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.

New students; new technologies.

I’ve been reading an article titled ‘Digital natives, digital immigrants’ by Marc Prensky in my ECO II lessons. There, the author gives a general definition of what he calls ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital immigrants’, and how these two groups of people have a an impact on teaching today. He also criticises traditional teaching methods and activities.

I must say, I found Prensky’s ideas quite interesting and thought-provoking. I agree with him in many points, especially when he says ‘today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach’.

However, I personally think the author’s definitions of ‘natives’ and ‘immigrants’ are too general and he doesn’t take into account variables such as socio-economic status which, in my country, is very influential. Here, although technology is everywhere, it is not available to anyone. He also generalises when he talks about teachers – apparently, none of them is trying to include technology in the classroom and all of their lessons are boring and outdated. Again, I disagree. Many of my secondary school and university teachers use technology far better than any student.

Nevertheless, there’s never been so much thought about teaching, learning and the integration with the new technologies as there is today.  We cannot deny the fact that today’s students are indeed different from the ones in the past and technology is part of their lives in one way or another, and schools should take that into account. Its implementation in the classroom will mean less boring lessons, more engaged students; less outdated activities, more useful real-life like stuff.

References:
Prensky, Marc (2001). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press.
Picture retrived from this link.