Traditional, Blended, E-Learning, Results and Digital Natives

Photo from morguefile.com

The study "Comparing Effectiveness of Traditional versus Blended Teaching Methods: Efforts to Meet the Demand of Students in a Blend 2.0" illustrates that when designed appropriately for the learning situation, a blended learning environment is as effective as a traditional learning environment. This study asserts that students are "craving technology in the classroom." While this may generally be the case, it is clear from this study's results that there were no significant differences in overall effectiveness of a blended environment versus a traditional one.  

Perhaps this conclusion may illustrate that if a course is designed well, regardless of the approach, it will be effective. In fact the study acknowledges that the instructor had been dedicated in making "the two sections of the class as comparable as possible" and the instructional design for both classes included a "media rich environment." Thus, it is important to note that technology played a significant role in both learning environments, even though one environment is called "traditional" it did not exclude the use of technology.

PBL: Questioning, Acting, Assessing, Reflecting and Celebrating

Learning by doing is one of the recurring themes in Project-Based Learning. Edutopia.org makes reference to John Dewey who challenged the view of the student as a "passive recipient of knowledge." The quote from Dewey that is cited, "education is not preparation for life; education is life itself" is a very powerful quote with many challenging implications for both educators and students.

A few years ago, in the school where I work, the students were excited over some of the new courses that were being offered. These courses included Welding and Power Recreation & Technology. Taking the advice I had heard (and which is also mentioned on Edutopia.org to "start small"), I decided to try to take advantage of the students' enthusiasm, since many of the students taking the new courses were also in my Media Studies course. Their driving question was how do they promote and make the larger community aware of what was being offered at a smaller rural school. In working groups, they decided the best medium was video. I was lucky enough, through a friend, to connect with Terry Gadsden who works in animation and film as an instructor at NBCC-Miramichi.