Creating+a+Successful+Blended+Learning+Environment

This is a collaborative wiki activity, and so we encourage you to either actively work with someone from your seminar group or work independently BUT provide a response/ input etc to other people's ideas. We've all been working together now for most of the year so there's no need to be shy. There is a basic structure, feel free to respond according to your 'learning' style :-)
 * =Welcome to Activity 3 - Secondary Blended Learning =

We have seen how e_learning is expanding opportunities for teaching and learning, and how its implementation presents challenges for us as educators, whether it is us as individuals or members of a wider organisation. Focussing on the learner, we have heard from Ken's presentation the experiences of students in a blended learning environment are changing in a 'fundamental way'. Please answer the following question, and feel free to expand your ideas as you see fit. __**How will we as educators ensure a successful educational experience for**__ **all**
 * __"students" working in this 'blended" learning environment__**__?__


 * Ken's emphasis on 'Choice' and 'Voice' is reasonably fundamental. I think that genuine dialogue has to occur and that this may take time. There will be pressure from some circles that 'not enough work is being done' during the formative stages of this process. It may take a while before teachers are able to let go of their inbuilt 'agendas'. Sometimes even when we're trying to dialogue, we have a planned direction we want the student to travel in - this premise is not going to promote student voice. The other side of this coin is that many students, having put up with the institutional agenda for so long, may need help and support to find their voice and to think independently in an educational setting.
 * We need to get a very clear idea of what our students' learning needs actually are.This needs to be in addition to development content and learning area achievement objectives. There are many ways to reach the goal, but we often tend to focus on the ways to get there, rather than the goals themselves.
 * By creating a supportive learning environment that recognises 'human uniqueness' and takes into account an individual's cultural and developmental differences.
 * By giving students the 'voice' to play a central role in the learning process by allowing students to design and manage their own programmes; fostering self-direction and responsibility.( In Secondary Schools student programmes are strongly controlled by the logistics of timetabling and resources - it will be interesting to see how long punters will put up with those when viable alternatives are offered)
 * By focusing on "learning, learning for understanding [and] learning for meaning".
 * By making available a variety of opportunities to learn.
 * By encouraging greater involvement from parents and the wider community. Accessing and recognising the views and voice of the greater school communities from the very outset of the set-up phase. Especially important when recognising diversity of learners with particular emphasis on culture.
 * By providing strong school leadership, a combined development for the vision and mission. I believe this needs to be both top-down AND bottom-up. The transformational model of leadership, one in which shared leadership allows for input from staff and principal
 * Professional development for staff who are supporting the student
 * By ensuring that the cultural considerations that we embrace in the face to face environment are adopted in the online environment
 * To ensure that students feel that they are learning in a space that considers what, who, how they are and gives them the freedom to use the voice that lies within. To me (as prefaced before I am not a teacher) at the secondary level students are going through huge development in their identity of the self - if they are not given the space to speak to the self, nor their differences acknowledged they will not feel empowered, nor will the educator embrace their different learning style/way of being
 * I think we need to think about the process as one of transition. It takes time, it requires new skills and understanding, but teachers also need to be willing to let go of the ways they have traditionally done things . This can be extremely challenging to do, particularly with the constant daily demands of the job and the lack of ongoing support and (mentoring - I think) needed for this to be successful.
 * With increased blended learning students will also have to accept the fact that they cannot learn passively. They will be trusted as active learners and will need to act accordingly. Simply being present in the room and following instructions to the letter will not be enough. In the traditional model the learning intention is the sole responsibility of the teacher. In blended learning this responsibility is obviously shared – particularly if there is no teacher present.
 * Consider the role of urban versus rural schools and alter the way in which schools operate and offer courses to students.
 * By involving or encouraging teachers to use blended learning approaches in their teaching and learning environments ,ie a a 'bottom-up approach is the best way to go to get effective, timely change.