Blended learning
Blended Learning
Page contents
Overview
Blended learning refers to delivering some portion of course content online, meaning a mixture of in-person and offline interactions (see Online Learning Consortium image at right). The main advantage is that in-class time is freed up to do more active learning activities. A popular example is flipping the classroom, a form of blended learning where in-class lectures and more fact-based content are consumed by the student outside of class, via videos, interactive modules, and other learning objects. An accessible option to create and edit lecture videos is with the Instructional Video Modules Service from NYU Libraries/ITS.
The rationale behind blended learning is that fact-based content, which can be learned effectively through well-designed modules, multimedia lessons, and assessments, is offloaded to non-course time. This allows students to go through the content at times and in doses that make sense for the individual student. Those who need extra resources to understand the content have them. Additionally, in-class time is freed up to engage in real-world applications of the content.
Generally, most courses can benefit from introducing blended learning. The process involves the following steps:
- Content analysis: examining the syllabus to see where in-class lectures can be made online to free up valuable class time for more in-depth exploration of the material. The main questions are, what are problems that I have noticed throughout the semester? How could online content serve as solutions?
- Learning object design: outlining online content and determining where in the course sequence it will fall; designing assessments that will accompany the learning objects and gauge learning/ areas of improvement. The main question is: how can we best design this content to maximize learning?
- Learning object development: creating learning objects and assessments that students will use.
- Implementation and Analysis: applying new content and assessing its effectiveness.
Examples
- Blended learning videos for science courses: [MIT]
- Core Humanities Seminar: use of blended learning strategies, NYU Liberal Studies
- Flipped Political Science graduate course, and undergraduate brain sciences course [Duke University]
- Principles of Biology Lab: use of instructional videos to prep students for lab
- Italian language: use of instructional videos to review grammatical topics [NYU CAS – Italian Studies]
- Life Sciences: use of flipped course structure [NYU Liberal Studies]
- Molecular and Cell Biology: use of instructional videos [NYU CAS – Biology]
- Online Behavioral Experiments: use of flipped course structure [NYU GSAS – Psychology]
- Quarks to Cosmos: video snippet from a current project flipping a large CORE course
Templates & Guides
- Flipping a course how to, U of Texas
- How ‘Flipping’ the classroom can improve the traditional lecture in the Chronicle of Higher Education
- A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning (PDF), Dee Fink
- Video of flipping the classroom, Penn State University Teaching and Learning with Technology
- NYU ITS/Libraries Blended Learning Studio process
More information
- 7 things you should know about flipped classrooms, Educause Learning Initiative
- Allen, I.E., Seaman, J., and Garett, R. (2007). Blending In: The Extent and Promise of Blended Education in the United States. Online Learning (Sloan) Consortium.
- Amaral, K.E. and Shank, J.D. (2010). Enhancing Student Learning and Retention with Blended Learning Class Guides. EDUCAUSE Review Online.
- Bernard, R.M., Borokhovski, E., Schmid, R.F., Tamim, R.M., and Abrami, P.C. (2014). A meta-analysis of blended learning and technology use in higher education: from the general to the applied. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 26(1): 87-122.
- Dziuban, C.D., Hartman J., and Moskal, P. (2004). Blended Learning. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research.
- Garrison, R., & Vaughan, H. (2008). Blended learning in higher education: Framework, principles and
guidelines. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. - Halverson, L.R., Graham, C.R., Spring, K.J., Drysdale, J.S., and Henrie, C.R. (2014). A thematic analysis of the most highly cited scholarship in the first decade of blended learning research. The Internet and Higher Education, 20: 20-34.
- Lack, K.A. (2013). Current Status of Research on Online Learning in Post secondary Education. ITHAKA.
- Lim, D.H., Morris, M.L., and Kupritz, V. W.(2007). Online vs. Blended Learning: Differences in Instructional Outcomes and Learner Satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(2): 27-42. Sloan Consortium.
- Rovai, A.P. and Jordan, H. (2004). Blended Learning and Sense of Community: A Comparative Analysis with Traditional and Fully Online Graduate Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 5(2).