For the last few years, I have been using Blended Learning in classrooms. This has been at the Skills Centers inside of Oklahoma prisons where I was an instructor for almost 10 years. I fell in love with the model while experimenting with ways to deliver E-learning curriculum that I was developing for the Skills Centers Division of the Oklahoma Department of CareerTech.
Ok, enough buzzwords already. Blended Learning, E-Learning, Flipped Classrooms, etc. I'm sure you've probably already heard those terms if you are reading this but I'd like to explain what they mean and then share a success story that is still unfolding.
Blended learning is a combination or blending of "brick-and-mortar"
school with an instructor present and the online delivery of content and
instruction. There is a blending of the two modalities where they come together to create a truly integrated learning system. There are 6 major models which I will explain in an upcoming post but the method I have the most experience with is the Flex Model. In this type of Mastery/Competency Based delivery, a student will typically consume much of the content online or through another type of E-learning and an instructor will help when they have any difficulty and deliver hands-on instruction as well.
Educators cannot simply make some videos, post them on the web or an LMS and call it blended. To be successful, technology and instruction must supplement and integrate. Face to face instruction and E-learning curriculum only coalesce and become truly effective when reaching students at their own individual pace and learning style. Each student is given a degree of control over pace and
individual learning path.
One of the ways of explaining the method that I
am very fond of is - it allows the instructor to go from being a "sage on the stage" to a "guide by their side."
Here is an excellent infographic from Knewton that I found that begins to explain Blended Learning very well.
Created by Knewton and Column Five Media
Blended instruction was a perfect fit for the environment I was teaching in for several reasons. In the prison system our CareerTech classes are available to offenders, formerly called inmates, in the last few months before they discharge. We train them in industry specific programs that afford them the chance to learn real world job skills that they can put to use to change their lives. We then help them find jobs after they are released that way we can break the cycle of recidivism. Alas, I digress... I'll elaborate more on correctional education in another post. The reason I shared that information is that instruction in a prison presents some unique challenges but it also presents wonderful opportunities.
Offenders come to our programs with great diversity. We have them from very young to retirement age (although not eligible to retire or even draw Social Security if they've not paid into the system enough quarters.) We have students who do not have a high school diploma or GED and we have students with graduate or degrees who are unable to utilize them due to their criminal record. Students come to class who have never used a computer and have no technology skills and we have students who are techies. In almost any way one can think of, other than lack of a criminal record, we have a quite varied demographic mix.
This diversity presents a challenge in how to deliver instruction that is to the greatest benefit for individuals with different learning styles, experiences, aptitude and motivation. If an instructor merely lectures then assesses to measure knowledge imparted many of the students struggle since they have almost no positive experience in a traditional classroom model. Many have never even taken notes etc. With CareerTech training there is always a hands on portion to the training such as welding a fitting or even forklift driving. This portion of instruction demands that an instructor be physically present to guide students not just for skills development but for safety of the instructor, student and their peers.
So, in short, some sort of blended learning is definitely an excellent option for the situation.
In the Distribution and Logistics program that I designed and implemented I knew I could deliver content more effectively and customized for each individual student.
I set up an Ubuntu Server on some old hardware we had and installed a Moodle LMS Instance on our Local Area Network.
I then started to digitize as much of the curriculum I had as possible. This was initially a challenge because we were also in the process of developing the Career Cluster for the program I had developed. After we decided on which individual classes would be set up on the LMS, it was off to the races and learning how to run the LMS itself...
One wonderful thing that I learned quickly is that there is wonderful documentation for Moodle. Instructions are written out for everything from the install to administration and general use. There are literally step-by step directions that one can follow and a great, helpful community.
Then I migrated the assessment portion to Moodle as soon as possible. Before this I had been using Examview software to host tests on the LAN. After a few troubles in the beginning getting the images to load from the tests that I had already built and a few other minor difficulties it was up and running. The assessment on Moodle works great. I was able to lighten my load as an instructor because I no longer had to manually grade tests or start tests for individual students when they were ready since they were able to progress through the material at their own pace.
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I started out at one specific site implementing this method of instruction before the term was in common use. Now I will be rolling this modality out across my entire division, statewide.
That is enough for now but I'll post again in the near future with more details about site specifics and the big project...
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