Today, we are diving into the different ways a teacher can run a blended learning classroom. A quick recap of our last post. We discussed how blended learning can be beneficial to the way you run your classroom and I pointed out three ways that blended learning can work for you based on the description I got from teachers that I have been working with. Recap: Blended learning is a teaching approach that blends both digital and in-person teaching methods.

Blended Learning Models

When it comes to the various models of blending learning, there are many that overlap in what they offer to students and teachers when they are applied. Check out my Wakelet for a deeper dive into the world of blended learning.

Station, Lab & Individual Rotation

I grouped Station, Lab and & Individual rotation together since they are the essentially the same with little tweaks. When you go searching blending learning on the internet these would be listed out separately. these three together. There is a good chance that you might be doing this model in your classrooms already. These models promote the idea of students moving from one station to another. These stations can be small group time, online learning time or teacher led time. The lab version of this just means that they are in a lab (think primarily science) with the same purpose. The individual rotation groups would be a version of this without group work and everything is independent.

Flipped classroom

This is the model that I am most familiar with and one that if I were still in the classroom, would be likely using. Essentially, the students would be given time before class to review materials. In a practical sense, the teacher would hand out content for the students to review before they apply it in their class. A couple of examples of this would be having the students watch a video, review a PowerPoint or read a document before class. With giving them the background for homework, the students will come to class with knowledge and questions, and you can spend more time working on solving those and less of the “Sage on the Stage” time.

​Side Note: “Sage on the Stage” sounds so weird. All I can picture is this older person in front of the classroom lecturing everyone till they are numb, and they will the students to knowledge that they are imparting (I also think of Dumbledore and Gandalf when I hear that phrase too, not sure why though).

Project-Based Blended Learning

Project-Based Learning is a hot topic here in Springfield, along with the rest of the country. Check out my earlier posts on Project-Based Learning. Using this model, the students will have instruction, collaboration time to design, iterate, test and publish content related to their topic.

Self-Directed Blended Learning

In Self-Directed blended learning students use a combination of online and face-to-face learning to create a personalized path. This path will include:

• personalized inquiry
• achieve formal learning goals
• connect with mentors physically and digitally
• And more

Since the learning is self-directed, the role of technology and the brick-and-mortar teacher change based on the individual student. A couple of challenges I foresee with the self-directed blended learning, is that it would be easy to miss some of the standards that need to be taught in the grade year. Another challenge would be how to grade student work and show that they’ve had a successful learning experience.

Student self-directed learning students could run into a challenge of finding models, products or whatnot to keep the spark to sustain their learning. Also, students should be aware of being able to access what’s working and why and then to make the adjustments to their learning. Some students might need a little guidance to find their footing and be successful, others might need a lot of support with specific pathways set up to guide them.

Mastery-Based Blended Learning

Mastery-Based is another term that is quite popular right now. Mastery learning is an instructional strategy, which students must achieve a predetermined level of mastery before moving on to the next standard. The educational theory is that if a student can meet the standard, they move on. If the student doesn’t meet it, they continue working on it until they achieve mastery of it.

So, how does Mastery-Based Blended Learning work? Students rotate between online and face-to-face learning based on meeting the mastery standard that has been set for them. Each part of the coursework the student completes is based on the mastering the standard.

Flex Framework

This one was a bit newer for me. The blended learning idea behind the flex framework is to place all students in one location with their computers with a number of smaller rooms off of the main room. Something like the picture below. While in the larger room, students are working independently doing online work. Teachers pull students into the smaller rooms based on identified needs working in small groups for either intervention or advancing specific topics.

Wrapping Up

This is just a smattering of blending learning styles. If you want to learn more about Blended Learning and dive more into the blended learning style, check out my Wakelet. In my next post we will look at ways that you can add some blended learning into your classroom (hint: you are probably already doing some of these things). Let me know your thoughts below and we will see you next time.