{"id":102926,"date":"2020-05-29T14:56:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T21:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=102926"},"modified":"2020-05-29T14:56:10","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T21:56:10","slug":"blended-learning-a-way-to-assist-learners-in-rural-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/05\/29\/blended-learning-a-way-to-assist-learners-in-rural-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Blended Learning: A way to assist learners in rural communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma, a Chartered Professional Engineer and a former Senior Lecturer at OUSL,<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The term Blended learning\u201d is used frequently along with the term e-Learning\u201d. Is it just another buzz word or an old wine in a new bottle?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is relevant to review the present situation in the country with reference\nto computer literacy and the percentage of households owning computers in\ndifferent sectors, urban, rural, estate, etc. Computer literacy\/Computer\nownership as a percentage (Sri Lanka: 30.1\/22.2, Urban: 41.5\/38.3, Rural: 28.6\/19.9,\nEstate: 13.7\/3.8), as per the published statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above statistics clearly indicate a vast disparity within the\nsectors in computer literacy and ownership of computers by households. Under\nsuch situation, a heavy emphasis on e-learning or technology based education could\nworsen the present relative social standing of rural and estate sectors. While\nactions need to be taken to reduce the above disparities in the longer run, it\nis imperative that less privileged sectors be provided with facilities such as\nblended learning to mitigate the disparities currently exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blended learning <\/em>is defined as a combination of multiple\napproaches to pedagogy or teaching. It is achieved through the combination of\nvirtual and physical resources. Blended learning is a blend<\/em> between\ne-Learning and traditional delivery methods such as traditional class rooms,\nprinted learning material, etc.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most learners are familiar with how teachers\nuse different delivery methods to achieve learning outcomes, e.g. lectures,\ndiscussion groups, drills and practices, role plays, audio\/video clips,\ncomputer-based tutorials, etc. Therefore, it can be said that blended learning<\/em> is a new name for an\nold concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blended learning can cater to a large cross\nsection of learners including rural and estate sectors in achieving their\nlearning goals by accommodating different modes of delivery, models of teaching\nand styles of learning. All students do not learn in just the same way nor do\nthey have same accessibility to technology; therefore, it is important to\nprovide different methods, media and approaches to learn the same content by different\nstudents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regular Internet, TV, radio, etc., it\nis possible to deliver educational and training content for the benefit of the\nlearners throughout the country. The content could include material for school\nand university programmes, improvement of general skills such as English\nknowledge and computer literacy, vocational skills such as repair and\nmaintenance of automobiles, computers, etc. However, those who are familiar\nwith distance learning are aware of the main hardships the learners face; the lack of tutor support<\/em> and feedback<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “theory” part of the\nlearning task can be delivered through the technology mentioned above. How can\nthe tutor support<\/em> and feedback<\/em> be provided? The way to proceed\nmay be to use a blended learning approach. It is possible to meet the above\nlearner needs through a combination of online and face-to-face tutor support.\nFace-to-face tutor support can be provided at venues such as Open University’s\nregional centres, University of Vocational Technology, technical colleges, and\nother suitable public and private sector educational establishments. This is a\nfeasible approach that would directly benefit the rural sector learners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The learners would choose the method that\nsuits them best based on preference, accessibility, affordability, etc.\nDifferent approaches in delivery are also necessary due to different learning\ncontexts (traditional learning, distance learning, etc.), learner types\n(auditory learners, visual learners, etc.) and leaning tasks (facts, concepts,\netc.). Also, when the technology is not equally accessible to the entire\ncross-section of learners, blended\nlearning<\/em> could provide alternatives to choose from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The factors that influence the blend of\nmethods and technologies used to achieve desired learning objectives include:\nlearning context, type of learners, learning task, availability, accessibility and\nlearner attitudes towards using technology for learning, time availability for\nlearning, language and subject proficiency levels, pace at which learning goals\nare to be achieved, the pedagogical approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actual making of the \u2018blend\u2019 should be\nbased on proper study and evaluation of the learning situation. Such study is\ncalled Instructional Design<\/em>. A typical instructional design process\nincludes five stages; Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation,\nand Evaluation (ADDIE). The most critical of these stages is the\nfirst stage, Analysis. Analysis is the basis for design of instructions and\ntheir delivery. The Analysis stage consists of three components; analysis of\nlearning context, the learner, and the learning task. The selection of the type\nof instruction and the mode of its delivery is based on the findings of the\ninstructional analysis. Analyses of the learning context and the types of\nlearners will provide information on: gaps in knowledge, learner background, preferred\nstyles of learning, performance levels, language proficiency, computer\nliteracy, access and attitude towards technology, time constraints, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These findings have implications on the\ndesign and delivery of instructions. For example, if most of the learners are\neither auditory or visual learners, the design of instruction should include\naudio and video components. Similarly, if the learners are adults who work\nfull-time or part-time, face-to-face delivery of instruction is not suitable as\nthe primary mode of delivery. In this case the design and delivery of\ninstruction should be made to suit a distance learning environment. Then, the\nquestion arises as to what type of distance learning is affordable. Does the learner\nhave access to ICT where instructions can be delivered in the form of offline\ncontent or online through the Internet? If the learners have no access to ICT,\nthen the option will be to provide the learners with print material designed\nfor distance learning or media broadcasts. If the analysis shows that a good\npart of the learners have access to ICT, then the delivery of learning content\nshould be made through both ICT, print material and\/or media broadcasts. This\nis just an example of blending different methods of delivery of instruction to\nsuit different types of learners and learning contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blended learning methods also become\nrelevant when implementation of different steps in the learning process is\nconsidered. The different steps that a learner needs to go through to accomplish\na learning task are known as Events of Instruction. There are nine events of\ninstruction: Gaining attention, informing the learner of the objective, stimulating\nlearner\u2019s attention, stimulating recall of prior knowledge, providing learning\nguidance, eliciting performance, providing feedback, assessing performance, and\nenhancing retention and transfer. Different approaches or media could be used\nto achieve each event of instruction.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The type of learning task too has a bearing\non the methods of delivery. Design of events of instruction varies from task to\ntask. Providing learning guidance, eliciting performance, giving feedback, etc.\nwill be dependent on the type of learning task and mode of delivery. Giving\nfeedback on learner performance will be quite different in a computer-based\nlearning environment as compared to a face-to-face learning environment.\nAlso, intelligent tutoring systems<\/em> can evaluate the learner\ninput and suggest possible routes for solving a problem or task. It is the\ninstructional designer\u2019s task therefore to select the appropriate mix of media\nto ensure effective learning under a given learning situation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the challenges associated with\nsuch an endeavour include the design and development of suitable indigenous\nlearning content suitable for delivery through technology and design and\nimplementation of pedagogically sound blended learning environments that will\nresult in successful learning outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With such blended learning settings, a large portion of the country’s\npopulation including those in rural sectors can benefit from the new technology\nand the country can steadily move towards its vision to become a\nknowledge-based economy with a more equitable society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma, a Chartered Professional Engineer\nand a former Senior Lecturer at OUSL, holds a PhD from\nthe University of Canterbury in New Zealand in\nInstructional Design for Computer-Based Learning. Email: gamini_pad@hotmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma, a Chartered Professional Engineer and a former Senior Lecturer at OUSL, The term Blended learning\u201d is used frequently along with the term e-Learning\u201d. Is it just another buzz word or an old wine in a new bottle?\u00a0 It is relevant to review the present situation in the country with reference to computer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}