scholarly journals A Spotlight on Lack of Evidence Supporting the Integration of Blended Learning in K-12 Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Poirier ◽  
Jeremy M. Law ◽  
Anneli Veispak

In an effort to highlight the need for, and lack of, quality empirical research in K-12 blended learning environments, this systematic narrative review investigated and reported on the quantity and quality of recent empirical research in K-12 blended learning, published between 2009 and February 2017. In addition to assessing the quality and scope of these studies, the effectiveness of blended learning environments on learning outcomes and potential contributing variables were discussed. Eleven articles were identified and found to meet the inclusionary criteria and measures of quality set by this review, extending the corpus of 5 articles identified by a previous 2009 meta-analysis commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education to 16. Mixed findings regarding the benefit of blended learning in a K-12 setting were reported across the literature, thereby highlighting the need for more extensive research in this domain.

Author(s):  
Drew Polly ◽  
Amanda R. Casto

The term blended learning continues to gain momentum in K-12 classrooms around the United States. While the idea of implementing blended learning environments is becoming more popular, there is a need to gain a deeper understanding of how these environments look and how they influence student learning. This chapter takes a step in that direction by examining four instances of blended learning in mathematics classrooms, described as vignettes, that examine the model of blended learning, shifts in teachers' instruction while trying to implement blended learning, as well as teachers' reported benefits and barriers to teaching mathematics in this way. Implications cite a need to focus on the quality of mathematical tasks posed by teachers as well as in technology-rich environments and the need for more in-depth examination about teachers' instructional decisions and rationales related to blended learning and how those decisions influence student learning.


Author(s):  
John W. Barbrey

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education published an Action Guide for Emergency Management at Institutions of Higher Education (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). In 2006, the Virginia State Crime Commission issued a prescient “Final Report: Study on Campus Safety (HJR 122)” regarding Virginia’s colleges and universities (Virginia State Crime Commission, 2006). Gray (2009) provided results from a “Columbine 10-Year Anniversary Survey”, which reviewed recent campus safety improvements of 435 K-12 and university respondents. From the three documents, prescribed campus safety activities were identified that could be consistently found in the stated programs and policies on university websites. Of these activities, 18 separate criteria upon which a university’s online emergency preparedness/safety/security messages could be evaluated through content analysis were conceptualized (coding: 1= school has criterion, 0= does not), to estimate the quality of the overall preparedness message of each institution in the small sample (n = 99) of universities, representing all 50 states in 2010.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin Petrescu ◽  
Florian Popescu ◽  
Alina Gligor

AbstractUsing blended learning method, Blast Furnace subject was analysed inside the DidaTec Project. The analysed factors were the quality of presentation, quantity of information per page and human – computer interaction. The analysis shows the preference of students to work with different learning environments.


2021 ◽  
pp. e20200077
Author(s):  
Veronica Duckwitz ◽  
Lena Vogt ◽  
Claudia Hautzinger ◽  
Alexander Bartel ◽  
Jeelka Reinhardt ◽  
...  

Public health is a central but often neglected component of veterinary education. German veterinary public health (VPH) education includes substantial theory-focused lectures, but practical case studies are often missing. To change this, we combined the advantages of case-based teaching and blended learning to teach these topics in a more practical and interactive way. Blended learning describes the combination of online and classroom-based teaching. With it, we created an interdisciplinary module for outbreak investigations and zoonoses, based on the epidemiology, food safety, and microbiology disciplines. We implemented this module within the veterinary curriculum of the seventh semester (in the clinical phase of the studies). In this study, we investigated the acceptance of this interdisciplinary approach and established a framework for the creation of interactive outbreak investigation cases that can serve as a basis for further cases. Over a period of 3 years, we created three interactive online cases and one interactive in-class case and observed the student-reported evaluation of the blended learning concept and self-assessed learning outcomes. Results show that 80% (75–89) of students evaluated the chosen combination of case-based and blended learning for interdisciplinary teaching positively and therefore accepted it well. Additionally, 76% (70–98) of students evaluated their self-assessed learning outcomes positively. Our results suggest that teaching VPH through interdisciplinary cases in a blended learning approach can increase the quality of teaching VPH topics. Moreover, it provides a framework to incorporate realistic interdisciplinary VPH cases into the curriculum.


2013 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Means ◽  
Yukie Toyama ◽  
Robert Murphy ◽  
Marianne Baki

Background/Context Earlier research on various forms of distance learning concluded that these technologies do not differ significantly from regular classroom instruction in terms of learning outcomes. Now that web-based learning has emerged as a major trend in both K–12 and higher education, the relative efficacy of online and face-to-face instruction needs to be revisited. The increased capabilities of web-based applications and collaboration technologies and the rise of blended learning models combining web-based and face-to-face classroom instruction have raised expectations for the effectiveness of online learning. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This meta-analysis was designed to produce a statistical synthesis of studies contrasting learning outcomes for either fully online or blended learning conditions with those of face-to-face classroom instruction. Population/Participants/Subjects The types of learners in the meta-analysis studies were about evenly split between students in college or earlier years of education and learners in graduate programs or professional training. The average learner age in a study ranged from 13 to 44. Intervention/Program/Practice The meta-analysis was conducted on 50 effects found in 45 studies contrasting a fully or partially online condition with a fully face-to-face instructional condition. Length of instruction varied across studies and exceeded one month in the majority of them. Research Design The meta-analysis corpus consisted of (1) experimental studies using random assignment and (2) quasi-experiments with statistical control for preexisting group differences. An effect size was calculated or estimated for each contrast, and average effect sizes were computed for fully online learning and for blended learning. A coding scheme was applied to classify each study in terms of a set of conditions, practices, and methodological variables. Findings/Results The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed modestly better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The advantage over face-to-face classes was significant in those studies contrasting blended learning with traditional face-to-face instruction but not in those studies contrasting purely online with face-to-face conditions. Conclusions/Recommendations Studies using blended learning also tended to involve additional learning time, instructional resources, and course elements that encourage interactions among learners. This confounding leaves open the possibility that one or all of these other practice variables contributed to the particularly positive outcomes for blended learning. Further research and development on different blended learning models is warranted. Experimental research testing design principles for blending online and face-to-face instruction for different kinds of learners is needed.


Author(s):  
Gina Tovine ◽  
April Fleetwood ◽  
Andrew Shepherd ◽  
Colton J. Tapoler ◽  
Richard Hartshorne ◽  
...  

While the growth of blended learning environments in higher education and non-educational settings has continued to increase in recent years, this has not been the case in K-12 settings. Recently, in an effort to explore the viability and effectiveness of K-12 blended learning environments, Florida Virtual School (FLVS) has been piloting blended learning communities in a number of their schools, providing opportunities to explore factors that influence the effectiveness of K-12 blended learning communities. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to report the results of a study designed to assess conditions that influence the effectiveness of K-12 blended learning communities, and to explore learner, instructor, course, and other factors important to successful blended learning communities. Findings will inform the design, development, and implementation of future K-12 blended teaching and learning environments in an effort to support and strengthen student achievement, the preparation of teachers to facilitate effective blended learning environments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinghui Shi ◽  
Huiyun Yang ◽  
Jason MacLeod ◽  
Jingman Zhang ◽  
Harrison Hao Yang

Technology-enabled active learning environments (TE-ALEs) have attracted considerable research interest, particularly in higher education. However, research shows inconsistent results describing the influence of TE-ALEs toward students’ cognitive learning outcomes. This study was designed to identify high-quality empirical research examining college students’ cognitive learning outcomes and to utilize meta-analysis to determine the overall effectiveness of TE-ALEs. A systematic literature search identified 31 high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles that met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that the calculated effect size of TE-ALEs more positively influenced students’ cognitive learning than traditional lecture-based environments. Moderator variable analysis suggested that social context, study design, and sample size were significant factors that influence the effectiveness of TE-ALE. TE-ALEs were found more effective when instructors employed individualized learning contexts as well as when bias was reduced in randomized controlled trials. TE-ALEs were also found to be more effective in small courses rather than in large courses.


Author(s):  
Amanda R. Hurlbut ◽  
Sarah McMahan ◽  
Aimee Myers ◽  
Karen Dunlap ◽  
Rebecca Fredrickson

The U.S. Department of Education recently reported that single educational technology courses are not sufficient experiences to properly prepare preservice teachers for future technology-rich K-12 classrooms. Rather, continuous exposure to instructional technology is most effective in improving attitudes and beliefs toward technology and sustaining deep pedagogical practice. It is essential that all attempts to create digitally literate teachers should originate from within a cohesive program design rather than through single “drive-by” courses that integrate technology. The purpose of this chapter is to describe a programmatic approach used to design a comprehensive digital literacy experience for pre-service teachers (PSTs) using the U.S. DOE's recommendations. The chapter will discuss various examples, including specific course assignments the EPP uses to guide PSTs as they learn to become competent digitally literate educators. Examples of implementation, copies of PST work, and reflective discussions continued challenges to sustain the design are included.


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