Blended learning

The dictionary definition of blended learning is a mixture of various types of learning. Conventionally, one of the main ingredients in the mix is face-to-face instruction.

In normal parlance (or what passes for normal among e-learning people) the term is used to mean a mix of face-to-face instruction and electronic techniques. (It has been part of the reality distortion field that sits over the area that the use of books and other printed material is ignored, as it has been by most theorists for at least 20 years.)

It is a natural extension of the normal use of the term to regard the use of face-to-face instruction simultaneously with electronic instruction - as happens in many classrooms with integral computing suites - as an example of blended learning. This is particularly common in the non-university post-16 education sector (further education as it is called in the UK). Those in universities who think about these things would tend to dismiss that as a degenerate use of the term.

The term "blended learning" became popular as a reaction against the pure e-learning atractive to analysts and dot-coms around the turn of the millennium, that is the complete lack of face-to-face instruction in a course offering. It seems now that the term is slowly going out of fashion again - but it is still popular with some thinkers.

The fad is also growing that all types of learning should be regarded as one and analysed as one. "There is already an 'e' in e-learning", people say (in English). This is to ignore the fact that specific types of teaching and learning - classroom-based, e-learning, distance study using books, learning in the workplace, etc - all have their specific affordances and constraints and so in some circumstances need special treatment when being analysed and planned.

Further reading

1. The Wikipedia article on blended learning - but note the warnings
2. Can 'Blended Learning' Be Redeemed?, by Martin Oliver and Keith Trigwell, E–Learning, Volume 2, Number 1, 2005

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