when we try to use them in the classroom; remote debates can descend into social conversations (at best) or chaotic abuse. As students use social networking site for over 50% of the online time, they have the computer literacy skills in abundance and just need to apply it to something educational.

What about using the Forums, Talk back, Talking point or Have your Say of respected and carefully monitored sites like that of news.bbc.co.uk? Posts are not guaranteed to make it to an international audience but when they are the payback is immense. For an example, check out this news articleentitled “What do you think of modern art?” of May, 2005. My entry appears approx. 2/3 down!