Wait… why do we need a blender in the classroom again?

Last lessons at ECO II, we’ve been talking about something called ‘blended learning’… and despite having been working in this way for most of my training as a teacher, I did not know what the expression meant until recently. Blended learning is a combination of online and in-person delivery of lessons that can come in several different forms. Although students still attend lessons at university or school, face-to-face classroom methods are combined with computer-mediated activities.

This kind of learning has got many advantages. Among them are the fact that it doesn’t prescribe which activities must be online, there isn’t a particular percentage of teaching and learning that has to happen in the classroom or not, and it can be tailored and personalized according to students and teachers’ needs and the technological resources available.

Here’s a short video explaining what blended learning is…

Particularly at the teacher training programme in ISP Almirante Brown, we use Moodle platform and Edmodo in order to complement what we do in class. Using these sites saves a lot of time and trouble because teachers can post some lead-in ideas to any topic before we go to class, post extra activities or homework, communication is more effective than via e-mails, and it is not necessary to go to the institution to hand in a practical work or look for material… we can do it all from the comfort of our homes!

So, although our institution does not have the most technological computers, the newest beamers or those cutting-edge interactive whiteboards, we are making the most of the technological resources we have got… and that is blended learning! :)

Check out these articles on How To ImplementBlended Learning and 10 Blended Learning Trends.