5 Step Blended Learning Model
I often ask myself what is blended learning. As a school we have defined it to be teachers using technology to meet the individual needs of our students, but what does that really mean? I can't emphasize enough the importance of giving teachers some ideas to implement the model and keeping it simple. After months of talking about lesson plans, blended learning, online programs like Moodle, Aleks, and technology devices, we realized we just needed 5 things.
Blended Learning can be done with 5 easy steps:
- Objective / Driving Question: What does the teacher want the students to master? The students should know exactly what they should be learning and how it relates to the real-world. Keep in mind, there is a difference between doing something and mastering something. Often times we all fall victim to giving students tasks opposed to learning goals.
- Activity #1: Teachers can start designing activities for the students to complete or use online, such as ALEKS. If it can be done on paper it should be able to be transferred to a computer. For example, why should the teacher lecture when they can find a video for the students to analyze? They can pre-record the lesson so they don't have to repeat it 4-5 times throughout the day.
- Activity #2: Often times I see teachers focus on one activity for the period. It is key for the teacher to create a second online activity. It can be as simple as transferring the information they just learned about in a video to a shared google doc or the teacher can target a small group of students and provide them explicit instructions related to the goal.
- Activity #3: I can't tell you enough how many times we miss the 3rd activity. We get so caught up in the first two activities, many times the teachers don't even get to this activity. An example might include using an online program or analyzing each others work and giving feedback.
- Measurement - If we start with a goal, shouldn't we have a measurement? Our goal is to get this completed by the end of the period. Even in a blended learning model, I have seen teachers dismiss the students without assessing their goal for the day.
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| 5- Step Blended Learning |
I am using this model that I created with Piktochart to provide myself and teachers a clear visual of our model. The goal is to eventually shorten the loops on a daily basis. Also it is flexible enough for students to complete all 3 activities or choose 1-2 of the activities while meeting the same over-arching goal.
