TO: James Summers, Dean, Department of Distance Learning FROM: Divine Mbong Eseh DATE: August 13, 2013

SUBJECT: Proposing Blended Learning and Flipped Learning to Differentiate Instruction at South Plains Community College

In the last decade, we have experienced lots of technological advances in post-secondary education. However, much has not changed in terms of how we teach our students. In less than twenty years into the 21st Century, South Plains Community College (SPCC) in Levelland, Texas continues to use an outdated teacher-centered pedagogy, as its primary method for instruction. Even though WebCT (the current LMS) is used for asynchronous online distance learning, that is still not enough since the system is only used for teaching administrative tasks like grading or supplementing course materials online. Therefore, most of our students still experience learning in ways similar to those lived through and experienced by their parents and grandparents. With a teacher-centered pedagogy, most students passively receive instruction from a . While this

approach has worked well for our gifted students, the report on Student Overall Academic Performance reports a problem that needs to be addressed. It reveals that the is not serving a growing segment of our student population with diverse learning skills and needs. Most of these students are struggling to stay focused on a teachers lesson, much less understand the content. If our mission is to give every student an excellent, sound education,

with lots of options, we must make plans to start developing and investing in a blended learning curriculum, here at SPCC. So today I am proposing that we create a center for the development and support of a Blended Learning Course initiative , to implement the Flipped-Classroom Model, in order to Differentiate Teaching Instruction , at South Plains Community College (SPCC) in Levelland, Texas. Such a strategic initiative will be in line with the missions statement of this community college: equal education for all, no child left behind in community development and the promotion of academic excellence in teaching and learning. What is Blended Learning? Blended learning is usually described as a teaching strategy that combines the best of both worlds. It combines the best qualities of the traditional face-to-face classes and online learning, into one teaching unit to improve student engagement and learning outcomes (Garrison &Vaughan, 2008). During the course of a program, time and space are usually scarce commodities and a typical student will carry out learning activities at three distinct times: before class lectures, during class lectures and after class lectures. For the traditional classroom courses, the focus is placed on what occurs during class lecture hours. That logically means a lot of time is still underutilized for learning or is still misallocated. However, by implementing a blended learning strategy, colleges, universities and students make better use of both. (Garrison &Vaughan,2008). What is Flipped learning? It is the logical extension of Blended Learning. So it is a type of blended learning with a difference: 'Flipped' learning takes the classroom 'lecture' style format away from the face-to-face sessions and makes them available electronically online. As a result, this strategy essentially frees up scarce classroom time for 'tutorial' or collaborative style classes between students, instructors and professors to improve learning outcomes. In summary, this
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strategy blends the elegant ideas and technologies used in distance education with effective methods and learning processes available in regular classrooms. If and when done correctly, the instructor / professor can now practice and implement Instruction Differentiation (differentiate teaching) Learning Theory to Support Blended Learning and the Flipped-Classroom To implement this strategy, it is recommended that the course curriculum be upgraded from a didactic approach that was informed by behaviorist and cognitivists learning theories of the 20th century, to one that is based on the Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) theory (Harasim, 2012). The OCL theory, provides a theoretical framework for creating active learning activities, and enables online collaboration and knowledge buildings activities for the 21st century (Harasim, 2012). Harasim notes that the Knowledge Age Economy is upon us and we must be ready for the socio-economic transformations that , emphasize processes of innovation over repetition, collaboration over individualistic approaches, and knowledge creation over information transmission in how we work and, concomitantly, in how we learn (p. 82).The OCL theory is a response to needs of Knowledge Age. Therefore, our curriculum redesign for this initiative must reflect that as well. Does the OCL theory promote active learning, collaboration and knowledge building? Yes, in this model, knowledge building begins with the academic discourse, which runs in three steps: (1) Idea generation (2) Idea organizing and (3) Intellectual convergence (Harasim, p.93, 2012). Why is this significant to this initiative? Harasim believes (2012) knowledge has become the principal component of todays economy, both as a process and as a product. To create knowledge people need free access to accumulated
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knowledge bases and opportunities to communicate and collaborate.(p. 80). Therefore, WebCT should be utilized for improving student learning outcomes rather than just to supplement course materials online. How does this work in practice and can it be successful? Here is a diagram to demonstrate the flow between online content and the face-to-face classroom.

Source http://blended.online.ucf.edu/process/examples-of-approaches/man4350-course-integration/

Can you demonstrate how Blended Learning enables Lecture-Homework Flipping?

Yes, please click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuJIjuXd9UY

So by design, while blended learning enables flipped learning, flipped learning in turn enables differentiated instruction.(Park, 2011). This now brings me to the main reason for presenting this proposal: Flipping the classroom to differentiate Instruction and improve student learning outcomes

What is differentiated Instruction (DI)? It is an instructional theory that advocates that good teachers must meet their students right where they are in their learning, and not vice versa (Tomlinson, 2001). No two learners come to class with identical skills or needs .Also, learning styles vary from student to student within the same class structure. Therefore, as a best practice, instructors / professors must respect the different learning styles of their students and accommodate each student accordingly (Tomlinson, 2001). Separate from but in addition to these ideas, Tomlinson in citing Vygotskys work (1978), says that the Instructional theory of DI is grounded in the zone of proximal development (ZPD):that is the range at which learning occurs (2001). Therefore, instead of teaching to the middle with a one size fits all teachercentered pedagogy ( as we have done for all these years at SPCC), I hereby once again, propose the creation of a center to support the development of blended learning courses. Can you demonstrate a real case of Instruction differentiation in a classroom? Yes, please click this link https://ed.voicethread.com/?#u3535115.b4529983.i23088365 As you can now see, when this proposal is implemented correctly, blended learning courses can pave the way for Flipped learning designed to differentiate instruction .Such a strategic initiative, will help improve learning outcomes and retention levels within the college at all levels. I hope you give this proposal proper consideration. Thank you.

References

Garrison R &Vaughan N. (2008). Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles and Guidelines San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass

Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theories and online technologies. New York: Routledge.

Park, B. (2011). Student perception of a hybrid learning environment for a lab based construction Management course ASC International Proceedings of the 47th Annual Conference. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.Omaha Nebraska April 6-9, 2011. Tomlinson, C. A., (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2nd Ed.) Alexandria, VA: ASCD.