Four Keys To Success Using Blended Learning Implementation Models

A growing number of schools are piloting or implementing blended learning programs. However, many educators are unfamiliar with the different aspects of this approach and how the various implementation models of blended learning differ.Technology-laden terms like “one-to-one” and “flipped learning” make blended learning an intriguing if not daunting endeavor. However, the foundation of blended learning remains firmly rooted in the concept of empowering teachers to provide personalized and mastery-based instruction.This whitepaper will review the critical success factors to keep in mind if your district is in the process of exploring or implementing a blended learning approach. But first, let's review the basic definition of blended learning and some of the most common implementation models.

Spotlight

Education Affiliates

Education Affiliates was founded on a simple premise — that we would create an opportunity for organizations to hire graduates of our schools who have completed quality, people oriented, post-secondary career training. These graduates would be capable of utilizing those acquired skills in the business world, resulting in a positive impact for themselves and the business they are associated with.

OTHER ARTICLES
Education Technology

How the Remote Learning Pivot Could Shape Higher Ed IT

Article | July 20, 2022

It’s no secret that, even while acknowledging the benefits, many in higher¬ education have long viewed online education and remote learning with some degree of skepticism. Fast-forward to this year’s novel coronavirus pandemic, however, and even skeptics find themselves embracing remote learning — like it or not, ready or not. With universities everywhere forced to indefinitely shut their classroom doors until the health crisis ends (or at least stabilizes), remote learning has become the only option for ensuring students can finish the classes, credits and degrees in which they’ve invested.

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Education Technology

Learning from the Pandemic: Steps to Take to Lessen the “Summer” Slide

Article | July 27, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic created unparalleled disruption in worldwide education systems. Schools shut their doors and moved lesson delivery online, forcing educators and students alike to adapt, often without the necessary processes and tools to do so. A recent article in The New York Times reported the sudden switch from classroom to remote learning cleared the slate on academic gains for U.S. students while widening the racial and economic gaps. Thus, catching up when the fall session begins – which is already an annual issue, will become even more of a challenge for many.

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Education Technology

How Community Coalitions Are Bridging the Digital Divide

Article | July 15, 2022

Across the country, local networks known as Education Innovation Clusters (EdClusters) are bringing together partners and resources to meet urgent needs and envision a new future for teaching and learning. Many of these efforts are rooted in long-standing partnerships across sectors and institutions. As COVID-19 disrupted the lives of students, educators, and families earlier this year, EdClusters sprang into action, leveraging their capacity and reach in ways their networks were uniquely ready to do. Their collective efforts are meeting a range of needs—from internet access to devices to social-emotional supports. As schools prepare for uncertain and complex reopenings, we turn to Kansas City and Rhode Island for powerful examples of community in action.

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Education Technology

EdTech in 2021: Three Key Trends Shaping the Use of Technology in Education this Year

Article | December 21, 2021

The combination of education and technology is a hot topic in 2021. Virtual classrooms and e-learning have become the new norm, and new technologies start to determine early education. The discussion about trends in educational technology has never been more lively, and it's easy to lose sight of the big picture. It’s worth asking: what's driving today's education and technology integration in schools? Let’s check which EdTech trends are evolving right now in the industry and how they will dictate the future of the entire sector. Technological optimism in the teaching profession The first trend occurs on the institutional level: More and more schools are looking to integrate technology into the curriculum. Worldwide, teachers and schools have been seeing the positive sides of integrating technology. As a result, they have started demanding new, technology-based methodologies to overcome the challenges of traditional education. This curiosity is stronger and louder than ever before. At the same time, EdTech tools such as Google Classroom allow teachers to train themselves in technology-based teaching more quickly. Former three-day teacher conferences now happen periodically in many schools via distance discussions and practical peer review sessions. In those meetings, educators share their knowledge, tools, and ideas on matching technology with their curricula. It is a good sign that technology is penetrating further into the professional development of educators. Teachers understand that students’ development depends on their own development and are finally keen to attend workshops and conferences that address technology-based learning. The rising interest in technology-based education is also reflected among students. As the McGraw-Hill Education study points out, 53% of U.S. college students prefer classes that use and teach digital technology over traditional textbook lessons. Virtual reality facilitates learning in schools The second trend is how augmented reality and virtual robots change teaching and learning. One of the most exciting developments is the vast potential that simulations and virtual robotics offer to school education. For some time, augmented reality and virtual simulations have been on everyone’s mind. However, only recently have we started recognizing the immense possibilities that virtual reality (VR) carries to improve learning experiences. Today, preschool children can explore insects in actual size and authenticity via the Google search engine. Computer simulations, such as VR, can bring distant or abstract experiences into the classroom and make them technically accessible every day. And with simulations, students can examine “what-if” situations and learn how to test hypotheses and develop scientific rigor early on. In this way, students strengthen their practical skills and logical reasoning and develop their creativity. Some application examples are phenomena like the functioning of the solar system, explosive reactions between chemical substances, or progressions on how CO2 emissions will affect the ecosystem by 2050. Even if it’s not as obvious, simulations are valuable for linguistics, history, architecture, and other educational fields. Let’s take drones as an example. Students can program a drone and use the simulation to explore the features of bridges and monuments worldwide by doing expeditions with drones. Artificial intelligence drives personalized learning You cannot miss the immense opportunities artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) have brought to the EdTech sector. The principles of AI and IoT and their integration into students’ learning experiences continue to proliferate in school and at home. Tools such as voice assistants and AI tutors help diversify and personalize learning experiences and boost self-regulated learning. Software like Duolingo teaches children new languages based on what they’ve learned before and what they still find challenging. Such software also integrates voice recognition and responds in real-time, allowing users to simulate a real-world language learning experience. Moreover, AI-driven learning platforms collect student data and analyze where a student might need help, send a study reminder, or gather additional material on specific topics for the individual student. On those platforms, teachers can regularly review students’ learning data and take the proactive recommendations provided by AI into account. The personalized learning experiences that AI creates are crucial to improve students’ motivation and learning success. The goal is to support students in the same personal learning stage and give teachers accurate information on the student’s progress in specific areas. Personalized training makes sure that not a single one is left behind or slowed down because of underwhelming materials. The year 2021 as a window of opportunity Not only did AI and simulations open up new learning opportunities, but 2021 also brought sweeping changes at the grassroots level of technology and education. Schools, parents, and teachers have now understood the importance of technology for successful personal development. We are in the ideal moment to continue transforming teaching and learning through technology. Now, it is only a matter of creatively using the essential tools and integrating new devices–and marking a bright educational future for everyone.

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Spotlight

Education Affiliates

Education Affiliates was founded on a simple premise — that we would create an opportunity for organizations to hire graduates of our schools who have completed quality, people oriented, post-secondary career training. These graduates would be capable of utilizing those acquired skills in the business world, resulting in a positive impact for themselves and the business they are associated with.

Related News

Online Education

Parkway School District Optimizes Blended Learning Environments with PowerSchool Solutions

PowerSchool | January 15, 2022

PowerSchool, the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, today announced that Parkway School District in Chesterfield, Missouri, utilizes PowerSchool solutions to create optimal learning environments for students. Through their partnership, Parkway Schools sees benefits from PowerSchool’s Unified Classroom® Schoology Learning and Naviance by PowerSchool solutions to support district-wide teacher collaboration and student career preparation efforts, respectively. “As a long-time Unified Classroom Schoology Learning and Naviance by PowerSchool user, both solutions have played an instrumental role in improving our in-person, distanced and hybrid learning environments,” said Bill Bass, Innovation Coordinator - Instructional Technology, Information, Library Media, and Federal Programs, Parkway School District. “Thanks to PowerSchool's dedication to interoperability and teaching and learning, we have been able to transform our work and foster more meaningful learning experiences for our students and staff. PowerSchool continues to serve as a trusted partner and resource for our district, and I look forward to working with them for years to come.” Parkway Schools cited PowerSchool’s Unified Classroom® Schoology Learning as an instrumental solution that has helped the district foster improved learning environments over the years, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. With the district’s ongoing usage of Schoology prior to school shutdowns, the district was prepared to shift from in-person to virtual classrooms in a timely and efficient manner, creating a seamless virtual (and now blended) learning environment for students and staff. Additionally, the district said Schoology’s Assessment Management Platform (AMP) enables educators to collaborate with one another to create improved question-based assessments for students. Prior to partnering with PowerSchool, the district used various learning management systems and realized the need for a comprehensive platform to manage student assessments, district curriculum, e-learning efforts and digital content. Since integrating Unified Classroom® Schoology Learning, Parkway School District has seen improvements related to personalized student instruction, teacher collaboration and student performance. The district has also used Naviance by PowerSchool, providing students self-discovery tools that help them uncover their strengths and interests to make informed decisions about their futures. “Parkway School District’s use of our Unified Classroom Schoology Learning and Naviance by PowerSchool solutions truly shows the expanded capabilities educators can have by partnering with PowerSchool. We’re proud to see the continued impact our solutions make for Parkway Schools’ educators and look forward to empowering these changemakers for years to come.” Craig Greenseid, PowerSchool Chief Revenue Officer Parkway School District is a diverse, suburban school district located in Chesterfield, Missouri. The district serves over 17,000 students across 29 campuses within the St. Louis County community. Since its founding, Parkway Schools has received several accolades within the broader St. Louis community, including a designation as a Top Workplace by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Business Health Culture Award from the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition, among others. About PowerSchool PowerSchool is the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education. Its mission is to power the education ecosystem with unified technology that helps educators and students realize their full potential, in their way. PowerSchool connects students, teachers, administrators, and parents, with the shared goal of improving student outcomes. From the office to the classroom to the home, it helps schools and districts efficiently manage state reporting and related compliance, special education, finance, human resources, talent, registration, attendance, funding, learning, instruction, grading, assessments and analytics in one unified platform. PowerSchool supports over 45 million students globally and more than 13,000 customers, including over 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States, and sells solutions in over 90 countries.

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Skillsoft launches Skillsoft Aspire to address shortfall in data expertise

Skillsoft | January 24, 2019

Leading corporate learning company Skillsoft, with APAC operations headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, has unveiled a new range of learning journeys designed to upskill technologists and developers as the global shortage of data expertise continues The rapid growth of data-driven business operations has led to a shortfall in skilled staff for key technology roles at a host of companies around the world. Skillsoft Aspire, designed with this gap in availability and demand of skilled data workers, will enable firms to broaden the skillsets of their staff to meet demands in data analysis, security, programming and machine learning. In its press statement, Skillsoft said that Aspire will provide the tutelage, guidance, and credentials that could vastly increase the opportunities for data analysts to progress to data scientists, as one of many potential examples. “There are certain functions, tasks and activities that a person does in their current role and there are other tasks that are part of an aspirational role,” said Mike Hendrickson, Vice President of Technology and Developer Products at Skillsoft, said in the press release. “For instance, you can't promote a Data Analyst to Data Scientist just because they have been in an organisation for a long time.

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Fosway Group Recognizes Skillsoft as a Core Leader for the Third Consecutive Year in the 2019 9-Grid™ for Digital Learning

Skillsoft | February 05, 2019

Skillsoft, a global leader in corporate learning, announced today that Fosway Group has recognized Skillsoft as a Core Leader for the third year in a row in the 2019 9-Grid™ for Digital Learning. Skillsoft’s solidified position as a Core Leader is attributed to its continued innovation across its broad and deep multi-modal learning content portfolio. Throughout 2018, Skillsoft launched new and/or enhanced Compliance, Leadership and Technology and Developer solutions available on Percipio, Skillsoft’s intelligent learning experience platform. Percipio Compliance: Percipio Compliance is a new solution that delivers Skillsoft’s comprehensive compliance training comprised of 500+ critical risk topics in 32 languages on Percipio. The solution provides one of the most extensive global libraries of legal coverage, ethics training and workplace safety training available with robust functionality and a modern UX that delivers an engaging user experience while addressing complex regulatory needs. Centralizing an organization’s entire learning program on one platform allows learners to use Percipio to take required compliance training and access Skillsoft’s proprietary content, the customer’s own content as well as third-party content to build critical skills and competencies. Skillsoft Leadership Development Program: The Skillsoft Leadership Development Program (SLDP) features an innovative, scalable and cost-effective course series aimed at accelerating leadership learning at all levels. Courses average 45-60 minutes of high-definition, video-based instruction, each comprised of 5-8-minute single-concept segments to support micro-learning across today’s critical leadership competencies for the digital economy. A unique learning design and scenario-based pedagogy based on brain science research set SLDP apart in the market. Skillsoft’s approach leverages a common set of characters throughout the curriculum, including a “leader mentor.” Through compelling drama and pragmatic storytelling, Skillsoft models the critical human-interaction elements of leadership and demonstrates effective implementation strategies within the team context, allowing learners to tie learning to on-the-job behaviors.

Read More

Online Education

Parkway School District Optimizes Blended Learning Environments with PowerSchool Solutions

PowerSchool | January 15, 2022

PowerSchool, the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, today announced that Parkway School District in Chesterfield, Missouri, utilizes PowerSchool solutions to create optimal learning environments for students. Through their partnership, Parkway Schools sees benefits from PowerSchool’s Unified Classroom® Schoology Learning and Naviance by PowerSchool solutions to support district-wide teacher collaboration and student career preparation efforts, respectively. “As a long-time Unified Classroom Schoology Learning and Naviance by PowerSchool user, both solutions have played an instrumental role in improving our in-person, distanced and hybrid learning environments,” said Bill Bass, Innovation Coordinator - Instructional Technology, Information, Library Media, and Federal Programs, Parkway School District. “Thanks to PowerSchool's dedication to interoperability and teaching and learning, we have been able to transform our work and foster more meaningful learning experiences for our students and staff. PowerSchool continues to serve as a trusted partner and resource for our district, and I look forward to working with them for years to come.” Parkway Schools cited PowerSchool’s Unified Classroom® Schoology Learning as an instrumental solution that has helped the district foster improved learning environments over the years, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. With the district’s ongoing usage of Schoology prior to school shutdowns, the district was prepared to shift from in-person to virtual classrooms in a timely and efficient manner, creating a seamless virtual (and now blended) learning environment for students and staff. Additionally, the district said Schoology’s Assessment Management Platform (AMP) enables educators to collaborate with one another to create improved question-based assessments for students. Prior to partnering with PowerSchool, the district used various learning management systems and realized the need for a comprehensive platform to manage student assessments, district curriculum, e-learning efforts and digital content. Since integrating Unified Classroom® Schoology Learning, Parkway School District has seen improvements related to personalized student instruction, teacher collaboration and student performance. The district has also used Naviance by PowerSchool, providing students self-discovery tools that help them uncover their strengths and interests to make informed decisions about their futures. “Parkway School District’s use of our Unified Classroom Schoology Learning and Naviance by PowerSchool solutions truly shows the expanded capabilities educators can have by partnering with PowerSchool. We’re proud to see the continued impact our solutions make for Parkway Schools’ educators and look forward to empowering these changemakers for years to come.” Craig Greenseid, PowerSchool Chief Revenue Officer Parkway School District is a diverse, suburban school district located in Chesterfield, Missouri. The district serves over 17,000 students across 29 campuses within the St. Louis County community. Since its founding, Parkway Schools has received several accolades within the broader St. Louis community, including a designation as a Top Workplace by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Business Health Culture Award from the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition, among others. About PowerSchool PowerSchool is the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education. Its mission is to power the education ecosystem with unified technology that helps educators and students realize their full potential, in their way. PowerSchool connects students, teachers, administrators, and parents, with the shared goal of improving student outcomes. From the office to the classroom to the home, it helps schools and districts efficiently manage state reporting and related compliance, special education, finance, human resources, talent, registration, attendance, funding, learning, instruction, grading, assessments and analytics in one unified platform. PowerSchool supports over 45 million students globally and more than 13,000 customers, including over 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States, and sells solutions in over 90 countries.

Read More

Skillsoft launches Skillsoft Aspire to address shortfall in data expertise

Skillsoft | January 24, 2019

Leading corporate learning company Skillsoft, with APAC operations headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, has unveiled a new range of learning journeys designed to upskill technologists and developers as the global shortage of data expertise continues The rapid growth of data-driven business operations has led to a shortfall in skilled staff for key technology roles at a host of companies around the world. Skillsoft Aspire, designed with this gap in availability and demand of skilled data workers, will enable firms to broaden the skillsets of their staff to meet demands in data analysis, security, programming and machine learning. In its press statement, Skillsoft said that Aspire will provide the tutelage, guidance, and credentials that could vastly increase the opportunities for data analysts to progress to data scientists, as one of many potential examples. “There are certain functions, tasks and activities that a person does in their current role and there are other tasks that are part of an aspirational role,” said Mike Hendrickson, Vice President of Technology and Developer Products at Skillsoft, said in the press release. “For instance, you can't promote a Data Analyst to Data Scientist just because they have been in an organisation for a long time.

Read More

Fosway Group Recognizes Skillsoft as a Core Leader for the Third Consecutive Year in the 2019 9-Grid™ for Digital Learning

Skillsoft | February 05, 2019

Skillsoft, a global leader in corporate learning, announced today that Fosway Group has recognized Skillsoft as a Core Leader for the third year in a row in the 2019 9-Grid™ for Digital Learning. Skillsoft’s solidified position as a Core Leader is attributed to its continued innovation across its broad and deep multi-modal learning content portfolio. Throughout 2018, Skillsoft launched new and/or enhanced Compliance, Leadership and Technology and Developer solutions available on Percipio, Skillsoft’s intelligent learning experience platform. Percipio Compliance: Percipio Compliance is a new solution that delivers Skillsoft’s comprehensive compliance training comprised of 500+ critical risk topics in 32 languages on Percipio. The solution provides one of the most extensive global libraries of legal coverage, ethics training and workplace safety training available with robust functionality and a modern UX that delivers an engaging user experience while addressing complex regulatory needs. Centralizing an organization’s entire learning program on one platform allows learners to use Percipio to take required compliance training and access Skillsoft’s proprietary content, the customer’s own content as well as third-party content to build critical skills and competencies. Skillsoft Leadership Development Program: The Skillsoft Leadership Development Program (SLDP) features an innovative, scalable and cost-effective course series aimed at accelerating leadership learning at all levels. Courses average 45-60 minutes of high-definition, video-based instruction, each comprised of 5-8-minute single-concept segments to support micro-learning across today’s critical leadership competencies for the digital economy. A unique learning design and scenario-based pedagogy based on brain science research set SLDP apart in the market. Skillsoft’s approach leverages a common set of characters throughout the curriculum, including a “leader mentor.” Through compelling drama and pragmatic storytelling, Skillsoft models the critical human-interaction elements of leadership and demonstrates effective implementation strategies within the team context, allowing learners to tie learning to on-the-job behaviors.

Read More

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