Educators today are faced with a never-ending struggle to improve the academic achievement of the students they serve. Gains in student achievement made during one school year must be eclipsed during the following year. Educators consistently look to data and research in hope of finding another program, instructional methodology, or tool to improve academic success.
While students still attend "brick-and-mortar" schools with a teacher present, face-to-face classroom practices are combined with computer-mediated activities regarding content and delivery.
Now you might be thinking of how to adopt this for your students, we will tell you how-to. For now, let’s break down the concept of blended learning.
What is Blended Learning?
Blended learning is a form of education that combines the benefits of online instruction with the advantages of face-to-face and traditional place-based classroom methods. It is some mix of traditional classroom instruction (which in itself varies considerably) and mediated by technology. The latter can be one student with a tablet or laptop, or small groups of kids working together on devices.
The Impact of Blended Learning in Classrooms
Most classrooms and schools are outmoded ‘answer factories,’ and regurgitation is not a skill that is marketable. Kids today are growing up in a sea of information, 24/7, and schools must be helping them formulate questions, encouraging them to dig deep, to prepare them for a world which values the ability to formulate questions and then find answers to those questions. Who is going to hire young people skilled at regurgitation?
In 2010, when Allen and Lopez (teachers at St. Genevieve Elementary school) helped to pioneer the implementation of 1-to-1 iPads at St. Genevieve Elementary, they found that students outperformed instructors when it came to using the device, and that this role reversal required the two of them, and their colleagues, to change the way they orchestrated lessons and viewed their students.
St. Genevieve school had the unique situation of being what Lopez, then a seventh and eighth grade literature teacher, calls a "double school," meaning it has two classrooms of each grade. For the iPad pilot, they divided the classrooms into what Lopez deemed an "experiment" and a "control group," with one class using iPads and the other receiving traditional teaching. At the end of the year, they noticed some big results, including gains in test scores for the iPad group.
The benefits of blended learning and its impact on students are immense as it propels improvement which are impossible to achieve using only face-to-face meetings or only online resources. Like Allen, the school teacher at Geneviewve opined, “Technology is too powerful not to use, Using computers revolutionizes the way you think about things in the classroom. The learning is on the students."
How to adopt blended learning in your classroom
Best Tool for Blended Learning?
The Google workspace for Education is a classroom tool that every school can leverage on to ensure face-to-face classroom interactions should work in synergy with the online activities. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, was famously quoted to have said that “Technology alone will not improve education, but it can be a powerful part of the solution.” This tool provides opportunities for instructional impact through enhanced video communication, enriched class experiences, and tools to drive academic integrity. The Google Workspace is your perfect tool for hybrid class as it enhances teaching and learning from teachers and students respectively regardless of the model adopted whether fully virtual, fully in-person or something in between.
You can Set up Google Meet for Distance Learning
Your school or organization can use Google Meet for video class meetings.
Chromebooks is your ideal computer for Blended Learning
Whether Teachers or Students, the classroom stakeholders need the right resources to teach and learn from anywhere. Chromebooks are remotely managed through the Google Admin console, making it simple for schools and IT administrators to deploy and manage thousands of devices. There’s no need to manually install software or login to a device to apply settings—admins simply flip a switch online and every device updates its applications and settings automatically. These same capabilities make it just as easy to turn school-based Chromebooks into take-home devices for students to continue learning in times of need.
Why Use Chromebook
3a. Chromebook can boot up and connect to the network in seconds, which means teachers and students don’t have to drum their fingers at the start of class.
3b Chromebook offers plenty of cloud storage, which means even if students share a Chromebook (such as a from a Chromebook cart), they can sign in and still get a personal learning experience.
3c Chromebook comes with a long battery life that lasts throughout the school day, which means fewer interruptions in learning.
3d Chromebook protect students from viruses and malware without requiring heavy maintenance, keeping learning safe and secure
4 Boost Students' Tech Skills
5 Affordable Tools for Budget.
How Much is Chromebooks?
As a Google For Education Partner, we have Chromebooks available for just N59,000
No Money Now, Can I Buy Now and Pay Later or Installmentally?
Yes, you can purchase the Chromebooks for your students and teachers while you pay instalmentally. For as low as N5,900 monthly installments, the Chromebook can be yours. Call 01-291-655 to have access to the credit facility.
Transform to Blended Classroom Now
We believe that blended learning encourages personalization of the eLearning experience by combining the best aspects of in-person teaching with technology-based eLearning methods. It broadens the learner experience by supporting anytime, anywhere learning, and instructors can send the login details to students that are not in the physical classroom. Also it's a good way to combat covid-19 as it helps to keep our distances and stay safe.