What is the difference between strategy, technique, method and approach in terms of teaching

Ø Strategy

Strategy usually requires some sort of planning. You'd probably use strategy when faced with a new
situation, ie. the strategy to win a game.

A plan of action designed to achieve an overall aim.

Strategy means a method. Such as when playing a football game, "That was a great strategy! It always
works!" or when playing a video "Ok, our strategy is to go around the enemy".

Your example, "Whats your strategy for setting goals?", is ok to say but some people might not know
what you mean. Strategy is almost like the word 'tactic'. Example :

A) What tactics do you use?

B) My teams tactics are going around.

Ø Technique

Technique is a procedure or skill for completing a specific task. I'd imagine this would be used for
predictable events, ie. solving a long division equation.

Teaching Techniques: These are the little sneaky tricks we all know and use to get the job done in the
classroom. Teachers all over have systems of rewards/punishments for students who comply and exceed
or defy and lag behind. If a classroom is becoming distracted a teacher may use the technique of silent
reading or shared reading to try to rope them in again. Another may choose to use a quick physical
activity to distract their distraction and get them all to do the same thing at the same time - then quickly
direct them back to work. This is really where someone with loads of experience can help another
teacher improve her abilities. These are the tricks that can be taught to another teacher. Sort of "I find
this really helps during math class" type of suggestions. Also a lot of the in-services and workshops all
teachers attend offer little tidbits of games, activites, and actions that teachers can use to achieve certain
goals in the classroom. Everything from sending a note home to mom and a trip to the principal's office
to giving out 'points' for good behaviour are examples of techniques teachers can use to keep ahead of
the pack.

Ø Method

Method is a way something is done. Perhaps used for routine tasks.

Teaching Method: Refers to how you apply your answers from the questions stated in Teaching
Approaches to your day to day instruction in front of your students. Do you follow the textbooks and
curricula to the letter with everything? Are you more of a Socratic teacher and prompt discussion by
asking questions to lead students to understanding? Do you advocate learning by doing? Are your
students expected to simply listen attentively and take notes (not that any student really does that) with
the hopes that they can memorize the facts for assessment? This is not really a question of 'what works
for you' but what actual practices and procedures of teaching do you prefer and come most naturally to
you?

Ø Approach

An approach is treating something in a certain way. Experiments must be approached the same way to
repeat.

Teaching Approaches: I would say that this is the your own personal philosophy of teaching. What is the
nature of education? What is the role of the teacher, the student, the administration, the parents? To be
an effective teacher, does one need to strive to be authoritarian, to be autocratic, or is the best way to
engender a sense of trust and familiarity, to be a 'educating/leading friend' to your students. To
understand one's personal teaching approaches, one must first look to answer these types of questions.
And of course, your opinion will change as time goes on - and it may vary depending on the students
you're teaching.

Approach, Method, Technique, and Strategy

APPROACH

o A set of assumptions dealing with the nature of language, learning, and teaching.

o Theoretically well-informed positions and beliefs about the nature of language, the nature of
language of learning, and the applicability of both to pedagogical settings.

METHOD

o Described as an overall plan for systematic presentation of language based upon a selected approach.

o A generalized set of classroom specifications for accomplishing linguistic objectives.

o Tend to be concerned primarily with teacher and student roles and behaviours and secondarily with
such features as linguistic and subject-matter objectives, sequencing, and materials.

o An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural.

TECHNIQUE

o Implementational – that which actually takes place in a classroom. It is particular trick, stratagem, or
contrivance used to accomplish an immediate objective.

o Must be consistent with a method, and therefore in harmony with an approach as well.

STRATEGY

o Specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular
end, or planned design for controlling and manipulating certain information.

METHODOLOGY

o Pedagogical practices in general (including theoretical under-pinnings and related research)

o How to teach.

Lesson Planning and Classroom Management

A. Lesson Planning

Most teachers engage in yearly, term, unit, weekly, and daily lesson planning (Yinger, 1980).

> Yearly and term planning usually involve listing the objectives for a particular program.

> A unit plan is a series of related lessons around a specific theme such as “The Family.”

> Planning daily lessons is the end result of a complex planning process that includes the yearly, term,
and unit plans.

Richards (1998) stresses the importance of lesson planning for English language teachers: “The success
with which a teacher conducts a lesson is often thought to depend on the effectiveness with which the
lesson was planned”.
Why Plan?

Language teachers may ask themselves why should they bother writing plans for every lesson. Some
teachers write down elaborate daily plans; others do the planning inside their heads. Preservice teachers
say they write daily lesson plans only because a supervisor, cooperating teacher, or school administrator
requires them to do so.

Lesson plans are systematic records of a teacher’s thoughts about what will be covered during a lesson.

There are also internal and external reasons for planning lessons (McCutcheon, 1980).

Teachers plan for internal reasons in order to

> feel more confident,

> learn the subject matter better,

> enable lessons to run more smoothly, and

> anticipate problems before they happen.

Teachers plan for external reasons in order to

> satisfy the expectations of the principal or supervisor and

> guide a substitute teacher in case the class needs one.

Lesson planning is especially important for preservice teachers because they may feel more of need to
be in control before the lesson begins.

Daily lesson planning can benefit English teachers in the following ways:

A plan can help the teacher think about content: materials, sequencing, timing, and activities.

A plan provides security (in the form of a map) in the sometimes unpredictable atmosphere of a
classroom.

A plan is a log of what has been taught.

A plan can help a substitute to smoothly take over a class when the teacher cannot teach.(purgason,
1991)

How To Plan A Lesson

Developing The Plan

An effective lesson plan starts with appropriate and clearly written objectives. An objective is a
description of a learning outcome. Objectives describe the destination (not the journey) we want our
students to reach.

Generic Components Of A Lesson Plan

I. Perspective or opening

II. Stimulation

III. Instruction/participation

IV. Closure

V. Follow-up

Implementing The Plan

Implementing the lesson plan is the most important (and difficult) phase of daily lesson planning cycle.

When implementing their lesson plan, teachers might try to monitor two important issues, namely,
lesson variety and lesson pacing. Variation in lesson delivery and choice of activity will keep the class
lively and interested. To vary a lesson, teachers should frequently change the tempo of activities from
fast-moving to slow.

Pace is linked to the speed at which a lesson progresses, as well as to lesson timing. In order for teachers
to develop a sense of pace, Brown (1994) suggests the following guidelines:

(1) activities should not be too long or too short;

(2) various techniques for delivering the activities should “flow” together;

(3) there should be clear transitions between each activity.

Evaluating The Plan

The following questions may also be useful for teachers to reflect on after conducting a lesson (answers
can be used as a basis for future lesson planning):

What do you think the students actually learned?

What tasks were most successful? Least successful? Why?

Did you finish the lesson on time?

What changes (if any) will you make in your teaching and why (or why not)?

For further clarification of the success of a lesson, teachers can ask their students the following four
questions at the end of each class; the answers can assist teachers with future lesson planning:

What do you think today’s lesson was about?

What part was easy?

What part was difficult?

What changes would you suggest the teacher make?

Format Of A Lesson Plan

1. Goal(s)

You should be able to identify an overall purpose or goal that you will attempt to accomplish by the end
of the class period.

2. Objectives

Objectives are most clearly captured in terms of stating what students will do. In stating objectives,
distinguish between terminal and enabling objectives. Terminal objectives are final learning outcomes
that you will need to measure and evaluate. Enabling objectives are interim steps that build upon each
other and lead to a terminal objective. Consider the following examples:

Terminal lesson objective:

Students will successfully request information about airplane arrivals and departures.
Enabling objectives:

Students will comprehend and produce the following ten new vocabulary items.

Students will read and understand an airline schedule.

Students will produce questions with when, where, and what time.

Students will produce appropriate polite forms of requesting.

3. Materials and Equipment

It may seem a trivial matter to list materials needed, but good planning includes knowing what you need
to take with you or to arrange to have in your classroom.

4. Procedures

As a very general set of guidelines for planning, you might think in terms of making sure your plan
includes:

a. an opening statement or activity as a warm-up

b. a set of activities and techniques in which you have considered appropriate proportion of time for

I. Whole-class work

II. Small-group and pair work

III. Teacher talk

IV. Student talk

c. closure.

5. Evaluation

Evaluation is an assessment, formal or informal, that you make after students have sufficient
opportunities for learning, and without this component you have no means for (a) assessing the success
of your students or (b) making adjustments in your lesson plan for the next day.

6. Extra-Class Work

Whether you are teaching in EFL or ESL situation, you can almost always find applications or extensions
of classroom activity that will help students do some learning beyond the class hour.
B. Classroom Management

In a succession of practicalities for the language classroom is to grapple with what we call Classroom
Management. By understanding what some of the variables are in classroom management, you can take
some important steps to sharpening your skills as a language teacher.

The Physical Environment of the Classroom

One of the simplest principles of classroom management centers on the physical environment for
learning: the classroom itself. Consider four categories:

1. Sight, sound, and comfort

As trivial as it may first appear, in the face of your decisions to implement language-teaching
principles in an array of clever techniques, students are indeed profoundly affected by what they see,
hear, and feel when they enter the classroom. If you have any power to control the following, then it will
be worth your time to do so:

Ø The classroom is neat, clean, and orderly in appearance.

Ø Whiteboards are erased.

Ø Chairs are appropriately arranged.

Ø If the room has bulletin boards and you have the freedom to use them, can you occasionally take
advantage of visuals?

Ø The classroom is as free as from external noises as possible (machinery outside, street, noise, hallway
voices, etc.).

Ø Acoustics within your classroom are at least tolerable.

Ø Heating or cooling systems (if applicable) are operating.

2. Seating arrangements

If your classroom has moveable desk-chairs, consider patterns of semi-circles, U-shapes, concentric
circles, or—if your class size is small enough—one circle so that students aren’t all squarely facing the
teacher.

3. Whiteboards use
 The whiteboard is one of your greatest allies. It gives students added visual input along with auditory.
It allows you to illustrate with words and pictures and graphs and charts. It is always there and it is
recyclable! So, take advantage of this instant visual aid by profusely using the whiteboard. At the same
time, try to be neat and orderly in your whiteboard use, erasing as often as appropriate; a messy,
confusing whiteboard drives students crazy.

4. Equipment

The “classroom” may be construed to include any equipment you may be using if you’re using
electrical equipment , make sure that

The room has outlets,

The equipment fits comfortable in the room,

Everyone can see (and/hear) the visual/auditory stimulus,

You leave enough time before and after class to get the equipment and return it to its proper place,

The machine actually words,

You know how to operate it,

There is an extra light bulb or battery or whatever else you’ll need if a routine replacement is in order.

Direct Instruction

In general usage, the term direct instruction refers to (1) instructional approaches that are structured,
sequenced, and led by teachers, and/or (2) the presentation of academic content to students by
teachers, such as in a lecture or demonstration. In other words, teachers are “directing” the instructional
process or instruction is being “directed” at students.

While a classroom lecture is perhaps the image most commonly associated with direct instruction, the
term encompasses a wide variety of fundamental teaching techniques and potential instructional
scenarios. For example, presenting a video or film to students could be considered a form of direct
instruction (even though the teacher is not actively instructing students, the content and presentation of
material was determined by the teacher). Generally speaking, direct instruction may be the most
common teaching approach in the United States, since teacher-designed and teacher-led instructional
methods are widely used in American public schools. That said, it’s important to note that teaching
techniques such as direct instruction, differentiation, or scaffolding, to name just a few, are rarely
mutually exclusive—direct instruction may be integrated with any number of other instructional
approaches in a given course or lesson. For example, teachers may use direct instruction to prepare
students for an activity in which the students work collaboratively on a group project with guidance and
coaching from the teacher as needed (the group activity would not be considered a form of direct
instruction).In addition, the basic techniques of direct instruction not only extend beyond lecturing,
presenting, or demonstrating, but many are considered to be foundational to effective teaching. For
example:

Establishing learning objectives for lessons, activities, and projects, and then making sure that students
have understood the goals.

Purposefully organizing and sequencing a series of lessons, projects, and assignments that move
students toward stronger understanding and the achievement of specific academic goals.

Reviewing instructions for an activity or modeling a process—such as a scientific experiment—so that

students know what they are expected to do.

Providing students with clear explanations, descriptions, and illustrations of the knowledge and skills
being taught.

Asking questions to make sure that students have understood what has been taught.

It should be noted that the term direct instruction is used in various proprietary or trademarked
instructional models that have been developed and promoted by educators, including—most
prominently—Direct Instruction, created by Siegfried Engelmann and Wesley Becker, which is a “explicit,
carefully sequenced and scripted model of instruction,” according to the National Institute for Direct
Instruction.

Debate

In recent decades, the concept of direct instruction has taken on negative associations among some
educators. Because direct instruction is often associated with traditional lecture-style teaching to
classrooms full of passive students obediently sitting in desks and taking notes, it may be considered
outdated, pedantic, or insufficiently considerate of student learning needs by some educators and
reformers.

That said, many of direct instruction’s negative connotations likely result from either a limited definition
of the concept or a misunderstanding of its techniques. For example, all teachers, by necessity, use some
form of direct instruction in their teaching—i.e., preparing courses and lessons, presenting and
demonstrating information, and providing clear explanations and illustrations of concepts are all
essential, and to some degree unavoidable, teaching activities. Negative perceptions of the practice tend
to arise when teachers rely too heavily upon direct instruction, or when they fail to use alternative
techniques that may be better suited to the lesson at hand or that may improve student interest,
engagement, and comprehension.

While a sustained forty-five-minute lecture may not be considered an effective teaching strategy by
many educators, the alternative strategies they may advocate—such as personalized learning or project-
based learning, to name just two options—will almost certainly require some level of direct instruction
by teachers. In other words, teachers rarely use either direct instruction or some other teaching
approach—in actual practice, diverse strategies are frequently blended together. For these reasons,
negative perceptions of direct instruction likely result more from a widespread overreliance on the
approach, and from the tendency to view it as an either/or option, rather than from its inherent value to
the instructional process.

Cooperative Learning

What Is It?

Cooperative Learning, sometimes called small-group learning, is an instructional strategy in which small
groups of students work together on a common task. The task can be as simple as solving a multi-step
math problem together, or as complex as developing a design for a new kind of school. In some cases,
each group member is individually accountable for part of the task; in other cases, group members work
together without formal role assignments.

According to David Johnson and Roger Johnson (1999), there are five basic elements that allow
successful small-group learning:

Positive interdependence: Students feel responsible for their own and the group's effort.

Face-to-face interaction: Students encourage and support one another; the environment encourages
discussion and eye contact.

Individual and group accountability: Each student is responsible for doing their part; the group is
accountable for meeting its goal.
Group behaviors: Group members gain direct instruction in the interpersonal, social, and collaborative
skills needed to work with others occurs.

Group processing: Group members analyze their own and the group's ability to work together.

Cooperative learning changes students' and teachers' roles in classrooms. The ownership of teaching and
learning is shared by groups of students, and is no longer the sole responsibility of the teacher. The
authority of setting goals, assessing learning, and facilitating learning is shared by all. Students have
more opportunities to actively participate in their learning, question and challenge each other, share and
discuss their ideas, and internalize their learning. Along with improving academic learning, cooperative
learning helps students engage in thoughtful discourse and examine different perspectives, and it has
been proven to increase students' self-esteem, motivation, and empathy.

Some challenges of using cooperative learning include releasing the control of learning, managing noise
levels, resolving conflicts, and assessing student learning. Carefully structured activities can help
students learn the skills to work together successfully, and structured discussion and reflection on group
process can help avoid some problems.

Why Is It Important?

The authors of Classroom Instruction that Works cite research showing that organizing students in
cooperative learning groups can lead to a gain as high as 28 percentiles in measured student
achievement (Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock 2001).

Other researchers report that cooperation typically results in higher group and individual achievement,
healthier relationships with peers, more metacognition, and greater psychological health and self-
esteem (Johnson and Johnson 1989).

When implemented well, cooperative learning encourages achievement, student discussion, active
learning, student confidence, and motivation. The skills students develop while collaborating with others
are different from the skills students develop while working independently. As more businesses organize
employees into teams and task forces, the skills necessary to be a "team player" (e.g., verbalizing and
justifying ideas, handling conflicts, collaborating, building consensus, and disagreeing politely) are
becoming more valuable and useful. Using cooperative groups to accomplish academic tasks not only
provides opportunities for students to develop interpersonal skills but also gives them authentic
experiences that will help them be successful in their future careers.

How Can You Make It Happen?

Beginning to Work in Groups

In classrooms where students are not familiar with working together in small groups, start with short,
highly-structured activities. It will take time to develop a respectful and safe classroom community.
Successful cooperative groups depend on students who respect each other, listen to one another, and
feel safe enough to share their thoughts and feelings. You can help students learn the skills needed to
work in groups by starting with short, structured lessons aimed at fostering turn-taking, involving all
students in the discussion, and clarifying the roles, rights, and responsibilities of group members.

One way to introduce cooperative groups is to work with one group to get started, and allow the rest of
the students to watch the group as they engage in a discussion – a "fishbowl" experience. Intervene
when necessary to keep the thoughtful discussion going. With the large group, discuss effective
strategies that the small group is using or should be using to continue and expand the discussion.

When beginning to use cooperative learning with students, it is also important to establish team norms.
Team norms are guidelines or rules governing how group members agree to work together. Norms for
working in groups tend to be very different from traditional classroom norms. For example, in a
traditional classroom, students complete their own work. In cooperative classrooms, students work with
others to complete tasks. Have students discuss and develop the norms that they will follow during
group work. Team norms, if designed well, can help to create a safe and supportive atmosphere.

Some examples of team norms include:

We always treat one another with respect.

We always encourage new ideas and value the consideration of all suggestions.
We always justify our opinions to the team.

We always make decisions as a team.

Preparation

Students should be grouped for instruction to maximize opportunities to learn, and the type of grouping
can produce different results based on the circumstances. Establish groups using a variety of criteria,
such as social skills, academic skills, student interests, and instructional objectives.

Select the academic and collaborative objectives. For example, "Students will present their opinion of a
candidate, supported with facts. Students will work cooperatively in groups of four, taking turns when
talking."

Teachers should model positive interpersonal skills, have students practice the skills, and encourage the
students to reflect on how effectively they are performing the skills.

Instruction

Once groups have been determined, the most important phase begins. Instruction should be based on
solid content, with grouping used to enhance and customize student learning. Students should
understand the objectives, instructional tasks, and criteria for success. Review and assign student roles in
order to smooth the transition to cooperative learning groups. During instruction, monitor groups and
reinforce collaborative behaviors, conduct observations, assess social skills, or interview students.

Assessment

After instruction, assessments may include paper and pencil achievement tests and/or measures of
actual student performance or group products. Develop a way to assess both group and individual
accountability. After working in groups, students should engage in group processing activities where they
discuss the interpersonal skills that influence their effectiveness in working together.

Be sure to schedule a time for students to explain to the class how they completed a task or solved a
problem, as different groups may have developed different solutions. Explaining their group's process is
an important skill for students to develop. In addition, the whole class benefits from the range of ideas
from each group.

You will need to decide how students and groups will be made accountable for their learning. In
collaborative classrooms, it is often difficult to assign individual grades. Some teachers give "group"
grades that each student receives, but this can be problematic if a few students do the majority of the
work within a group. Giving each member both an individual and a group grade is another option. Each
student can receive a grade for the group task and can be responsible for a subtask, which is graded as
well. Some teachers average the academic grade with a "group performance" grade. This makes group
interactions and processes as significant as academics. If you are uncomfortable with this, a good
solution is to have students complete an individual task after the cooperative learning activity, such as
writing a reflection piece about what they learned and how their group worked to complete the task.
This may be a preferable way to evaluate students because it can be used as an assessment of student
learning, metacognition, and group processing. Another possibility is to have individual students each
complete a final draft of a report that the group has started.

Student Roles

Some tasks are complex and may benefit from clear roles and responsibilities assigned to each student
within a group. Create team roles that are simple, clear, and important. Roles that are frivolous, unclear,
or too complex may frustrate one or more team members. Some sample roles are:

Organizer—provides the group with the overall process structure

Recorder—writes down important information (e.g., directions or group work)

Checker—Makes sure that all team members understand the concepts and the team's conclusions.

Questioner—generates questions and involves all students

Assessor—evaluates the progress of each work session

Encourager—models and reinforces appropriate social skills

Summarizer: Restates the team's conclusions or answers.

Spokesperson—represents the group and presents group work to rest of the class

Timekeeper—keeps group on task and on time

Team facilitator—Moderates discussions, keeps the team on schedule, ensures that work is completed
by all, and makes sure that all have the opportunity to participate and learn.

Elaborator—Relates the discussion with prior concepts and knowledge.

Research runner—Gets needed materials and is the liaison between teams and between their team and
the instructor.

At the start of a course, consider allowing team members to pick their own roles. As students become
more comfortable with teamwork, however, it is a good idea to rotate roles within the teams so that
students experience a variety of responsibilities.

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Professional Development

Cooperative Learning

Get information on cooperative learning, an instructional strategy in which small groups of students
work together on a common task. This teaching method is an excellent way to allow students to think
critically without relying on you for answers.

TEACHING STRATEGIES:

Cooperative Learning (16)

New Teacher Resources (329)

Curriculum Planning (486)

Professional Development (127)

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Updated: June 9, 2019

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Challenging Group Dynamics

Like all groups of people trying to work together, student groups sometimes run into difficulties. Be
proactive and have ways prepared to prevent or solve problems. Some suggestions include:

Brainstorm how groups could handle a specific difficult situation, such as one person not letting others
talk. Have each group come up with a solution to the problem.

Use a checklist to help students resolve conflicts. The checklist could have students assess how they are
listening to each other, working together, and respecting each participant.
Give clear written guidelines for each student role. Make sure that roles are clear before the activity
begins.

Establish a specific signal if the noise level is too high. Award points to each group for working quietly.

Have students use their journals to record how they would like their group to implement a specific
collaborative skill. For example, if students know that the collaborative skill they will work on in their
small group is "disagreeing nicely" they could write down what they could say. They could also reflect on
why that skill is important to them and to the group.

Find other suggestions on improving group dynamics.

How Can You Stretch This Strategy?

As students become more familiar with cooperative group structures, have them take more ownership of
the process. Have students determine how to break into groups, determine their group needs, and
create and assign student roles. Students can create a list of collaborative and other social skills that they
think could be improved, and develop a plan to work on those skills in their groups.

As groups begin to develop, have students reflect on how the group is functioning. Have students discuss
their group's progress in interpersonal skills, and have them problem-solve the challenging dynamics of
the group. This type of reflection will help students develop their metacognition and articulation skills.
Students can reflect on their contributions to the group and monitor their own progress either as part of
a discussion or in a written reflection.

In groups that stay together over a long period of time, and as students become familiar with each
other's strengths and challenges, they should be given more autonomy in choosing roles and developing
a process for completing the task. Encourage students to think about how they are progressing as a
group and the challenges that they face, as well as how they are progressing academically and how to
improve the quality of their work as a team.

When Can You Use It?

Cooperative learning can be used in any class at any level with any subject area. Cooperative learning
works well when it is a part of the culture of a classroom, and when students are familiar with working
together and know what is expected of them. The following are some ideas for using cooperative groups
in your classroom.

Reading/English

Use cooperative groups during partner reading. Have students read silently and then take turns reading
aloud. The listener can guide the reader when necessary. Use cooperative groups after Sustained Silent
Reading. Have students gather in groups to summarize what books or chapters they read. This also could
be a time for students to "sell" the book they are reading and encourage others to read it as well.

Writing

Use cooperative groups during the writing process to brainstorm topics, to pre-write, and during peer
review conferences. Use cooperative groups to write a "how-to" piece. Students, in groups, can write
about how to make a model or drawing, exchange what they've written with another group, and
collaborate to make the model or drawing.

Have students read texts and use a double-entry journal to list critical points and their responses. They
can exchange their double-entry journals and create a summary of the assigned readings with a partner.

Math

Use cooperative groups to practice problem-solving strategies. Have student pairs use manipulatives to
act out a problem. After solving a math problem, students can explain their thinking to a partner.

In cooperative groups, students can decide on a set of criteria to categorize geometric figures, and then
explain their criteria to other groups.

Social Studies

Use Jigsaw to review concepts and prepare for a test. In jigsaw groups, have students list important skills
or concepts that are important enough to be on the test. In expert groups, have them write review
questions. Then have students return to jigsaw groups to ask their two or three best questions, giving
others in their group a chance to answer.

Science

Use cooperative groups to create and discuss hypotheses before completing experiments. Students can
combine their prior knowledge about a topic and collaborate to make an educated guess.

Lesson Plans

Teamwork and Tangrams

This is a primary lesson plan that uses tangrams to introduce teamwork.

Explaining How to Make a Bar Graph

This is a primary lesson in which students work in teams to describe how to make a bar graph.

The Benefits Of Blended Learning

contributed by April Giarla

The teaching landscape is rapidly changing, the technological rise of the 21st-century and widespread
integration of those technologies into our society, combined with access to the internet has integrally
changed teaching in just a few years.

Our children and their following generations are already and will continue to grow up in a world that’s a
stark reminder of how rapidly the human civilization has changed, a society and world where
smartphones and tablets are widespread, affordable, and replacing most computers and laptops.

The rapidly changing landscapes should be a marker to show that teaching methods need to evolve to
keep up with the times and incorporate integrated technologies into the learning modal, these
technologies aren’t going to go away, they’ll continue to be integrated into our society and it’s time to
embrace them for the advantages they bring.

What Is Blended Learning?

TeachThought provided a definition of blended learning in the past. Blended Learning is a mixture of
learning methods that incorporate multiple teaching modals–most frequently eLearning and traditional
face-to-face learning.

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Blended learning is a natural development to the growing accessibility of eLearning, online resources
and the continued need for a human component in the learning experience. A blended learning
approach ensures that the learner is engaged and driving his or her individual learning experience. This
approach also helps cater to the individual needs of the learner, most students have unique learning
styles and a blended approach is more likely to cater to those needs than a traditional classroom
teaching experience.

Blended Learning Models

You can read more about the different kinds of blended learning models in more depth here. As a quick
overview, know that due to its modular design, blended learning can come in numerous shapes and sizes
and be personalized to fit the individual. These types of modals can include:

Online – Instruction occurs via an online platform, with periodic face-to-face meetings.

Rotation: Student rotates between self-paced online learning and face-to-face instruction. Schedules are
fixed but flexible.
Flex: Most instruction is delivered online, with teachers providing as needed support in small-group
settings.

Personalized blend: Teacher designs face-to-face and anywhere, anytime learning options that straddle
the physical classroom and virtual spaces. Learning is the constant and time is the variable.

Online lab: Instructions takes place in a brick and mortar lab. Delivered by an online teacher and
supervised onsite by paraprofessionals.

Self-blend: Students take online courses to supplement their tradition schools face to face course
catalogue.

Face-to-face: Teacher offers primarily face-to-face instruction, supplemented with technology in the
classroom or computer lab.

Why Is Blended Learning Important?

Blended learning is important because it breaks down the traditional walls of teaching, ones that don’t
work for all students and now with access to present day technologies and resources we can tailor the
learning experience for each student. Blended learning also offers flexible time frames that can be
personalized to each person, offering them the ability to learn at their own pace.

Advantages Of Blended Learning For Teachers

Teaching is less expensive to deliver, more affordable and saves time.

Blended learning offers flexibility in terms of availability – Anytime, anywhere. In other words, eLearning
enables the student to access the materials from anywhere at any time.
Access to global resources and materials that meet the students’ level of knowledge and interest.

Self-pacing for slow or quick learners reduces stress, increases satisfaction and information retention.

E-learning allows more effective interactions between the learners and their instructors through the use
of emails, discussion boards and chat room.

Students have the ability to track their progress.

Students can also learn through a variety of activities that apply to many different learning styles.

E-learning could improve the quality of teaching and learning as it supports the face-to-face teaching
approaches.

Blended learning also improves other factors for the teacher including:

More engaged students

Better information and feedback on work

Team teaching

Extended time with students

More leadership roles

Focus on deeper learning

Motivate hard to reach kids

New options to teach at home

More earning power

Individualized professional development plans

Blended learning tears down the traditional bricks and mortar approach to teaching, which can improve
conditions such as:

Reduced Isolation

More opportunities for collaboration

Meaningful professional development

Better student data

Improved Time efficiency

Role-differentiation

Advantages Of Blended Learning For Students

Increase student interest: when technology is integrated into school lessons, learners are more likely to
be interested in, focused on, and excited about the subjects they are studying. Subjects that might be
monotonous for some – like math and science, while also increasing information retention.

Keep students focused for longer: The use of computers to look up information & data is a tremendous
lifesaver, combined with access to resources such as the internet to conduct research. This engagement
and interaction with the resources keeps students focused for longer periods then they would be with
books or paper resources, this engagement also helps develop learning through exploration and
research.

Provides student autonomy: The use of eLearning materials increases a student’s ability to set
appropriate learning goals and take charge of his or her own learning, which develops an ability that will
be translatable across all subjects.

Instill a disposition of self-advocacy: Students become self-driven and responsible, tracking their
individual achievements, which helps develop the ability to find the resources or get the help they need,
self-advocating so they can reach their goals.

Promote student ownership: Blended learning instills a sense of ‘student ownership over learning’ which
can be a powerful force propelling the learning, It’s this feeling of responsibility that helps the feeling of
ownership.

Allow instant diagnostic information and student feedback: The ability to rapidly analyze, review and give
feedback to student work, gives the teacher the ability to tailor his teaching methods and feedback for
each student while improving time efficiency.

Enables students to learn at their own pace: Due to the flexibility of blended learning and the ability to
access internet resources allows students to learn at their own pace, meaning a teacher can help speed
up the learning process or give more advanced resources if necessary.
Prepares students for the future: Blended learning offers a multitude of real-world skills, that directly
translate into life skills, from:

Research skills

Self-learning

Self-engagement

Helps to develop a ‘self-driving force’

Better decision making

Offers a larger sense of responsibility

Computer literacy

Conclusion

All students no matter their age learn differently and teaching methods should reflect this, by designing
teaching programmes in a way that reaches visual, auditory and kinetic learners alike.

With the heavy integration of technologies, we’ll be able to improve teaching, information retention,
engagement, responsibility and enjoyment. Students never outgrow their learning styles, meaning
blended learning is more important than ever, no matter what the industry is, from schools to
corporations, in all walks of life.