23 Benefits of Blended Learning
Phew. That’s a lot of challenges. But we are hoping that within those challenges you can also see benefits peeking out. Some of the benefits we are going to talk about here might already have been mentioned in the discussions.
Flexibility
For you, for students, for the institution. The obvious benefits are around students (and faculty) not having to come to an in-person class every day, and being able to complete course activities on their own time. But there are flexible benefits for institutions as well, institutions where classroom space is limited.
Having a face-to-face component offers immediate, real-time learning
Of course, this doesn’t always mean that a component needs to be in-person, although certainly for some kinds of interactions, and for hands-on learning, in-person is ideal. You might consider how to incorporate synchronous online options into your blended teaching as well.
Deeper relationships and stronger community
Sound strange? Not, maybe, as much as it did before COVID. Many faculty we have worked with and spoken to have told us they were surprised at how their students developed some strong ties and community while working completely online. Think of blended as offering options for developing relationships for students preferring to see people in-person, and for students who experience high anxiety when engaging with others, especially in large groups, in-person. While some believe you can’t develop real relationships online, there is plenty of evidence to suggest this isn’t true for everyone.
Online components can offer independent exploration
If you are like me (one of your facilitators – can you guess which one?) you can experience dread and anxiety in a classroom when the instructor is asking questions. I need time to process information and reflect on it (and space to breathe) before feeling comfortable blurting out something that could be wrong or embarrassing. In addition, online you can provide students with links to other resources, or collections where they can explore topics of interest to them, beyond the stock information provided in the textbook.
Innovative collaboration
Blended learning gives students options for collaboration. Working online opens a world of Google docs, Wikis, collaborative video creation tools, you name it. And it also allows for new ways of presenting to the class. Don’t want to make students present in-person with PowerPoint? Let them decide – they could present a video in Kaltura, create a WordPress site, write a collaborative paper on Google docs. And they could present online in a Discussion forum where they could facilitate a long-term discussion and bring back a synthesis of said discussion to the in-person class.
Multiple viewings/interactions with material
It goes without saying, mostly because you have all done this before. Text, images, video, audio, links to other resources, discussions, quizzes, and so much more!
Sustained, deep discussions can happen online
Miss something important you wanted to add to the discussion? Well, you can add it any time if the discussion is online. Someone else make a really good point but you need to think about it before you respond? You can do that online. What is the purpose of discussions in your class? If it’s to give students an opportunity to share their opinions or ideas around a reading or a specific topic there may be no reason to have that happen in-person.
Democratic participation
We all know (or have been) that shy person at the back of the room. Anonymity and breathing space opens doors to students who feel intimidated or anxious in the moment. In addition, online options can improve accessibility for students who can review lecture material on their own time, or use the text to speech tools in D2L to hear the course material rather than having to read it.
Less attrition and more efficient use of resources. Flexibility is key.
References and Optional Resources for Benefits
An Introduction to Hybrid Teaching (College of DuPage)