Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 1 Blended Learning EDU372: Educational Psychology Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 2 Blended Learning Blended learning is a newer concept in schools throughout the nation, where the traditional classroom, pen and paper learning, meets the latest and greatest technological advances in online learning. To say students in classrooms today are getting the best of both worlds would definitely be an understatement, as the old ways of lecture-learning are becoming more and more extinct, while small group, engaged instruction, and online learning are becoming more relevant and more successful than ever thought possible. As explained in The Fundamentals of Blended Learning video (2012), “Blended learning is about leveraging digital content to provide students with skills and practice. Meanwhile, the teacher focuses on depth and application of concepts to teach higher order of thinking skills” (Education Elements, 1:29). In order to accomplish all the goals that blended learning seeks out, there are four different parts within the instruction that make it possible. The first is a lab rotation, in which students go to the familiar computer lab and learn content from internet programs in the particular area of study that they are working on, to gain a more interesting and fun way of learning. The second is in a class rotation where the students are split into several different small groups and rotate to different centers/stations, such as small group with the teacher as the instructor, small group with computers as the instructor, and guided practice (Education Elements, 2012). The third part of blended learning is the flex model in which the students work in what may look like cubicles in an office, doing individual instruction, while the teacher may pull one student out at a time to work on direct, one on one instruction at any given time. The fourth and final type of blended learning is the Pod concept, where there are numerous grade levels within any given classroom and the teacher is often looked at in a new light, wearing Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 3 different hats such as advisor or behavior specialist to sustain each pod (Education Elements, 2012). These four important areas make up what is known as blended learning. The theories that inform blended learning the most include Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Bruner’s Theory of Discovery Learning. Piaget’s Theory informs blended learning in that it points out how vital and important active experiences are, rather than just listening to lecture and writing with pen and paper. Piaget points out that in order to gain a full perspective and understanding of the world around them, children should gain experience through doing and experiencing, and social interaction should take place as well, in order to gain that total understanding (LeFrancois, 2011). Within t ...

1. Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 1
Blended Learning
EDU372: Educational Psychology
Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 2
Blended Learning
Blended learning is a newer concept in schools throughout the
nation, where the
traditional classroom, pen and paper learning, meets the latest
and greatest technological
advances in online learning. To say students in classrooms
today are getting the best of both
worlds would definitely be an understatement, as the old ways
of lecture-learning are becoming
more and more extinct, while small group, engaged instruction,
and online learning are

2. becoming more relevant and more successful than ever thought
possible.
As explained in The Fundamentals of Blended Learning video
(2012), “Blended learning
is about leveraging digital content to provide students with
skills and practice. Meanwhile, the
teacher focuses on depth and application of concepts to teach
higher order of thinking skills”
(Education Elements, 1:29). In order to accomplish all the
goals that blended learning seeks out,
there are four different parts within the instruction that make it
possible. The first is a lab
rotation, in which students go to the familiar computer lab and
learn content from internet
programs in the particular area of study that they are working
on, to gain a more interesting and
fun way of learning. The second is in a class rotation where the
students are split into several
different small groups and rotate to different centers/stations,
such as small group with the
teacher as the instructor, small group with computers as the
instructor, and guided practice
(Education Elements, 2012). The third part of blended learning
is the flex model in which the

3. students work in what may look like cubicles in an office, doing
individual instruction, while the
teacher may pull one student out at a time to work on direct,
one on one instruction at any given
time. The fourth and final type of blended learning is the Pod
concept, where there are numerous
grade levels within any given classroom and the teacher is often
looked at in a new light, wearing
Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 3
different hats such as advisor or behavior specialist to sustain
each pod (Education Elements,
2012). These four important areas make up what is known as
blended learning.
The theories that inform blended learning the most include
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development and Bruner’s Theory of Discovery Learning.
Piaget’s Theory informs blended
learning in that it points out how vital and important active
experiences are, rather than just
listening to lecture and writing with pen and paper. Piaget
points out that in order to gain a full
perspective and understanding of the world around them,

4. children should gain experience
through doing and experiencing, and social interaction should
take place as well, in order to gain
that total understanding (LeFrancois, 2011). Within the blended
learning classroom, we can see
Piaget’s theory shining through as the students are doing hands-
on activities and learning
through many different outlets.
Perhaps an even closer theory that informs blended learning is
Bruner’s Theory of
Discovery Learning, a constructivist concept that calls on the
students to be detectives in their
learning, as they must figure out each lesson in a way that
involves less of the teacher and more
self-guidance in order to discover, “… the formation of
categories or, more often, the formation
of coding systems, which are defined in terms of relationships
(similarities and differences) that
exist among objects and events” (LeFrancois, 2011, sec.6, p.3).
Discovery learning basically
happens when students are to figure out concepts and key
information with only the small
amount of materials provided to them, thus constructing their
own way of doing and

5. understanding any one thing (Alfieri, et.al., 2011). In blended
learning classrooms, the students
are often left to their own devices, whether at the computer lab
or in small groups, discovering
their own unique ways to understand things and problem-solve,
which is a huge part of both of
these aforementioned theories.
Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 4
A huge advantage to the blended learning classroom is the
engagement that students tend
to have verses a normal, lecture-style classroom. Because these
classrooms call on different
areas of each student’s domain and learning style rather than
just the one-dimensional way of
learning, the student is able to become and stay engaged in any
lesson at hand, as each lesson is
unique and interesting, oftentimes within varying environments
(Education Elements, 2012).
A second advantage to blended learning is the ability for
individual paces to be set; those
struggling with current material would not feel bad about
themselves and would not be pressured

6. to go faster to catch up to those at a higher level within the
room, and vice versa – brighter
students would be able to go at a faster rate should the material
become too easy for them.
Further blended learning classroom advantages include smaller
group instruction, more focused
teacher attention in both class rotation and flex model, and
easier classroom management for
teachers who normally may struggle in dealing with an entire
group of 25 or more students at
once (Staker & Horn, 2012).
A disadvantage of the blended classroom is the fact that many
students simply do not
have as strong of IT knowledge as their peers, making it
difficult to accomplish much of the
blended classroom tasks, considering how much technology is
utilized in this type of setting.
Even if a student is strong in any given subject, if he or she
cannot understand how to do simple
things on a computer that the others understand, it can make it
that much more difficult to
complete individual computer assignments and could then fall
behind. A second disadvantage is

7. the fact that teachers will need to restructure their entire way of
teaching and curriculum, as they
go from teacher to facilitator, often guiding the students in their
discoveries online and in small
group activity. Having to teach their students how to organize
their time and trouble-shoot new
concepts and new courses by themselves is a challenge in and of
itself, as the old ways of
Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 5
lecture-based curriculum goes out the window and the new
classroom is an entirely different
dynamic.
As an educator, blended learning is changing my role from
teacher/lecturer, to
organizer/mentor/facilitator. Rather than standing in front of a
room full of students and talking
all day, writing on the chalkboard, and calling on hands, I will
be implementing a number of fun
and often computer/technologically-based learning activities for
the students to discover their
own learning from. Students will be in small group activity,
learning around the room in the

8. room’s stations, creating their own understanding of the world
around them and lessons that are
student-led and facilitated through me. I will introduce key
tools on the internet for the students,
such as Storybird, which will help them with reading and
storytelling, and Google Docs, which
will open up their worlds to real-time cloud usage and document
sharing.
Storybird is truly a remarkable and fantastic website that I
foresee using with my future
students to help in the creation of fun and interesting stories.
As a teacher, I will definitely
utilize this site in reading and writing lessons as a new way to
put pen to paper, so to speak, in
order for my students to get more out of being creative and
having fun with school, rather than
the “boring” old routine of sitting at a desk and zoning out,
thinking about what the next
paragraph will talk about. I especially like this as a teaching
tool for young writers as it allows
them to write from a different angle. Instead of making up a
story off the top of their heads, they
get to choose the path of the story through pictures on the site,
allowing them to get new ideas

9. coming in from all different angles. I think the later elementary
school grades – third through
sixth – would definitely benefit from using this tool as they are
old enough to type up a logical
story and understand how to use the site with little help.
Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 6
Google Docs, on a different scale, is also incredibly remarkable
in that it allows students
to create and share documents in real-time. Google Docs
provides a common place for others to
edit your work, which can be extremely helpful with group
projects. For instance, when students
are working in small groups, and they are all working on a
project together, they can utilize
Google Docs from their homes and each continue their part of
the small group project, uploading
their part to the cloud in real-time. Each person can also edit
the paper to their own liking, while
still keeping the original intact within the document itself.
Under the “file” tab, you can see
revision history and among the revisions, you can go to the
original one submitted and can

10. restore the document. Furthermore, students can chat, which is
needed when doing a project
with several people; students can begin a group chat with
everyone about the project. Google
Docs eliminates the need for everyone to physically be in the
same room together, yet still being
able to be together, sharing ideas and creating a project.
While blended learning may seem a little foreign and
uncomfortable to many, it is truly a
big step up in terms of fostering strong leadership and
independent skills among students at
young, pivotal ages. By incorporating the ever-evolving world
wide web into the daily routine
of each student’s life, and in a huge way, we are not only
providing them with tools they will use
in the future, but we are paving the way for their dreams to
come true and for them to be
prepared and ready to work in order for those dreams to come
true. By implementing blended
learning into everyday life, every child is truly getting the best
of both worlds and gaining more
than just an education; they are gaining life skills that will
follow them down each of their paths.

11. Running head: BLENDED LEARNING 7
References
Alfieri, L., Brooks, P. J., Aldrich, N. J., & Tenenbaum, H. R.
(2011). Does discovery-based
instruction enhance learning?. Journal Of Educational
Psychology, 103(1), 1-18.
doi:10.1037/a0021017 Retrieved from
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-
library.ashford.edu/
Education Elements. (2012). The Fundamentals of Blended
Learning [Video file] Retrieved
from http://vimeopro.com/edelements/education-
elements/video/29536658
LeFrançois, G. (2011). Psychology for teaching (11th ed.). San
Diego, CA: Bridgepoint
Education, Inc. Retrieved from
https://content.ashford.edu/books/
Staker, H. & Horn, M. (2012). Classifying K-12 Blended
Learning. [pdf file]. Retrieved
From http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-

12. content/uploads/2012/05/Classifying-K-12-blended-
learning2.pdf