Blended Learning: The Teacher as Learner

Blended Learning combines traditional face-to-face classroom instruction with online learning. The mix of technology and traditional provides a great approach that appeals to many different types of learners.

The significant increase of online and blended learning across educational environments requires providing high-quality professional development to prepare teachers and administrators so they may be prepared to meet the needs of their students. “We live in a moment of unprecedented change, and our conceptions of schooling and education are being challenged in fundamental ways.” (Educating Modern Learners) So, what does all this change mean for teachers and students? Students have access to technology at an earlier age than ever before and tend to see it as a fundamental tool to their everyday lives. Teachers are being encouraged to use technology as a tool for teaching and for their own learning. Educators need to understand new approaches and digital tools that allow for teaching in a blended environment. School leaders need to guide and direct these new initiatives to enable their teachers to be successful and for their students to learn.

Forbes recently published an article titled, The Teacher as the Learner: Professional Development for Online and Blended Learning. Author Barbara Kurshan states, “Some educators erroneously believe that blended learning is merely traditional, face-to-face learning that incorporates digital resources.  Similarly, many educators mistakenly assume that online learning should mirror classroom learning.  These misconceptions do not allow teachers to leverage the benefits of technology for more effective, engaged learning. Since teachers will continue to be expected to develop technology-based approaches for instructional delivery and assessment, the prevalence of these misconceptions makes it essential to offer professional development for teachers to learn how to teach in virtual environments.”

Pepper provides online learning environments for teachers that allow them to gain exposure to digital learning in ways that will help them teach their students - both online and face-to-face. Additionally, Pepper does offer blended learning opportunities. One such opportunity is taking place for Connecticut educators. This cohort of teachers will meet over 4 weeks for Designing Powerful Instructional Units: ELA & Literacy. The face-to-face portion will be facilitated with an additional 3-4 hours/week of online work.  This is a practical module that will allow participants to design - or refine - a curriculum unit that they can use in their classroom or share online.

Kurshan continues to share that professional learning networks, such as your Pepper Learning Community, have become a popular means of educator collaboration. As learners interact with fellow educators from around the country exposure to digital literacies can inform teaching and learning in powerful ways. Digital technologies and online tools have the potential to create powerful learning experiences for all types of learners - both professional teachers and students.

Pepper Highlight: Using Google Hangouts with Pepper

One of the great features of Pepper is the access to teachers from around the country. The Pepper online learning community provides opportunities to discuss and collaborate with educators on a wide variety of professional endeavors. But did you know that you can also collaborate via Google Hangouts? You can use Hangouts to send messages, make voice and video calls, and share photos. Edutopia article, Using Google Hangouts for Teacher Development states, “Google Hangouts is a perfect tool to increase the level of communication and professional development in every school.” Teachers are busy and finding time to meet with colleagues for collaboration can be challenging. Google Hangouts can make meeting easier by creating a flexible environment for conversation and planning.

Google Hangouts enables both one-on-one chats and group chats with up to ten people at a time using a Google account or email. While somewhat similar to Skype, FaceTime and Facebook Video Chat, Google Hangouts focuses more on "face-to-face-to-face" group interaction as opposed to one-on-one video chats, and utilizes sophisticated technology to seamlessly switch the focus to the person currently chatting. The use of Google Hangouts in the education setting has a lot of potential. Sharing is powerful. By using Google Hangouts teachers can create virtual classroom visits and use what they learn to build instructional practices. In addition to video chatting, Google Hangouts users can share documents, scratchpads, and images with other users.  Turn any Hangout into a live video call with up to 9 of your peers and your conversations just flow from text-to-video/voice-and-back, in a matter of clicks. 

To access your Hangout within your Pepper Course, click on the "Live Hangout" link to bring up the "Create a New Hangout" screen.

Create a New Hangout- Press the green button to start your own personal study group and invite others via email to join you.

Your Pepper Learning Community and Pepper Courses are a great place to find other educators to share both classroom experiences and learning opportunities. Utilizing the experience and skills of teachers from around the country can provide unique opportunities for networking and sharing lesson ideas and classroom management tips.

Making Learning Accessible for All: Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a teaching approach to help all learners be successful. According to the National Center on Universal Design for Learning, “UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.”

UDL focuses on three principles of learning:  “why”, “what”, and “how”. (http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html)

WHY - The “why” of learning is about engagement. The goal of this principle is to provide students with a purpose for learning. To do this, UDL encourages the use of a variety of methods to exposing students to why what they’re learning is relevant. Relevance and connection will help motivate students to learn.

WHAT - The “what” of learning is about representation or how we present the content to the student. The goal of this principle is to provide the content in a way that appeals to individual student learning styles. Understanding that students learn in a variety of ways enables a teacher to provide multiple ways for a student to receive important information: visual, auditory, or kinesthetically.

HOW - The “how” of learning is where the student takes over. This is their opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of what they have learned. The goal here is differentiation - providing students with a variety of options for showing what they have learned. Allowing students to have a voice and some choice in how they showcase their learning is critical.

The National Center on the Universal Design for Learning continues to state that “the purpose of UDL curricula is not simply to help students master a specific body of knowledge or a specific set of skills, but to help them master learning itself—in short, to become expert learners. Designing curricula using UDL allows teachers to remove potential barriers that could prevent learners from meeting this important goal.”

As you participate in Pepper Courses, look for ways to incorporate the why, what, and how of the Universal Design for Learning into your lessons. You can also utilize the Pepper Resource Library to find ways to engage and present content to your students. The Universal Design for Learning can help make understanding content a reality for all types of learners.