Five ways to incorporate blended learning into your classroom

What is Blended Learning?

Blended learning, sometimes called digital learning, is the integration of learning technologies in the classroom to provide students with a more meaningful instructional experience that increases their engagement. Described below are five ways to transform a traditional classroom into one that is built around blended learning.

Station Rotation

The concept of having students rotate to different classroom workstations is not a new one and has long been practiced in elementary schools. Students are sorted into small groups and rotate to different workstations at timed intervals to work on a different activity related to the instructional unit. As adapted to blended learning, this model is unique in that at least one of the stations involves student use of online learning technologies.

Flex Model

Under the flex model, students work primarily online at their own pace. Teachers provide help or one-on-one remediation as needed. Related activities, such as small group student discussion, may be integrated into the flex model.

Lab Rotation

Students are assigned to a group by the teacher and rotate to a computer lab at fixed times where they do online work that reinforces what they are taught in the traditional classroom setting. Students work at their own pace toward achieving mastery of the subject and then advance to their next learning objective.

Flipped Classroom

In a departure from traditional teaching models where the lesson is presented by the teacher during class time and homework is done by the student at home, the flipped classroom reverses this order. Students consume the lesson at home through online videos made by the teacher. This frees up class time for the teacher to work with students one-on-one or in small groups and allows students the opportunity to work on project-based activities in class where they can apply what they learned from the recorded lessons.

Learning Management Systems and Adaptive Software

Reliable data is key to the successful integration of digital learning in your classroom. Learning management systems and adaptive software tools give teachers detailed data in real time that is necessary to assess a student’s understanding of the content being taught and to determine whether they are staying on-task. The data provided by these tools also help with the strategic grouping of students by ability level and allows the teacher to personalize the student’s learning experience.

For more information, read our free eBook series on blended learning or apply for one of Mason’s Learning Technologies in Schools degree programs.