Blending Education - Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education

Over the past decade, education has seen the rise of a hybrid method of learning that combines traditional face-to-face approach with tech-powered e-learning. Both students and educators have agreed on the efficiency and benefits of blended learning method since it combines the best of both worlds allowing less costly, time-saving and more personalised ways of knowledge acquisition. 

According to the results of our research at Blending Education, blended approach improved overall student achievement and learning attitude as:

• Students felt more engaged in the course material with the blended format
• Students reported that they liked the convenience of the blended approach, 
• Students liked working independently at their own pace; they felt more comfortable expressing themselves with the blended approach, and they felt that the blended activities promoted a learning community, allowing them to interact more easily with other class members.

As for me, some of the major takeaways were understanding further the potency in supporting and reinforcing what educators are already doing. Understanding the importance of technology application in education, in order to keep up with the pace of their target audience puts a critical view on why institutions are refusing to engage with beaded learning resources as readily as other institutions. The shift that blended learning brought to higher education recently presents an ongoing process that is continually reshaping the learning process, as a result, several blended learning trends that define higher education of today can be found in only a hand full of providers.

1. Ease Of Access

Firstly, a blended learning system provides several learning models such as flex, self-blend, self-grading, rotation, and enriched-virtual that could easily meet the needs of any student’s requirement.

2. Interactive Pedagogy

Blended approach to learning manages to cause better student engagement which is more difficult to achieve in a traditional classroom. Fast development of Learning Management System platforms and features results in various means to encourage students to take a more active role and employ individual approach in the process of knowledge acquisition, thus creating opportunities for better student collaboration. With data-driven learning and assessment practices accessible via learning analytics, both instructors and students are able to track students’ progress. In addition, interaction with materials, which provides opportunity for instructors to gain insight and provide timely help to students who are considered to be performing poorly or struggling with terri studies. 

3. The Rise In The Development Of Functional Learning Management System Features

With the more cost effective alternatives to enterprise Learning Management System software, such as Moodle, Blackboard and D2L, development tools and availability of free resources for setting up an education website, it is becoming easier for local schools and individual tutors to build a great site with minimum investments. Combined with powerful available themes designed specifically for such purposes, functional Learning Management System, pricing and membership management plugins, this opens new opportunities for teachers, tutors and school administrators. Many of the aforementioned LMS providers integrate all the necessary functionalities to allow for easy set up and management, which enables even those without many technical skills to develop fully functional school or tutoring website.

4. Cost Effectiveness

One of the most significant quality of this particular trend in blended learning is that it works both ways, meaning that both users and providers of the program can experience cost saving, or in our case, cost neutrality after the first year. Students could benefit from no “per student fee”. As for universities, cost effectiveness is achieved through much faster and more effective access to blended education as well as by reductions in the physical space requirements.

5. Improved Academic Achievement

Finally, with the benefits of blended learning method such as time/space flexibility and a variety of appropriate learning models which result in better academic achievements. This comment often receives darting responses from many academics, questioning the efficacy of blended learning, with the numerous sales speak of offering a silver bullet to any institution. However, more interaction is being created constantly and this cannot be ignored. 

Furthermore, this scenario provides tutors and teaching specialists with enough resources to work with smaller groups of students during in-person sessions thus utilising the time much more efficiently, which, ultimately leads to considerably greater learning satisfaction, and consequently enhances students’ overall performance and positively effects the NSS.

Blended learning method bridges the way between two considerably different approaches providing significant improvements to each element and participant in the educational process. Together with reductions in cost, time and space and improvement of the students’ academic achievement, it also creates opportunities for advancement in the digital resources and solutions to construct as efficient learning platforms as possible.

It is inevitable that campus-based higher education institutions will adopt blended learning approaches in a significant way. As has been demonstrated by several institutions in the US, the UK and a growing number of International Schools that adhere to the US curriculum, once there is clear policy and strong leadership, the evolution will be fast paced. In a matter of a few short years, higher education institutions have been transformed in a manner consistent with their values and mitigating the fiscal and pedagogical challenges and deficiencies currently challenging the quality of the classroom experience. The academic benefit, evidence, and competitive advantages are clear; only the will and commitment remains. Blending Education can therefore begin the necessary process of redefining higher education institutions as being learning centered and facilitating a higher learning experience, whilst reinforcing what excellent work our teachers and instructors do on a daily basis.

In closing, as we explore the use of blended learning, it is important that we assess and evaluate its effectiveness. Tracking transformations resulting from the use of blended learning approaches, with respect to learning outcomes, student satisfaction, retention and achievement, are important to use as baseline measures of change that result from blended learning courses found on some institution's LMS or VLE. In addition to assessing the learning outcomes, the learning process should also be assessed. Assessing and evaluating the effects of blended learning on the learning process in terms of higher levels of learning (e.g., critical and reflective thinking) is a priority.

It is therefore essential that we begin to explore the impact of blended learning in achieving more meaningful learning experiences.