oltd 511 - Blended learning
OLTD 511 was a very interesting and challenging course. I have selected two pieces of evidence to display my learning, a pair of proposals for creating blended learning environments. The first was a proposal to “blenderize” my Grade 6 math class to allow students to work on a more personalized curriculum. By adopting a station rotation model I believed that I would be able to allow students more control over the place and pace of their learning. It was a proposal that I immediately put into effect in my teaching with some success.
My second proposal built upon the work of my first, but was more theoretical. With the latter proposal I created a plan for transforming a struggling school to a blended learning environment. I divided curriculum into learning modules that could be worked on in station rotations and suggested multi-aged classrooms. Both proposals were guided by a series of key questions that required me to think of a problem that I wished to solve and put together the resources (skills, knowledge, people, money, software) necessary to tackle it.
In creating my proposals I successfully met a number of the OLTD Program’s listed learning outcomes. First, through my reading of the course text “Blended Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools” by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker, I became “familiar with common terms, definitions and elements related to online environments”. Specifically, I learned that there were a number of models of learning that fit under the umbrella of “blended learning” including station rotations, flex, a la carte and a “flipped classroom”. The book also identified a number of types of transition teams and strategies and tactics for adapting practice in the face of disruptive innovation.
Second, in creating my proposals I believe demonstrated “competency with design and implementation within a variety of online learning environments and tools” and I displayed an ability to “plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of environments”. This was particularly evident in addressing how to balance the mixed modalities of online learning and face to face teaching.
In order to do this effectively, I had to “examine current research around best practices and emerging practices” and “develop practical and technical skills in all phases of concept, development, design and implementation”. Ultimately the point of adopting a blended model is to allow for increasing personalization of learning and I can say with confidence that I have “developed skills to optimize learning experiences through personalization”.
Overall, I am very happy with my learning from this course. As I have said previously, I found the material very practical and I am excited at the prospect of increasing personalization in learning. I believe that through incorporating technology and giving students more control over the time, pace, place and path of their learning, they are likely to become more engaged and motivated. Blended Learning has the potential to improve student learning outcomes and alter the role of teachers in the classroom.
I have been teaching long enough now to have seen a number of new educational initiatives come and go and many promised monumental “paradigm shifting” educational reform, but schools have continued on much the same way as they did before. However, in describing Blended Learning, Michael Horn and Heather Staker make an extremely compelling argument that thanks to rapid technological advancement, Blended Learning is both viable and desirable for students and teachers alike. This course has convinced me that we very well may be on the tipping point of a significant change, one that I am much better prepared for thanks to OLTD 511. I have already begun incorporating the Blended model in my practice and in the coming months I will continue to experiment further. I don’t imagine that it will all go smoothly, but this course has given me the confidence to try and the motivation and resilience to keep trying. I am pleased with the early results I am seeing. My students are happier and more engaged and I spend more time teaching and less time marking. If this is what the future looks like, it can’t come soon enough.
References:
Horn, Michael B.; Staker, Heather (2014-10-15). Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools . Wiley. Kindle Edition.
My second proposal built upon the work of my first, but was more theoretical. With the latter proposal I created a plan for transforming a struggling school to a blended learning environment. I divided curriculum into learning modules that could be worked on in station rotations and suggested multi-aged classrooms. Both proposals were guided by a series of key questions that required me to think of a problem that I wished to solve and put together the resources (skills, knowledge, people, money, software) necessary to tackle it.
In creating my proposals I successfully met a number of the OLTD Program’s listed learning outcomes. First, through my reading of the course text “Blended Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools” by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker, I became “familiar with common terms, definitions and elements related to online environments”. Specifically, I learned that there were a number of models of learning that fit under the umbrella of “blended learning” including station rotations, flex, a la carte and a “flipped classroom”. The book also identified a number of types of transition teams and strategies and tactics for adapting practice in the face of disruptive innovation.
Second, in creating my proposals I believe demonstrated “competency with design and implementation within a variety of online learning environments and tools” and I displayed an ability to “plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of environments”. This was particularly evident in addressing how to balance the mixed modalities of online learning and face to face teaching.
In order to do this effectively, I had to “examine current research around best practices and emerging practices” and “develop practical and technical skills in all phases of concept, development, design and implementation”. Ultimately the point of adopting a blended model is to allow for increasing personalization of learning and I can say with confidence that I have “developed skills to optimize learning experiences through personalization”.
Overall, I am very happy with my learning from this course. As I have said previously, I found the material very practical and I am excited at the prospect of increasing personalization in learning. I believe that through incorporating technology and giving students more control over the time, pace, place and path of their learning, they are likely to become more engaged and motivated. Blended Learning has the potential to improve student learning outcomes and alter the role of teachers in the classroom.
I have been teaching long enough now to have seen a number of new educational initiatives come and go and many promised monumental “paradigm shifting” educational reform, but schools have continued on much the same way as they did before. However, in describing Blended Learning, Michael Horn and Heather Staker make an extremely compelling argument that thanks to rapid technological advancement, Blended Learning is both viable and desirable for students and teachers alike. This course has convinced me that we very well may be on the tipping point of a significant change, one that I am much better prepared for thanks to OLTD 511. I have already begun incorporating the Blended model in my practice and in the coming months I will continue to experiment further. I don’t imagine that it will all go smoothly, but this course has given me the confidence to try and the motivation and resilience to keep trying. I am pleased with the early results I am seeing. My students are happier and more engaged and I spend more time teaching and less time marking. If this is what the future looks like, it can’t come soon enough.
References:
Horn, Michael B.; Staker, Heather (2014-10-15). Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools . Wiley. Kindle Edition.