Blended, Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools,
written by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker is a guide to blended learning
and is written in four distinct parts. The first part explains to the reader
what blended learning looks like and what it is not. The second section of the
book gives suggestions on how to mobilize people to embrace changes in
education. During the third part of the book, the authors explain to the
audience how to choose and design the best model of blended learning based on:
1.
what problem the school wants to solve
2.
what is the desired student experience
3.
what type of team the school has at its disposal
4.
the physical space available
5.
availability of internet-enabled devices
This book makes a strong case for employing a blended
learning approach which the authors define as “any formal education program in
which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some
element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.”
Perhaps the biggest argument for blended learning is that is
can free up adult time from providing constant, direct instruction so they can
then focus on support, enrichment, and mentoring of students. This idea appears
to possibly have some advantages. With students moving at their own pace,
teachers can pull strategy groups or select students to work on higher level
problem solving skills. Rather than blended learning being accused of adding
more to the teacher’s plate, the case is made that this style of education can
really give teachers some time back for important components of their job.
If you are a teacher, administrator, or even a
superintendent of a school system and are interested in learning more about the
possible benefits of disruptive innovation, you can purchase this book at Amazon. The authors have done extensive research in this field. Michael Horn is a co founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation and is the executive director of the education programs for this organization. Heather Staker is a senior research fellow for the same institute.
Stay tuned for my next blog entry where I will offer my
opinion and brainstorm ideas of how this approach may work in my classroom.
This is really interesting, and very similar to Personalized Learning as well. It's a bit of a relief to see that all of these new initiatives overlap. When I first heard of flipped classrooms, blended learning, personalized learning, project based learning....I was a little freaked out. What about just...learning?! Within the foreign language community there are also huge shifts happening in best practices and methods. It was a little too much.
ReplyDeleteGood to see that a lot of what I'm doing already (and all of the DDLS principles!) are included in each of these new initiatives and teaching methodologies. Blended learning, with technologies like Google Classroom, really aren't that hard to implement.
I do like that this is very similar to personalized learning and computer-based learning. It's one of those things that I (and I'm sure most other teachers do) love the idea of it but it's the implementation that is tough. It's scary because all throughout our undergraduates, we were taught how to teach in a traditional classroom. We're now trying to continue that so we don't lag behind in our classes while also transitioning to something that is much harder to accomplish - something different for each student.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Stacey. This will be a work in progress for sure.
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