What Is a Blended Learning Approach?
The COVID-19 pandemic touched several areas of work. Perhaps one notable area that has been profoundly affected is education. Many schools closed, shifted to an all-online format, and required students to complete schoolwork from home. Other schools reopened but instituted strict social distancing and drastically limited class sizes and activities. Still, others adopted a combination of remote online learning and limited on-campus learning.
As a result, two trends have emerged that may reshape education in the years to come:
- Learning may involve a blended approach with both virtual and face-to-face learning.
- This blended learning approach will depend on powerful, reliable technology to make learning easy to facilitate and manage as well as secure.
The good news is that this technology already exists. New advances in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), a technology that allows users to access virtual desktop environments from any device, enable schools to fully take advantage of blended learning. This learning combines the effectiveness of face-to-face instruction with the versatility of online learning platforms.
This capability will be crucial to the next phase of education. While schools and universities scrambled to piece together a solution when the pandemic hit, strategies like blended learning will help ensure educational continuity amid other potentially disruptive events.
If used correctly, VDI and blended learning can significantly improve the equality and reach of educational instruction because all students gain all the benefits of in-person interaction and online content.
What Is Blended Learning?
Simply put, blended learning is the practice of using both online and in-person learning experiences. In a traditional teaching environment, all instruction is delivered in a face-to-face format, such as lectures, discussions, labs, and other learning activities. Online learning courses deliver at least 80% of course content online, with little to no face-to-face interaction.
Putting these two formats together, blended learning combines in-person and online experiences. There are numerous ways to customize a blended learning environment. The ratio of classroom activities to digital media can vary, giving instructors the ability to customize their teaching processes.
Blended learning is more than just mixing instruction with technology or swapping classroom tools for digital ones. The online and in-person elements work together to create an integrated learning environment in a true blended-learning course. This multimodal learning strategy uses digital content to replace a portion of class time.
For example, students can spend a portion of their time in a traditional classroom setting and also complete online components of the course outside the classroom independently. Supplementing in-person learning sessions with digital material helps students reinforce concepts and practice what they learn. When students can customize their learning experience, they can learn at their own pace, using the best modalities for their learning styles.
What Are the Benefits of Blended Learning?
Blended learning recognizes that while digital technology offers new benefits of accessibility and efficiency, it cannot replace in-person learning. However, recent data suggests that online content will increasingly play a central role in education.
A blended learning approach mixes the best elements of in-person and online instruction. This benefits both teachers and students in numerous ways:
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Equity
Blended learning allows students equal opportunities to thrive in a partial online environment that can provide less distraction and more customization for their individual needs. Everyone can benefit from face-to-face instruction, but some students can gain more than others from online instruction. For example, these students might include those with disabilities or conditions that are difficult to accommodate in the classroom or less inclined to participate in class discussions.
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Flexibility
With blended learning, unforeseen disruptions can be handled more easily thanks to the flexibility of online and in-person capabilities. For example, a student who misses class can watch a video of the lesson or review the lecture slides online. Suppose unexpected events such as fire drills or inclement weather disrupt class time. The instructor can upload the lesson to a centralized learning management system (LMS) for students to review later.
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Engagement
The digital tools available in a blended learning approach can boost student engagement. For example, using an online discussion board benefits group work because everyone can contribute equally, and teachers can view which team members participated and to what degree. This gives them a more accurate understanding of whether students fully completed assigned work.
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Access
Students and teachers can take advantage of a centralized place to access learning materials. Teachers can reduce the amount of time and resources spent printing multiple copies, and students can review learning materials at their own pace.
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Cost
Blended learning offers greater opportunities for cost-efficiency since fewer classroom, and school resources are needed if students learn from home part-time. For example, hosting resources on a digital platform reduces the need for printed copies. Rather than purchasing expensive physical textbooks, schools could maximize their budget with digital content.
What Technologies Support Blended Learning?
Technology has always been a valuable learning tool, and its use has evolved. For example, computers replaced typewriters, and smartboards replaced overhead projectors. Instead of printing paper handouts that must be collected, assessed, and returned to the students, instructors can post a discussion topic online. This saves time and facilitates a collaborative atmosphere in which students can respond to one another, even after class is over, enhancing the learning process.
A successful blended-learning environment depends on a sustainable IT framework. With virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), students and teachers can access resources remotely using their preferred devices. For example, a student could use an iPad to access a virtual Windows desktop that would provide the same look and functionality as a school desktop computer.
Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS) offers a complete VDI solution to meet these blended-learning needs. It enables virtual learning and remote access to desktops and applications from any location. It also allows work or study from students’ devices of choice, including tablets and smartphones. And critically, it helps ensure security by monitoring and restricting access to data on- and off-campus.
Parallels RAS empowers educational institutions to implement blended learning programs through benefits such as:
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Enhanced security
Parallels RAS reduces the risk of data breaches by establishing secure protection with two-factor authentication, advanced filtering, and customized policies. Staff and students can access learning management systems and other software securely from any device and location.
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Simplification of multi-campus environments
Parallels RAS streamlines the management of single or multi-campus IT infrastructures from one easy-to-use management console. By reducing the time and money necessary to deliver virtual applications and desktops to end-user devices, academic institutions can lower their total cost of ownership (TCO).
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Continuous learning
Parallels RAS lowers the risk of downtime and interruptions while increasing resources with out-of-the-box load-balancing technology. Virtual application and desktop delivery are fast and user-friendly for staff and students, no matter where they’re connecting from.
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Virtual desktop automation
Parallels RAS allows the setup of virtual desktops on the go with PowerShell API and REST API templates and streamlined testing. IT staff can create linked clones to complete updates, making managing a large user group faster.
Although an online environment will probably never replace the traditional classroom fully, blended learning can strengthen our knowledge in ways we’re just beginning to realize.
Interested in learning more about employing a blended learning approach with Parallels RAS?