H a rnessing the Benefits of Blended Lea rning
Much like everything else that concerns the betterment of society and improvement of culture and knowledge, the field of education has indeed seen numerous upgrades and enhancements in terms of how to better educate a learner, improve the delivery of knowledge, and facilitate better understanding and discernment of knowledge application. For one, there have been more and more forays into experimental methods and integration of new techniques with the traditional methods in efforts to come up with a better way to educate learners. Numerous research and trials have been done in various learning institutions around the world on these new methods, which have come to be known as “blended learning�. Much like the name suggests, blended learning is primarily a combination of different learning methods, applying the various techniques related to education, and using varied resources in the process. Blended learning maximizes on the aspects of traditional learning, such as use of a classroom atmosphere and constant or intermittent presence of an instructor to facilitate group interaction, at the same time making use of the latest innovations in communications and technology, such as internet-based research and e-learning solutions. While the practice may vary with the institution that uses it, blended learning is shown to have an increasing number of proponents, primarily since it has shown an increased ration of retention on the part of the learner, as well as the ability to transcend the common barriers presented by distance, and in some cases, physical disability. E-Learning tools integrated
into blended learning strategies are actually being looked at as a means of reaching out to those who have been denied traditional education mainly because of the inability to be physically present in a classroom. A learning management system is also uniquely qualified to still promote interactivity without the benefit of actual physical presence because all learners are able to interact and communicate directly with each other through such tools. This connectivity also presents the unique trait of having the instructor or trainer on hand for questions or guidance, and yet not physically present, which some learners find to be quite distracting, sometimes exerting undue pressure on them. Blended learning also presents a much more vast opportunity for research than traditional learning because information and data is literally as easy to get as typing in the search query into a search engine and sorting through all the probably results for the information that is most appropriate to the research needs. The learning environment presented by certain forms of blended learning is also seen as particularly stimulating to learning, since the presence of rowdy fellow learners or other forms of physical distractions is precluded, allowing the learner to focus even more on the task at hand, without their concentration being broken. Independent learning is also greatly promoted by e-learning solutions, because the task of learning is left solely on the learner, regardless if the lesson happened to be one that can be learned independently or through group participation. H a rnessing the Benefits of Blended Lea rning