When I first heard this word, I was so confused about the actual meaning of ” blended” but when I got familiar with this word, it became one of my favorites. Nowadays blended learning has become one of the important aspects of education. Especially in the previous 2-3 year we have become accustomed to this. Today, If we are teaching without the technology then we as an educator feel something is missing while teaching. Blended learning is an integral part of our teaching as per today’s scenarios. Since the pandemic arose, it teaches us that it is necessary for our children to be familiar with technology so that even if they are not coming to an institute, they are learning from home. Also, it nurtures self directed and makes learners independent and simultaneously boost their confidence level that they can solve their problems themselves too. It makes our students passionate learners and motivates them towards learning new things and expanding their horizon in terms of their career. As an educator our main focus was on our students needing to know why they are listening, what they are writing, they need tasks that focus them and help understand the text regardless the mode of teaching whether it’s blended, remote or In person. In order to provide students with a successful blended learning experience, educators must promote good course designs and develop new technology- and teaching-related abilities so that students have no trouble adjusting.
If I would discuss the challenges and opportunities I faced in blended learning then my only challenge is to discover new activities on a daily basis so that my students show their full participant during my lecture. And there are a lot of opportunities I felt while learning. To begin with as a teacher we can provide them instant feedback according to their performance in the classroom. Additionally, I think that students begin to develop early in their careers and that mentors and school culture have a positive impact on our children. Another prominent point is, Increasing performance and attaining learning goals are the main motive behind blended learning. To conclude, I just want to say that the use of technology in the classroom has improved teaching methods and is really helpful for many students, especially those who are more tech-oriented and believe in learning by doing. Through coaching, e-coaching, and online forums, Blended learning urges the institute to take teachings and conversations out of the classroom and into the workplace and improves the level of education with the help of technologies.
I agree that Blended learning is very important in education at present and in the future. I do blended instruction as I used technology as part of my teaching strategy to achieve very good outcomes as students nowadays love to use a technological device to express what they learned. For example, in our unit planning for the future, my students created a timeline for their plans for the future online and did an oral presentation. They then put their created timeline for the future in their portfolio in their MYBLUEPRINT. This activity also enable students to assess and reflect on their work and made them resourceful as they collect some pictures etc. to support a particular stage in their life to achieve their goals.
I agree with you. I am pretty familiar with online classes, but when I am learning more about this course through the readings, the definition of an online blended course becomes more apparent. Indeed, the discussion forum is an excellent tool for teachers to acknowledge students’ understanding of the course. Through discussion, teachers can deliver instant feedback which is helpful for both teachers and students. If a student finds out poor marks in specific tasks, they can immediately work on enhancing the grade and a teacher can track his/her lesson plan and strategy.