Blended learning is the combination of multiple methods of learning.
For example: self-paced, collaborative or inquiry-based study. Blended learning can be accomplished through the use of ‘blended’ virtual and physical resources. Examples include combinations of technology-based materials, face-to-face sessions and print materials. The concept of blended learning has particular importance to language learning
Current Usage
- With today’s prevalence of high technology in many countries, blended learning often refers specifically to the provision or use of resources which combine e-learning (electronic) or m-learning (mobile) with other educational resources.
- Some would claim that key blended-learning arrangements can also include e-mentoring or e-tutoring.
- These arrangements tend to combine an electronic learning component with some form of human intervention, although the involvement of an e-mentor or an e-tutor does not inevitably need to be in the context of e-learning. E-mentoring or e-tutoring can also be provided as part of a “stand alone” (“un-blended”) e-tutoring or e-mentoring arrangement.
- Researchers Heinze and Procter have developed the following definition for Blended Learning in higher education: Blended Learning is learning that is facilitated by the effective combination of different modes of delivery, models of teaching and styles of learning, and founded on transparent communication amongst all parties involved with a course.
A major criticism of such a definition revolves around their fixed insistence upon features such as “communication”, “transparency”, “parties” and “courses”. These features do not necessarily have clear or unambiguous meaning in environments outside that of higher (or other institutionalized) education systems. In other words, the definition fails to acknowledge environments where blended learning does not raise issues of “transparency of communication” in the way it is visualized in the institutional definition. This might refer to artificial intelligence systems, or animal training systems, which can be involved in blended learning since they employ combined resources. More on this definition can be found at this site
It should also be noted that some authors talk about “hybrid learning” (this seems to be more common in Northern American sources) or “mixed learning”. However, all of these concepts broadly refer to the incorporation (the “blending”) of e-learning tools and techniques with traditional methods. Two important factors to consider are the time spent on online activities and the amount of technology used.
Alternative Usage
The term “blended learning” can also be used to describe arrangements in which “conventional”, offline, non-electronic based instruction happens to include online tutoring or mentoring services.
This combination of e-tutoring plus conventional learning, although it is a perfectly valid example of blended learning, is the “opposite way round” to most current blended learning arrangements, in that the solution is handled by conventional learning techniques, not by the electronic techniques.