The blended approach to training and learning processes could be defined as “the organic integration” of selected and complementary face-to-face and online methods and tools (Cleveland-Innes, 2018). It means to create an effective learning process, making appropriate choices and taking advantage of different learning environments which take place face-to-face (F-2-F) and online.
Contents
Definition
The interweaving and combination of different digital and analog forms of learning in a joint learning process. Planned along pedagogical criteria.
Considering the blended approach as an opportunity means to analyse the pros and cons of the use of technology, blending online and in presence learning environments during the design of a training.
If, how and to what extent to use a blended approach should be decided through a process of analysis of the elements included in a learning system.
Elements of a blended learning system
According to the Complex Adaptive Blended Learning System theory (CABLS) a learning system includes at least six elements:
- Learner,
- Trainer,
- Technology,
- Content,
- Organisation,
- Learning support (Wang et al. 2015).
Moreover, considering a learning system as a whole, it would be important to include in this list also the
- Cultural and social context in which the training takes place.
“Not only does each element have its own character and subsystem, but each acts in relationship to all the others. As in any complex system, the relationships are dynamic and integrative. This adaptive system of blended learning emerges from the relationships and the effects of each element acting with and on the other elements.” (Cleveland-Innes 2018, p.10).
Pedagogical Motivated Choice
A learning environment is the product/outcome of a process of choices that “encompasses learning resources and technology, means of teaching, modes of learning, and connections to societal and global contexts. The term also includes human behavioural and cultural dimensions, including the vital role of emotion in learning, and it requires us to examine and sometimes rethink the roles of teachers and students. The focus on information technology in education is expanding from the enhancement of learning spaces to include factors beyond hardware, software, and the network. The learning environment is a composite of human practices and material systems, much as an ecology is the combination of living things and the physical environment” (Bate, 2019, p.490).
The choice of putting learning environments at the core of the reasoning allows for concrete reflection upon the different elements that make up the learning system and gives insight into the complexity of the system itself.
Using a blended approach makes it possible to broaden the range of possible learning environments and this is interesting and appropriate in training contexts because it makes it possible
- to promote the development of competences in different learning dimensions (cognitive, emotional, behavioural),
- to respond better to the different learning styles,
- and finally to differentiate the learning possibilities for the different participants.
Blends of Blended Learning
The following overview shows the learning environments with their characteristics and purposes, strengths and elements to be paid particular attention to
Online Workshop
The online workshop allows participants to interact, exchange, discuss and collaborate in real time.
In particular, it is worth using it to introduce a new topic, to share perspectives and build common visions about things (words and their meaning, key elements, process, tools, etc.). The collective setting increases the engagement and the motivation of participants and the dialogue with the trainers (e.g. instant feedback). From a logistical and organisational point of view it is time- and cost-saving.
Note:
When designing and carrying out an online workshop it is important to consider that: it requires - more or less advanced - technical infrastructure and skills of participants and trainers (digital tools need to be chosen carefully in regards to legal and ethical considerations; learners/participants' engagement could be affected by the physical environment (home, workplace) and the level of attention can vary a lot.
F-2-F Workshop
The F-2-F Workshop (face to face) is defined as a live session in which trainers and participants are all in the same place at the same time (collective and synchronous setting).
The learners and trainers have the possibility to see, hear and pick up on physical cues and body language. The F-2-F workshop allows participants to interact, exchange, discuss and collaborate in real time. In particular, it is worth using it for team building, to promote deeper discussion on complex topics and to consolidate knowledge; to practise “live”; to revise and assess the process.
The in-presence collective setting increases the engagement and the motivation of participants, consolidates the group relationships, the dialogue with the trainers, increases the productivity (quality and quantity), for example, in case of group tasks. From a logistical and organisational point of view it is time- and cost-consuming.
Note:
When designing and carrying out an F-2-F workshop it is important to consider that it requires participants to have enough time to dedicate to reach the training venue and the energy to stay focused during the whole session.
Group dynamics are more vivid, so it is important to consider them during the design of the training and to observe them during the delivery.
Self-paced Learning
(Individual distant work). The Self-paced Learning (Individual distant work) environment foresees the possibility for each learner to go through learning materials and tasks - provided in the frame of the training – by themselves.
Self-paced Learning allows participants to take the time they want or have in order to reflect on complex issues, to acquire knowledge, to develop tasks and elaborate texts and ideas. The individual setting promotes the development of critical, analytical and reflective competences: it is a time in which learners study and consolidate their own perspective, position, vision on the topics (and become ready to share it in the collective settings). From a logistical and organisational point of view it is time- and cost-saving.
NOTE
When designing a Self-paced Learning environment it is important to consider that it requires - more or less advanced - technical infrastructures and skills of participants and trainers. It offers good levels of self-direction, but can also lead to an occurrence/emergence of a potential feeling of isolation or lack of connection affecting motivation.
Long-term Group Work
(Group distant work). The Long-term Group Work (also in the form of the Group distant work) as a learning setting identifies the creation of subgroups of participants which work together in order to develop a common final product by the end of the training.
Participants work in subgroups during collective sessions when the tasks are parts of the common final product, accomplish and develop a specific activity by themselves between the collective session (online or F-2-F).
The long-term group work can take place in presence or online according to the preferences of the participants. It allows participants to put in practice the knowledge and concepts acquired during the workshops and to develop technical (application of content of the training) and problem-solving competences. It is a particular collective setting that can both increase the engagement and motivation of participants (creating closer relations in small groups) and give learners time to develop and consolidate their ideas.
From a logistical and organisational point of view it is a very flexible environment, the groups of participants can decide the time, the place – physical or online, the duration and the engagement they can devote to the learning process.
Note:
When designing a long-term group work environment it is important to consider levels of self-direction of the learners and their habit and competence to work in a team. The potential emergence of a negative group dynamic may affect the group work experience and the possibility to develop a quality final product. It is important to put in place a monitoring process to understand the way the group is working, if support is needed – in terms of content related inputs or relational dynamics.
Helpdesk
The Helpdesk is a learning environment in which learners (or groups of learners) can direct the focus of the session in order to ask questions to and ask for feedback from the trainers.
It is a place in which the relation among learners and trainers can be consolidated and developed. The trainer can monitor and assess the specific needs of the learners and use this data in order to adapt the following training sessions and to foresee different learning material for single or groups of learners.
The helpdesk can take place in presence or online according to the preferences of the participants and trainers. It is a particular individual or collective setting that can both increase the engagement and the motivation of participants (creating closer relations with the trainers) and give learners time to discuss their ideas with the trainers in a safer place.
Note:
When designing a helpdesk environment, it is important to think of it as an empowering moment, avoiding focusing on problems or complaints collection. It is important to recall the active role learners - as individuals and groups- have in the learning process and promote their proactivity in case of content-related obstacles or group dynamics-related: the focus is on the solutions.
Hybrid Learning
Commonly, hybrid learning is understood as a training mode where some participants attend the session in-person, while others, at the same time, join the session online.
Trainers teach or facilitate remote and in-person participants at the same time using tools like video conferencing. This understanding of the hybrid learning foresees a passive role of the participants - at least of some - since promoting the interaction among participants in presence and online at the same time with the available technology is very difficult – if not impossible – until now. The premises explained in the first chapter of this Manual – transformative and experiential learning approach – prevent from referring to the hybrid environment in this way.
From the experience, the Hybrid Learning environment can be defined as the synchronous combination of F-2-F and online in the frame of a single session which implies more than one physical space in which subgroups of participants are together and the online connection among the subgroups. The session is designed as a whole and all the activities developed in the subgroups and in plenary are pieces of the same path and contribute to the same objectives.
From a logistical and organisational point of view it is time-saving for the participants – for example if they can reach a venue closer to the living place - and cost-saving for the organisation since it does not require travel costs for an international training. The logistics of the venue and the device setting require more attention and time in order to respond to all the needs and to ensure the participation of everyone in the physical and virtual mode.
Planning
In order to overcome the dichotomy of presence and online as separate, positive or negative dimensions, it is considered crucial to emphasise the relevance and function that the different environments can take on for the learning process. Applying a blended approach to the training design means then to adopt a mindset that comes from even before the beginning of the training design itself.
Holistic Perspective: Theme-Group-Individual-Context
As with the planning of physical workshops, the following perspectives - and their relationship to each other - must be considered in a design strategy and be brought into a dynamic balance (according to the "Theme-Centred Interaction" approach by Cohn):
- The IT perspective regards the topic - the aim of the training, the reason why everybody is there;
- The I perspective of each single person involved in the training with their background and expectations; and,
- the WE perspective of the group – understanding the learning space as a collective space crossed by dynamics (cultural and social dynamics included) and engaged in a process
- The context or GLOBE: social context and professional and organisational context – understanding how the context could support or limit the learning process and how to include or exclude it (Schneider-Landolf et al. 2017).
Technical dimension
Referring again to the initially mentioned CABLS-Dimensions, the planning of learning processes involving technology requires in consequence also a concrete reasoning about the technical dimension:
Social context features
Technical, digital and logistical possibilities, opportunities, constraints.
- To what extent digital helps to lower bareers, is possible/accessible?
- What kind of digital tools and services would be most useful?
Professional and organisational context
Technical, digital and logistical possibilities, opportunities, constraints regards the organisation.
- To what extent digital helps to lower bareers, is possible/accessible?
- What kind of digital tools and services would be most useful and available? *Are the used tools compatible to the organisers’ values regards democracy and digital transformation?
People and participants
Information about the learners’ relation to the digital.
- In example, experiences, familiarity, openness, fears, digital literacy...
Learning process training object/main topic
Pedagogical justification of the embedded technology.
- Is digital a key for reaching the learning outcome?
- Where? In what form?
Tools
Digital tools are used in the various processes presented here, whether as a supplement to an F2F process or as the basis for a purely online workshop.
Apps & Tools on Competendo
We have compiled some of these on Competendo and also present criteria that focus on the perspective of democracy- and human rights-based learning.
- Explore Apps and Tools
Framasoft Collection
Framasoft's approach is empowerment through ethical digital tools. A collection of tools in the fields "design useful tools". "exchanging with others", "having fun", "organize together", "collaborate", and "development".
Reflection: Me & the Digital
The tool provides a set of questions to investigate the relation of one person with the digital sphere.
- How would you describe your relation with the digital sphere?
- How would you describe (as practitioners and educators) your challenges with the digital sphere/world?
- What are the motivations that lead you to use digital devices?
- To what extent do you feel comfortable using digital tools in training environments or digital learning environments?
The set of questions could be considered as a support for a reflective process that each person can use autonomously – as an individual task. Otherwise it can be used as a sharing tool within the group of trainers to discuss positions and make them explicit as part of a team. It is possible to answer individually the different questions as a moment of exploration open to points of divergence and convergence in the team - building a team positioning. Alternatively, depending on the time available or the way of working of the team, it is possible to represent the relationship "Me-digital" with a evocative image - in the description of the image, the most important elements and nuances characterising everyone's perception will emerge.
Learning the blended way
This text is a short extract from the guide: Handbook for the design of blended training-learning paths, created in the project “Learning the Blended Way”, published by ICC - International Cooperation Centre (Trento, Italy).
Editors: Silvia Destro, Giovanna Dell’Amore, Elisa Rapetti
- Download: PDF
Authors
Giovanna Dell’Amore
Located in Trento (Italy). Project Manager in Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale (CCI, Centre for International Cooperation) in the field training, design, consulting.
Silvia Destro
Located in Trento (Italy). Project Manager in Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale (CCI, Centre for International Cooperation) in the field training, design, consulting.
Elisa Rapetti
Researcher in Sociology. PhD in Methodology of Social Research and Applied Sociology at University of Milano. Facilitator at Democracy and Human Right Education in Europe (DARE).
References
Bates, A.W. (2019). Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition. Vancouver, B.C.: Tony Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2
Cleveland-Innes, M. ( with support from Wilton, D.) (2018), Guide to Blended Learning. Commonwealth of Learning, Burnaby.https://oasis.col.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/888d37d6-2e2d-4859-940d-36df969621e5/content
Schneider-Landolf, M.; Spielmann, J.; Zitterbarth, W. (eds.) (2017). Handbook of Theme-Centered Interaction (TCI). Göttingen/Bristol, https://doi.org/10.13109/9783666451904
Wang, Yuping & Han, X. & Yang, Juan. (2015). Revisiting the Blended Learning Literature: Using a Complex Adaptive Systems Framework. Educational Technology and Society. 18. 380-393.
