Blended Learning Reflection

TASK 2: REFLECTION (FUTURE LEARN- BLENDED LEARNING)

Introduction

Blended learning is a student-centered approach to creating a learning experience whereby the learner interacts with other students, with the instructor, and with content through thoughtful integration of online and face-to-face environments. A well-designed blended learning experience thoughtfully organizes content, support materials, and activities via synchronous and asynchronous learning events, all of which are delivered in a variety of modes ranging from traditional lecture to online tutorials. Communication and collaboration are necessary functions of a blended approach. Because formative assessment is embedded throughout learning events, the learner assumes responsibility for his or her learning.

In contrast to teacher-centered, rote-learning approaches, blended learning environments provide multiple ways to access content and to demonstrate mastery. As a result, they lend themselves more readily to differentiation of content and process. A blended approach also gives the learner the opportunity to be more responsible for his or her learning, which creates a learning situation that may be more meaningful on an individual level. Because the learner comes to construct knowledge through personal effort, she or he is more likely to demonstrate understanding beyond rote memorization, and to transfer what she or he has learned to new settings.

Reflection

    One of the most important facts I learned from Module 1 is that a "blended classroom will engage students in an exciting learning environment filled with choice, opportunity, and an individualized education." Those words are very powerful and pretty much sums up the intent of incorporating a blended learning environment. I also got an opportunity to explore the different teaching online standards.  Taking a step back to view things from a different perspective, through the eyes of a busy teacher, makes me think more about my students where we are going to implement 21^st century classroom from next year.

    When I first started this module, I was having difficulty navigating through the lessons and assignments.  The format is very different and more detailed from any other course I've taken and it took me a while to really understand how to submit assignments.  Creating an Edmodo account is something fairly new to me, so that took a while to get used to as well.  Other than that, I thought Module 1 was pretty easy reflecting on readings and our colleague's posts.

After completing the activities and readings from Module 2, I learned the importance of the classroom environment to support the Blended Learning Model.  Depending on what model the teacher chooses, she needs to make sure there is ample room for meeting with students and group/independent work. Module 2 also gave me the opportunity to start lesson planning, integrating the student technology standards.  Creating the lesson plan was quite simple, given the template the instructors offered for support. It will be interesting to see how my students will respond to my lesson. My challenges working through this module was deciding what blended learning model I want to implement for my lesson.  There are a lot of great ideas I could use for each model, but I picked the Rotation Model, as it is perfect for my classroom set-up.  Creating a lesson plan that includes this model will be one of my successes.

After completing the activities and readings from Module 3, I learned how to create and implement a blended learning model. It is interesting to see the outcome of how effective Blended Learning models can be. I am ecstatic with the results from my course mates and can't wait to share my experience with my students. The only downfall to this, is how time consuming it is. Teachers are all pressed for time and with the new standards, evaluation system and curriculum, so it was quite difficult to complete this task. When everything slows down a bit in the classroom, I will definitely share my successes with my other teachers in my school. There were a few tasks had given to me in this week. Need to explain to a few questions with some examples. This to test us weather we understand or not about blended learning.

It was very interesting to read the comments and feedbacks from my mentors, educators and students like me regarding being a part of a blended learning environment.  It seems like all students who were interviewed had a positive experience in the Blended Learning classroom. This module also allowed me to take a step back and to evaluate my Blended Learning lesson plan/environment from a different perspective. Instead of being the creator of the lesson itself, I was able to view my lesson/classroom as an evaluator. Being in this position and having accessibility to various resources to evaluate my Blended Learning environment enabled me to see my strengths and weaknesses.  Using the comments and feedback provided by the educators and mentors, I will improve myself in conducting blended learning with my students.

The only challenge I had during this module was understanding what was expected of me as a student. There were several assignments throughout this course that was READ ONLY. As a student, that made things a little confusing. My success as I worked through this module was highlighting all the things that I'm doing well, according to the rubric. It was great to see that even before taking this course, I was already implementing several of the criteria from the rubric. Curriculum design, this is the topic which have been introduced in this module. Flipped classroom and teacher also have been elaborated in this module or week.

After completing the activities and readings from Module 5, I learned about providing meaningful feedback to my colleagues. Giving feedback to the questions is a great time to review the colleagues’ strengths and to go over areas they need to strengthen.  This can be done both during one to one meetings and during small group instruction time. As I worked through this module, it made me take step back to review my teaching instruction from an evaluator's perspective.  I learned that I have to prepare a lot of practices that are helpful for my students’ parents and students. This module also made me think of what I can do to improve my teaching. I did not encounter any challenges throughout this module. I am happy to get a certificate once I finished the course.

This course helped me grow personally and professionally by creating and implementing standards based instruction because I was able to create and design lessons to address the standard and meet the needs of my students. Implementation of Blended Learning model enable teachers to enhance student’s learning by allowing them to have several opportunities to grasp the concept of the lesson. I was also able to learn a variety of learning strategies such as whole group, small group and individual conferences. I hope the impact of implementing a Blended Learning environment will benefit my students in many ways. Not all students will learn the same way, and I think this will be a perfect model to make sure each student’s learning style is addressed. Hopefully my students will enjoy and being able to go on with the computers and be able to meet in a small groups. This environment will make my students feel safe to learn and boost their self-confidence, especially during in the small group. I hope through Blended Learning, my students will be able to communicate in English without having any fear among their friends and teachers. I really looking forward to implement this model to my students next year in my 21^st century classroom.

Discussion questions:
1. What are the elements of Flipped Classroom?

2. What  are the benefits that you have gained from Blended Learning?

3. What are the Blended Learning models and platforms?

Please answer at least one question. Thank you very much.