Blended Classroom

I enjoyed reading the section on blended learning and the study by Stewart, Harlow, and DeBacco showing the success and struggles of distance learning and providing students with a more blended platform. I have taught in a traditional setting, pure online environment, and blended classroom and can't say I like one over the other because I've enjoyed every year I've taught. However, I think online and blended bring an entirely new challenges for educators. Stewart, Harlow, and DeBacoco summed it up well when they stated,

"...higher education providers are challenged to create a new classroom environment that retains what is good about face-to-face interaction and incorporates online access to information and participation, allowing for flexible student learning experiences." this is exactly the challenge I have worked to provide my distance education students throughout the years.

I'm constantly evaluating my own lessons to see if I 1. provided them something they can't just read in a book and 2. have equal or higher quality of instruction than in the face-to-face atmosphere. I've experienced that retention students to complete a course, and/or return the next session, with the online or blended classrooms are so much more difficult than the face-to-face classrooms. This makes me challenge myself even more to provide them higher quality lessons and build a professional relationship so they know I have their back and genuinely want them to find success. Personally I think it takes a very driven person to teach distance education due to the challenges and time you put in compared to the face-to-face classrooms I have taught in.

Stewart, A. R., Harlow, D. B., & DeBacco, K. (2011). Students' experience of synchronous learning in distributed environments. Distance Education, 32(3), 357-381. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2011.610289