NAME: EUSEBIO M. AMARILLE JR.

REACTION PAPER ON BLENDED LEARNING

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. In my own perspective, 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.

In some ways the forced move to “blended learning” has enabled us to

accelerate a move towards the “flipped classroom” in which students consume
prepared material individually and come together for “meaning making” through
shared dialogue. One advantage of individual consumption is that students can learn
at their own pace, stop and rewind in a way impossible with a real time “lecture”. This
has benefits for interactivity, particularly for students whose first language is not
English. Such “asynchronous” interaction allows those who (for whatever reason)
process new information more slowly to still engage in online discussions rather than
missing out because by the time they are ready to contribute, the discussion has
moved on.

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.