EFFECTIVENESS OF BLENDED LEARNING 1

Effectiveness of Blended Learning

Alicia Jones

Lamar University

EDLD 5305
EFFECTIVENESS OF BLENDED LEARNING 2

Review of the Literature

Abstract

Blended learning has become increasingly popular throughout classrooms nationwide due to

the level of effectiveness it has within the classroom. This hybrid concept of teaching is now being

applied to environments outside the classroom such as corporate offices and local businesses.

Blended learning can be defined 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” (Maxwell, 2016). Educators from all over are taking steps to incorporate more

blended learning practices within their classrooms. The positive outcomes that are created from

blended learning environments are attractive to educators who wish to enhance their classrooms.

Becker Adams states that from,

Adaptive learning to flipped classrooms to the incorporation of online learning

module, blended learning designs are gaining traction because, when implemented well,

they reflect the best of both worlds: they enhance traditional approaches with engaging

uses of social technology and rich media. (Adams et al., 2017).

Unfortunately there are educators out there who are still missing the mark on what true blended

learning is comprised of. In order to fully plan and implement a blended learning environment

there needs to be commitment and significant investment from the learning facilitator. Overall,

Brooks and Pomerantz state blended learning, “As a modality of instruction and learning is

superior to either fully online or fully face-to-face” (Brooks & Pomerantz, 2017). The objective of

this literature review is to show the support of effectiveness that blended learning can have upon
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the learner through increased student engagement, personalized learning opportunities, and the

promotion of student ownership.

Increased Student Engagement

Constantly found on the educational radar, “Student engagement has been an object of

interest and an area of investment in higher education” (Brooks, Pomerantz, & Reeves, 2016),

for over twenty years. A student’s attention, curiosity, and passion are all connected in how they

can achieve success whether it be in the classroom, workplace, or home. The more intrigued a

learner is by a particular concept results in a higher level of engagement while attempting to

discover, learn, and master the concept. Educators are now placing improved student engagement

on their instructional goals due to the importance and level of impact classroom engagement has

upon the learner. As we move further into the twenty-first century technology use is growing and

becoming more commonplace than it was even ten years ago. Schools are launching more

technology initiatives in order to incorporate more technological use within classrooms. As

indicated by Brooks, students today, “See technology as a powerful mechanism for increasing

their levels of engagement in their academic work” (Brooks et al., 2016). Since our learners have

grown-up in the digital age it can be difficult for a teacher to keep their students fully engaged in

the classroom. Attention spans are shorter than ever and several educators have deemed

technological devices as distractions within the classroom. Instead of demonizing technology it

can be embraced and used as a valued resource to promote blended learning opportunities. By

now, it would be smart to accept the fact that the online environment is, “The platform that has

provided the node for the evolution of these new teaching and learning models” (Keengwe &

Agamba, 2015). Assignments can be submitted as blogs, podcasts, or videos. Students have the

opportunity to collaborate with other students across the globe thanks to the Internet and
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communication platforms such as Skype. To enhance regular dialogue infographics can be used

to represent information, gamifying can be introduced to the class, and voice recording with

playback can strengthen key concepts. By embracing technology and allowing students to take

ownership of their learning the educator has designed favorable odds at creating a blended

learning environment that increases their student’s engagement.

Personalized Learning

Blended learning is an innovative process that has the potential to revamp classrooms across

the nation and make a huge impact on student learning. One of the positive take-a-ways from a

blended learning environment is the personalized learning that available to students. Technology

can help educators understand and respond better to their learner’s needs while also helping

schools reach their own goals of unbiased, effective, and engaged learning for all. For teachers

who are working on personalizing their student’s learning experience, “It is important that you

help them to recognize that who they are will impact on what they want to do and how they are

able to achieve their goals” (Thorne, 2003). Personalized learning is an instructional process that

focuses on the individual student’s needs. The curriculum and learning environments are

tailored to each student’s learning preferences and specific interested in order to increase student

engagement. Personalized learning offers differentiation, student choice, self-directed learning,

and flexible resource allocation.

Differentiation. Teachers can differentiate their instructional methods by adjusting lesson

plans to fit their student’s learning styles. Within a differentiated classroom teachers, “Use time

flexibly, call upon a range of instructional strategies, and become partners with their students to

see that both what is learned and the learning environment are shaped to the learner” (Tomlinson,

1999). Students may also be grouped together based off their shared interests, by topic, or ability.
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Formative assessment measures can be taken to improve student learning as well as instruction

for the teacher. Lessons and instruction are continually being assessed and adjusted to meet

student’s needs. The physical classroom environment is safe and supports both individual and

group work spaces. Educators can use technology within their differentiated instructional

methods by allowing students to use teaching websites or learning games to work on individual

needs, collaborate during group work using platforms that allow projects to be worked on

simultaneously, or allow students to record peer tutoring sessions for classroom review later.

Student Choice. One way personalized learning can be identified is by how much choice the

student is allotted during the learning process. Thanks to the digital era that we are currently in

educators can offer our students varying technological ways to enhance their individualized

learning. Students are demanding more technology use in the classroom as well. Because of this

student demand, “It is critical to identify what factors can lead faculty to integrate more

technology into their teaching” (Pomerantz & Brooks, 2017). Since every student is different

educators need to be able offer multiple learning opportunities to fit their student’s needs and

offering technological options can help achieve this goal. Through student choice the learners

have the opportunity to showcase what they have learned in various technological ways.

Traditional student choice presentation may involve a trifold board, poster, or pamphlet that

display an assigned project. When presenting from a blended learning environment students are

able to unlock an abundance of technological resources that were probably not available to them

before. A simple poster may mature into an impressive Google Slides presentation. Or, a

pamphlet of completed projects can be cultivated into an ePortfolio site that has the opportunity

to continue growing.
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Self-directed Learning. The self-directed learning process includes the student taking charge

over their own learning process. A self-directed learner may analyze their learning needs,

determine goals, identify resources, implement strategies, and evaluate outcomes. In the

traditional Socratic teaching method a teacher is there to create a context for the student in order

to pull information in and create understanding. A self-directed learner will create the context

for themselves and take ownership of the learning. The learning facilitator should understand that

learners are being challenged to forgo a familiar, traditional process in order to embrace an

unknown yet empowering new process. Successful self-directed learners value this type of

learning process and recognize they can be victorious in formal and informal learning.

Technology can have a positive impact on those students who are self-directed. Having that

access to technology means a personalized learning experience can be created, unlimited access

to information, and an abundance of resources. Aside from technology, self-directed learners,

“Need reinforcement from the facilitator to support them in the early stages of self-directed

learning when they may begin to doubt themselves” (Piskurich, 2003). While working with

technology a teacher can support the learner by electronic conferencing to stay on top of learning

progress, encourage student-led learning activities/conferences, and guide students through self-

assessment.

Flexible resource allocation. Personalized learning allows for adaptive learning to take

place. Adaptive learning is a process in which technology interacts with the learner to deliver

customized resource activities to meet the needs of each learner. Technological resources can

inspire learning beyond the classroom, provide individual personalized learning time, and has the

opportunity to engage students far beyond that of physical resources such as textbooks. As

provided by Majdalany and Guiney, when applied to true technology resources, “Connectivity
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standards are key to implementing a distance learning program. Connections must be widely and

easily available, reliable, and predictable” (Majdalany & Guiney, 1999). Aside from tech

resources is the importance of human resources as well. With more technology based learning

occurring more frequently individual learners are losing opportunities to work with other

learners. When implementing a blended learning environment it is key for the learning

facilitator to ensure learners have access to both technological and human resources throughout

the learning process. At first use, technology can be engaging but over time can lose its

illustriousness. Choosing resources that have built-in incentive programs to keep learners

engaged will help in keeping your technological resources a true resource. According to Arney,

after all, “If a program isn’t engaging for students, we know that students will veer off task, and

learning will not progress” (Arney, 2015).

Student Ownership

Blended learning empowers students to take ownership over their learning. Through

engagement and ownership students learn more effectively and feel they truly control their own

learning. Students are given the opportunity to express their voice and choice in order to become

independent thinkers. By having students track their own learning progress and record their own

data they start to take accountability and become autonomous. Research by Duffy and Kirkley

indicate educators can capitalize, “On those student-generated issues [as] one strategy for giving

ownership while still maintaining the pre-specified learning objectives for the course” (Duffy &

Kirkley, 2004). By doing so, the educators are able to stay within the state requirements of the

course while students willingly take ownership over the class objectives.
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Conclusion

In this review, I have tried to show the support of effectiveness that blended learning can have

upon a learner through increased student engagement, personalized learning opportunities, and

promotion of student ownership. Distance learning is viewed in contrasting perspectives whether

it be a revolution in education or seen as the diminishing quality of education. Even though

several educators fight the move to e-learning there is still significant growth in web-based

education seen across various environments, whether it be classrooms or corporate learning. We

owe it to our 21st century learners to embrace and champion for technology in classrooms.

Although there is immense research supporting a blended learning environment in classrooms it

is applicable across various environments including college campuses and corporate offices.
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References

Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., Freeman, A., Hall Giesinger, C., and

Ananthanarayanan, V. (2017). NMC Horizon report: 2017 Higher education edition.

Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Arney, Liz. (2015). Go blended! : A handbook for blending technology in schools. San

Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Brooks, D. Christopher, Pomerantz, Jeffrey, and Reeves, Jamie. ECAR Study of undergraduate

students and information technology, 2016. Research report. Louisville, CO: ECAR,

October 2016.

Brooks, D. Christopher, and Jeffrey Pomerantz. ECAR Study of undergraduate students and

information technology, 2017. Research report. Louisville, CO: ECAR, October 2017.

Duffy, Thomas, and Kirkley, Jamie. (2004). Learner-centered theory and practice in distance

education: Cases from higher education. Mahwah, NJ: Taylor & Francis.

Keengwe, Jared, and Agamba, Joachim Jack. (2015). Models for improving and optimizing

online and blended learning in higher education. Hershey, PA: Information Science

Reference.

Majdalany, Gibran, and Guiney, Susan. (1999). Implementing distance learning in urban

schools. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED438338)

Maxwell, C. (2016, March 4). What blended learning is – and isn't. Retrieved April 29, 2019,

from https://www.blendedlearning.org/what-blended-learning-is-and-isnt/

Piskurich, George. (2003). Preparing learners for e-learning. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley &

Sons, Inc.
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Pomerantz, Jeffrey, and D. Christopher Brooks. ECAR Study of faculty and information

technology, 2017. Research report. Louisville, CO: ECAR, October 2017.

Thorne, Kaye. (2003). Blended learning: How to integrate online and traditional learning.

Sterling, VA: Kogan Page Limited.

Tomlinson, Carol. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.