When it's blended well together

After almost two years of distance learning, both teachers and students have been pleased to return to face-to-face education. However, having developed so many interesting digital resources, many educators realised that the in-person teaching can be combined with delivering material in a digital way to create “blended” learning. Bringing these two approaches together can be challenging because creating blended resources could be hard work. Nevertheless, once the skills are mastered and resources developed, teachers can finally deliver on the eternal demand for doing more with less while also addressing the needs of our learners.

 

What is it?

 

In my previous blog post I started talking about blended learning while introducing content creation tools. Another interactive tool, that I would like to talk about today, is a must have for blended teaching and is called H5P. It allows the creation of interactive content for teaching and learning. 

 

screenshot

 

Just have a look at the result of my 3-hour work session, which included getting my head round some basic features and elements. Yes, it is a time-consuming business (varies individually 🤔), but I think that the content delivered in such a way is very different from how we usually present material to students and potentially is more likely to attract their attention.

Follow the link to see a short course presentation I have created:

H5P course presentation 

Microsoft stream H5P

How useful is H5P for language learners?

🤝Engaging – for learners who can collaborate both formally during the lessons and informally outside the classrooms 

 

✅ Accessible – benefits for all with wide variety of resources available for learners any time, including learners with disabilities

 

🤼‍♀️ Interactive – stimulating to involve learners in becoming active participants in developing materials for blended learning

 

Any concerns?

 

🤔 Blending learning requires IT literacy and this could be a challenge for the students with limited access to the Internet or devices.

 

🤔 It also takes away a good amount of direct contact with the teacher, which could increase some learners’ struggle with self-directed learning.

 

🤔 Moving towards blended learning is not a one step process. It requires time, training and material preparation, which could be difficult to achieve alongside other teaching responsibilities and add extra workload. 

 

Overall 

 

Blended learning approach opens endless possibilities for using tools and techniques that complement both teaching and learning. For the teacher, it offers flexible options for working with students effectively and for the learners it offers an enhanced learning experience. It’s all about teaching and learning any time – any place by providing personalised accessible education.