She “flipped” her lessons into online videos for students to watch at home. To address these challenges, Roshan turned to blended learning. Meanwhile, back in the classroom, Roshan found there was little time to focus on students’ needs when she was busy trying to ensure that she delivered all the content they needed to tackle their nightly assignments. But for many of her AP Calculus students, it was hard to love math given their nightly struggle through homework assignments with unanswered questions and the enormous pressure to get straight A’s. Stacey Roshan, a high school math teacher in the Washington, DC, area, became a teacher because she wanted to share her love of math with students and help combat the notion of “I’m not a math person.” She wanted her class to be a place where exploring math was fun and where students knew she cared about them as individuals. Using blended learning to strengthen relationships They then demonstrate their mastery of course concepts through essays, PowerPoint presentations, or other types of assignments. All students are expected to learn the “big idea” for each lesson or unit, but can then choose activities for going deeper on topics that interest them. The blended-learning approach allows students to explore concepts at different depths of understanding, based on their interests. While working online, students communicate with Nolt through an online messaging system and through the comment features built into online assignments and discussions that allow him to give feedback on their work. They then turn to individual assignments and group discussions that help them develop their analytical, critical thinking skills. This approach allowed him and his students to transition seamlessly to distance learning once schools closed.ĭuring their online learning time students dive into new content by studying texts, watching online videos, and taking assessments that help them develop their basic understanding of course content. At his current school, students were in class with him every day until COVID-19 closed their campus, but spent most of their time working independently on course activities while Nolt worked with small groups in a study-hall-type arrangement. At the school where he first developed his approach to blended learning, roughly half of his students met in class with him on any given day while the other half learned independently, often at home. Scott Nolt, a high school history teacher in North Carolina, has been using blended learning for years as a way to teach his students without daily direct instruction. Here are some examples of what these types of models look like.Ĭombining independent online learning with face-to-face instruction In COVID-19 circumstances requiring a reduction of the number of students in school buildings on any given day, however, the distinctions between these models become a bit blurry. Normally, the Flipped Classroom model is used by teachers whose students come to class every day, whereas the Enriched Virtual model is generally deployed to increase support for students in virtual schooling who normally wouldn’t attend a brick-and-mortar school at all. In Flipped Classroom setups, students learn at home via online coursework and video-recorded lectures, and teachers use class time for teacher-guided practice or projects. In an Enriched Virtual arrangement, students complete the majority of coursework online at home or outside of school, but attend school for required face-to-face learning sessions with a teacher a few times a week. There is a caveat: They all hinge on internet connectivity, a challenge that both public and private efforts are moving quickly to try to solve. Two of the blended-learning models we’ve documented are well suited to these circumstances: the Enriched Virtual model and the Flipped Classroom model. On the other hand, there’s a chance schools might be able to open back up, in which case they’ll likely need to have students come in shifts in order to maintain social distancing.įortunately, if bringing students to school part-time is an option, schools don’t have to invent new approaches from scratch. If schools remain closed, they’ll need to prepare for more remote learning. As educators start considering their options for the fall, the future is full of uncertainty.
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