RSA#1 Case-Based Learning

This week in EDT 6030: Using Technology to Build Learning Communities, the module is about case-based learning. Most of our reading materials introduced me to blended learning. Blended learning is:

A formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace and is at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home. (Staker & Horn, 2012, p. 5)

According to Lim, Morris, & Kupritz (2014), there has recently been a push in academic institutions to include blended instruction. The goal is to “overcome the shortcomings of online instruction” (Lim, Morris, & Kupritz, 2014, p. 2) to increase learning outcomes. Many institutions have started to adapt blended learning environments to enrich the material that was only previously available in the brick-and-mortar classroom or online.

The purpose of Online vs. Blended Learning: Differences in Instructional Outcomes and Learner Satisfaction was to determine if there is a significant difference in learning and learning application between an online classroom and a blended learning classroom. The blended learning classroom consisted with half of the instruction in a classroom and half online. The study included 125 students from the University of Tennessee. The study found not significant differences in learning outcomes between online learning and blended learning.

I found this study interesting because I would think that there would be a significant difference with the blended delivery format achieving higher success in regards to learning outcomes. The data supports a conclusion made by Staker (2011), “blended learning is more likely to be crammed into the current classroom and sustain, rather than transform, the traditional classroom model” (p. 166).

References 

Lim, D. H., Morris, M. L., & Kupritz, V. W. (2014). Online vs. blended learning: differences in instructional outcomes and learner satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11. Retrieved from http://184.168.109.199:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2257/1/EJ842695.pdf

Staker, H. (2011) The rise of K-12 blended learning [White paper]. Retrieved Septemper 6, 2014, from The Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation: http://www.christenseninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/The-rise-of-K-12-blended-learning.emerging-models.pdf

Staker, H., & Horn, M. (2012) Classifying K-12 blended learning [White paper]. Retrieved Septemper 6, 2014, from The Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation: http://www.christenseninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Classifying-K-12-blended-learning.pdf