Blended Learning Is Not A Bad Word
0"It probably didn’t mean to, but the pandemic has given blended learning a bad name. However, when prepared and executed properly, blended learning positively transforms both teaching and learning. Participants will learn about the journey of this large, urban district and the collaboration between Digital Learning and several curriculum departments to transform curriculum into interactive, engaging, blended learning courses for the district. Because the bottom line is this: we must do better, do what we can and then some, to reach and prepare our learners where they are, but also to prepare them for the technology-connected and interconnected world of creativity, not just consumption, collaboration, and effective, productive communication they will live and work in. Teams of teachers, specialists, content coordinators, and others work to write, design, build, and transform the entire school year’s curriculum into a blended learning experience using the District’s learning management system and have done so for more than 10 academic courses, K-12 since before the pandemic. Feedback from all stakeholders- teachers, students, specialists, and content coordinators- has overwhelmingly been positive. Results that have skyrocketed include: teachers looking forward to teaching, students looking forward to learning, classroom rigor, student agency, student engagement, classroom interactivity, classroom management and behavior, TEKS mastery, creativity, collaboration, and so much more.
In sum:
Teachers- “I wish I was teaching this way sooner.”
Students- “I wish all of my classes were like this!” “I didn’t know learning could be this interesting and fun!”
The leader and a few lead project managers will share more about the plan, process, and evolution of this program, also sharing usable resources.