March 2017 - Blended Learning in Perrysburg Schools
By Kadee Anstadt, Executive Director of Teaching & Learning
Blended learning as a concept is as old as a class writing to pen pals to learn more about another culture or bringing in classroom pet fish to help learn about biology, but with how much technology has advanced, opportunities for blended learning have expanded significantly.
Essentially project-based education, blended learning does not impact the curriculum taught in our schools, but it does give students control over the pace, path and learning. It also often serves to underscore the relevance of why the students are learning a lesson before they begin to learn it.
Perrysburg Schools has a math teacher as well as two social studies teachers currently in the Ohio Blended Collaborative. This grant-funded program began last summer with a weeklong boot camp for the three teachers and on a regular schedule they meet with other teachers in similar courses to collaborate on how to implement blended learning further into their classrooms. Marysville, Olentangy Local and Westerville founded the Ohio Blended Collaborative, and this year Buckeye Valley, Dublin City, Fairbanks Local, North Canton and Perrysburg joined.
Discussion is a key component in blended learning. One example would be Jr. High Math Teacher Bobby Knurek showing his students videos of two different individuals running the same distance. He played each, then synced the videos and played the first portion. He then stopped the videos and challenged the students to figure out who would win the race, and how much they would win by. A classroom-wide discussion ensued about the best way to figure it out, and then the video clip was completed and the students could see their math in action.
They found their prediction was close, but not exact. They were trying to figure out what they must be missing when one student realized that the speed the runners were going was not the speed they started out at, and so they must adjust their equation.
Blended learning may not always involve technology, but technology has increased what is available in the classroom exponentially. Students can now videoconference with a professional, even if that professional is halfway around the globe. They can read a manual, watch a video clip, listen to a lecture or read a textbook. We have all kinds of learners, and blended learning helps us ensure all students achieve their greatest potential.
Posted: Friday, June 9, 2017