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How much is considered as effective blended learning?

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How much is considered as effective blended learning?

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One of the issues in blended learning is that it is a new learning environment for both teachers and the students. Hence, we need to examine and evaluate how much of "blended learning" is considered as "effective blended learning"? Is it twice per week? once per month? This is because blended learning might create distractions and disengagement. Students do not have a routine or system to follow and particularly students from vulnerable communities that require routine as an engagement mediator might be very highly distracted and thus affect their learning. Rayane Rajab

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For me I feel that Blended learning can offer up too many distractions, the ability to turn away from work especially if you are not fully immersed in that particular subject can lead to students falling behind or becoming disengaged alltogether. Blended learning requires students to have a good level of self-discipline and intrinsic motivation.

The amount of distractions available to students is greater than ever, social media, streaming services etc. These can all amount to students disengaging from the content.

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For me personally, the biggest adversity I find with blended learning is the lack of engagement and participation amongst my primary aged students. At this young age, students are facing a wide range of barriers that dramatically affect their ability to learn in the unfamiliar environment of blended learning. Not only does each student face issues with blended learning in relation to being able to learn independently, internal motivation and concentration. But also face external environmental barriers such as having appropriate and available technology at all times, stable internet connects, readily available support from an adult, a quiet and appropriate space to learn away from distractions etc. - Natalie Liang 5740976

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As a secondary English teacher, the major challenges that I have encountered in online blended learning are lack of engagement and social isolation.

Lack of engagement - student work submission is a challenge, and this is probably an example of behavioural engagement as there is less effort and less task persistence. I think that due to an increased transactional distance between my students and I, I am not able to provide them with feedback and cues as effectively as face-to-face learning. This leads to less engagement. This is likely more pronounced in the secondary context I am teaching in compared to a tertiary context, as students will generally be less self regulating and find independent work more challenging.

Social isolation - the online and asynchronous components of blended learning can be particularly isolating for secondary students. This is because high school is such a productive place for socialising, and once this is reduced I have noticed that many students struggle with their motivation and general wellbeing.

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Organization and Sequencing.
From my perspective as a learner, the organization and sequencing of content and learning materials in relation to expected learning outcomes are challenging factors in a blended learning context. For instance, if the designer of the blended learning course does not consider providing an overview of the learning course, how to go about the content sequentially and what the participants are expected to have accomplished and learned at the end of the course, brings about confusion on how to go about the whole process of interaction with the content and learning materials thus affecting information processing and overall acquired knowledge and skills(Anderson, 2008)

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Blended learning can pose challenges in relation to teacher-student interactions. The formation of positive teacher-student relationships is essential to optimise outcomes for student learning. In blended learning modes, there is an increased "transactional distance" which can cause students to become de-motivated and unengaged in their learning.  It can also impair the teacher's ability to identify if students are meeting learning outcomes. Face-to-face teacher-student interactions may be limited which can also cause students to feel socially isolated due to a lack of collaborative peer learning. This can also diminish instant feedback on student learning which readily occurs during face-to-face modes of learning, thus impact student learning and development.  - Sara Carroll

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One of the challenges I faced as a student was the lack of accountability for students when they did not engage with the pre-lecture content. The blended learning classroom entailed a pre lecture to introduce the topics and the live lecture was to further unpack theories and content. The lecturer asked who had watched the pre content and when zero hands went up, began going through the pre content. As a conscientious student, I was frustrated as the actual lecture content would be rushed as a result. The lack of accountability was disheartening for me as time was being wasted and my own motivation lacking. To overcome this I feel that there either needed to be a small quiz on the pre lecture, or the lecturer just continued on with the complex topics encouraging the students to engage with the content and not be left behind.

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Not a patch for Emergency remote learning

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Not a patch for Emergency remote learning

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Blended learning is not a patch for emergency remote learning. It needs to be seen as a way moving forward with a contingency plan.
It is not fully relying on technology to teach. If implemented properly, the learning experience may not be interrupted by pandemics, teacher absenteeism or student absenteeism.

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Disengagement is one of the biggest challenges that teachers face when implementing blended learning practices. Self-regulation at its essence is a very good skill to develop in students, however this can be very difficult if the student has barriers to learning. The benefit of a blended learning environment is that the teacher will still have a role to play in the students' learning practices, however it is important for teachers to encourage these skills from the offset.
The problem with student motivation is that if you lose the students' engagement without the ability to address them directly. Engaging students through online modules will be helpful if they ask for help, however it is motivating the student to ask for help with may be the barrier.
During my PEX I got to experience a blended approach to learning as my supervisors were team-teaching (one online and the other via face-to-face). Overall the approach worked well, however there were certain students that were completely disengaged in the online process of learning and only showed interest when in class and motivated by the teacher's presence.

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Maybe cliché.... but technology issues... 

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Maybe cliché.... but technology issues... 

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In my experience as a secondary teacher, there have been many instances where tech issues have created challenges when implementing blended learning as a pedagogical approach. Such issues that are most prevalent include slow/ interrupted internet connections, power supply/ battery life, outdated hardware or applications and statewide updates within the department that cause outages or periods of inaccessibility to technology to effectively utilise blended learning as a classroom tool or for staff development days.  For example, the first day back last term our school had to undergo schoolwide updates to all school networks/ hard drives meaning all computers and laptops within the school had to undergo a reboot which was very timely - roughly 1.5hrs per device. This occurred during our staff development day where all teachers underwent professional learning/ training. The course was to be delivered via a blended learning approach, therefore the tech issues we were experiencing significantly impacted the effectiveness of the day - not to mention causing challenges for weeks to come within the classroom.  Kya Godbier :)

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Lack of Cognitive engagement - Aayushi Shah

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Lack of Cognitive engagement - Aayushi Shah

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I have been to the same school as I did for my first PEX and I have seen the difference in the students' engagement for learning. Online teaching and learning has made a huge difference and their lack of interest in learning is clearly visible. I believe it is the long term online learning which has affected their approach. Even lack of social interaction might be an another concept which contributed towards lack of cognitive engagement.
Visual arts is a very practical bound subject and lack of materials at home and limitations while developing a unit of work is another factor which contributes towards lack of cognitive engagement. Wherein clay, paper Mache and all sorts of fun materials can be used, online learning has been limited to just pen, pencil and paper which affects the engagement of students towards their learning.

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Lack of participant engagement in online learning is one of the challenges my organisation is grappling with. While we would like staff to participate through chats and through audio in live  webinars, we are  more worried about lack of engagement with content. So far it does not seem our registered nurses engage with online content because it  is not reflected  in change of practice. While I am aware that there several determinants of learning according to Bastable, S. B. (2013). Nurse As Educator: Principles of Teaching and Learning for Nursing Practice (4 ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.
there is no way knowing how much time learners put into analysis of a  case study for example. On their own learners may miss crucial elements in asynchronous presentation. In face to face, a facilitator may steer or prompt students to consider certain pints or give them clues.

Naison Mwanza

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When the device is the "everything machine" In both school and remote learning contexts a big challenge to blended learning that I can see is that because the very devices that they are using to access learning are commonly used for recreation, fun, communication - purposes other than education, there is a strong pull away from learning. For so long students just had books and a pen/paper. Yes,  you could doodle in the margin but that was it. 21st C learners are commonly not using a stand alone device, unless accessing well regulated school computers.  They have to use what I call the 'everything machine'. We have no precedent for this in the long history of education, yet expect children to self-regulate and master the vast self-control necessary to be able to undertake learning on the same machine they would probably rather be gaming on. Most adults don't do terribly well at this!

In my current school placement staff are concerned about students going online to post attendance then simply joining friends on chats and gaming. Even in school this needs continual monitoring and is a huge burden on teacher time and student behaviour and attention.