What is Cincy Blend?
Right now, Cincy Blend is an idea. It's a website dedicated to exploring and expanding blended learning at the K-12 level in Cincinnati, Ohio and the surrounding areas. Cincy Blend is taking its root in the Forest Hills School District on the east side of the city. Forest Hills began a blended learning iniative in July of 2014 and needed a place to showcase examples in order to educate the community on what blended learning looks like in practice. But, using a website to engage these examples opens possibilities to learn from other school districts in the area and to partner to grow blended learning in a way that is mutually beneficial and results in better outcomes, flexibility, discovered passions, and an overall more personalized school experience for students.
What is Blended Learning?
Blended learning is essentially the combination of face-to-face learning and online learning. The Christensen Institute, which has largely been responsible for defining the term for K-12 audiences, defines blended learning in the following way.
The definition of blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns: (1) at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace; (2) at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home; (3) and the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.
Why Blend?
Research supports it. After a comprehensive review of the research literature, the Department of Education reports that "Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction (p. xiv)." More research is needed in this area, but preliminary work is promising.
The future is technology. In our study of blended learning, when asked about the future of education, more than half of respondents acknowledge that technology will be a key component. Not only can technology make our processes more efficient, but the sorts of data that can be generated and the multiple pathways that become available are supportive of improved learning outcomes.
Blended Learning is being addressed by governments and organizations. Ohio Senate Bill 316, passed in 2012, introduced the definition of blended learning and required that operating standards be written to address blended learning schools and classrooms. In addition, the New Media Consortium's Horizon Report identifies Blended Learning (Hybrid Learning) as a mid-range trend that will likely be driving the adoption of new technology within 3-5 years.
The future is technology. In our study of blended learning, when asked about the future of education, more than half of respondents acknowledge that technology will be a key component. Not only can technology make our processes more efficient, but the sorts of data that can be generated and the multiple pathways that become available are supportive of improved learning outcomes.
Blended Learning is being addressed by governments and organizations. Ohio Senate Bill 316, passed in 2012, introduced the definition of blended learning and required that operating standards be written to address blended learning schools and classrooms. In addition, the New Media Consortium's Horizon Report identifies Blended Learning (Hybrid Learning) as a mid-range trend that will likely be driving the adoption of new technology within 3-5 years.
Miseperceptions about blended learning
- Losing Teachers: There is widespread concern that more blending means losing human contact with teachers. On the contrary, teachers that blend find that they get more one-on-one time with students as the lecture format is used less and less.
- Blended = Online: Those with little knowledge of blended learning confuse blended learning with online learning. Online learning is purely online instruction where as blended incorporates online learning within a brick-and-mortar school.
- Students are Progressive: It cannot be assumed that students are on board with blending. Students, particularly at the secondary level, have been schooled in traditional methods and are comfortable there. Students need support adjusting to blended learning just as much as teachers, parents, and administrators.
- Blended Learning is Better or Worse: In our research, middle school students perceived learning with technology as "better" and high school teachers perceived it as "worse." Research has shown that learning online has very similar outcomes to learning face-to-face, however learning online produces slightly better outcomes and blended learning is slightly higher than online. Where blended really has power is in the ability to help personalize instruction, which is challenging for a single instructor to do without the support of technology.