If you’re interested in online learning — particularly blended learning — we highly recommend reading the April 28 special report, E-Learning 2010: Assessing the Agenda for Change, by Education Week. We offer here a glimpse of what you’ll find.
Something for Everyone
While some people talk the talk about the applications and implications of blended learning, schools around the United States are actually walking the walk. The article “Schools Factoring E-Courses Into the Daily Learning Mix” provides first-hand evidence that blended learning has boundless benefits. For a rural district in Idaho it enables students to take courses like foreign language that aren’t available in their own building; for students in Los Angeles it enables students to avoid scheduling conflicts that inevitably result when so many choices and activities are available. In each case, online courses are integrated into the school day, and schools increasingly see the valuable role online offerings can play alongside traditional classes (4). The article also notes strategies for successful implementation of a blended learning program, including on-site resources like mentors and computer labs.
A Shift in Mindset
Blended learning can also reduce dropout rates. An estimate in the article “Detroit-Area District Innovates to Address Dropout Problem” puts the dropout rate in metropolitan Detroit at 40 percent. With Detroit’s economy in crisis, jobs are scarce for adults let alone adolescents who have given up on education. Westwood Community School District offers at-risk students an alternative to the traditional classroom setting: blended learning. The approach is markedly different even in semantics: class participants are “researchers” rather than “students,” and they engage course content through online classes, project-based learning, and in-person support (6).
Worth a Read
Other articles in the issue touch on topics like synchronous and asynchronous classes, enrollment caps, and funding. This report is one you don’t want to miss. It’s available to download from the Education Week website.
