Bl ended Lear ni ng

I nt r oduc t i on
WheredostudentslearnEnglish?Intheirbrains.
WhendostudentslearnEnglish?Whentheirbrainsareworkingtounderstand,thinkaboutor
expressideasinEnglish.

Fromthesetwobasicfacts,wecanseethatlearningisnotlimitedtothetimewhichstudents
spendintheclassroomwiththeirteacherbutcanextendtoperiodswhenthestudentistravelling,
reading,watchingTV,playingcomputergames,doinghomeworkorevensleeping!
Blendedlearningisanattempttoprovidematerialswhichcombinecommunal,classroom
learningwithindividualised,privatelearning.
Publ i c and pr i vat e l ear ni ng
Fromthebiasedpointofviewoftheteacher,wetendtothinkthatcommunal,classroom
learningisthekeyfactor.Whereasagenerationagowethoughtthanlearningwastheresultof
listeningtotheteacher,wenowrecognisethatcommunicativeinteractionbetweenlearnersalso
providesvaluablelearningopportunities.
Fromthelearnersperspective,theclassroomcarriesthreatsaswellasopportunities.
Learningalongsidetwentyormoreotherlearnersmeansthatthepaceofthelessonwillbetoofast
ortooslowforsomeofthestudents.Forallstudents,butparticularlyforteenagers,theirsocial
statusamongsttheirfellowlearnersisveryimportant.Makingmistakesisaninevitablepartof
learning.Mostteachersnowtrytoavoidhumiliatingalearnerbecauseofhis/hermistakes,butthis
generousattitudeisnotsharedbytheotherstudentsintheclass.Theyareverypronetolaughingat
mistakesmadebytheirclassmates.Iftheclassmatelooksembarrassed,thiswillonlyencouragethe
classtomakefunofthestudentwhohasmadethemistake.Studentsalsohavelongmemoriesand
aparticularlyamusingmistakecanbeusedasareasontoteaseanotherstudentformanymonths.
Fromtheconfidenceandcomfortofadulthood,itisveryeasytounderestimatethepainfelt
bystudentslearninginapublicarena,suchasaclassroom.Whenlearninginprivate,thelearner
doesnotriskthishumiliation.Inthisway,privatelearningissaferthanpubliclearning.
The st or y of t he w or k book
PrivatelearningbeganwithlittlebookletscalledSupplementaryWrittenExercises.Asthetitle
suggeststhesebookscontainedrepetitiveexercises,ratherlikelanguagedrills,butdoneonpaper.
ThefirstrealWorkbookwaspublishedin1978.Itwasarevolution.Itcontainedpictures,dialogues,
andreadingpassages.Itpractisedsentenceconstruction,vocabulary,comprehension,guided
writingandfreecomposition.Theworldofhomeworkwastransformedbythesenewworkbooks.
Gonewerethedayswhenstudentswouldbeaskedtomemorisereadingtextsorlistsofvocabulary,
gonewerethedaysofmeaningless,writtenpatterndrills.
ThenMrSonyinJapaninventedtheaudiocassetteandlisteningwasaddedtotheskillswhich
studentscouldpractiseinprivate.Initially,thestudentsaudiocassetteonlycontainedthesame
recordeddialogueswhichstudentshadstudiedinclassbutlaterlisteningcomprehensionand
pronunciationexerciseswereadded.BrianAbbsandIngridFreebairninventedaspecialkindof
dialogueinwhichstudentscouldreplywiththeirownanswerstorecordedquestionprompts.
Therevolutioncreatedbytheaudiocassettewasnotlimitedtothesenewexercisetype.The
revolutionwascreatedbygivinglearnerscontrolofthePLAY,PAUSE,REWINDandFASTFORWARD
buttons.Suddenly,learnerswereabletolistenasoftenastheyliked,topauseorrepeatthe
recording.Learnersweresuddenlyliberated.Intheclassroom,theteacherhadalwayscontrolledthe
cassetteplayer.Theteacherhadcontrolledwhenlearnersshouldlisten,howoftentheyshould
listenandwhichquestionstheyshouldanswer.
TheinventionoftheinteractiveDVDROMwasanothermajorleapforward.Studentscould
watchvideosandplaylanguagegamesinadditiontotheotherlanguageskillswhichcouldbe
practisedduringprivatelearning.
AnotherdevelopmentoftheDVDROMwasinstantfeedback.Instantfeedbackhelpedto
changethetasksfrompractiseexercisesintolearningexercises.Aftercompletingataskusingthe
DVDROM,thestudentcouldclickonCHECK,andthecomputerwouldimmediatelydisplaywhich
itemswerecorrectandwhichwereincorrect.MostDVDROMsalsohadaSHOWANSWERSbutton
whichstudentscouldclicktoseethecorrectresponses.SomeDVDROMsalsohadaREPEATbutton
whichallowedthestudentstodotheexerciseagain,correctingthemistakes.
Sothelearnerisdoinggrammar,vocabulary,readingcomprehension,listening
comprehension,videocomprehensionandguidedwritingpractice.
Allthisworkisbeingdoneinprivate.therearenoclassmatestodistractthelearnerorto
laughathis/hermistakes.Thecomputerdoesnotgetangryorlaughattheleanersmistakes.The
computerisalwayspatientandmayallowthelearnertorepeatexercisesuntiltheyareperfect.
ThefriendlycomputerDVDROMisanexcellentteacherinmanywaysandsoitisnot
surprisingthatlearnersdevotemoretimetoDVDROMbasedhomeworkthantheyeverdidwhen
theywerewritinginworkbooks.
When di d YOU j oi n t he st or y?
IdontknowwhenyoustartedlearningEnglishorwhenyoustartedteaching,butyoumust
recognisesomepartsofthisbriefhistoryofworkbooks.Youmustbesaying,Ohyes,Iremember
thatwhenIwasatschool,orIrememberthatwhenIstartedteaching.
Thestoryoftheworkbookisthestoryoflearningoutsidetheclassroom.Itisthestoryofan
increasinglyrichlearningexperienceduringthelearnersprivatetime.Itisthestoryofprivate
learninginwhichthelearnerchoosesthetimeanddecidesonthepace.
The new daw n of MyLab
MyLabcombinesalltherichesoftheDVDROMwithoneveryspecialfeature,itreportsthe
learnersactivitytotheteacher.Theteachercanseenotonlythegradeswhicheachstudent
achievesbutalsoallthemistakeswhichthestudenthasmadeonthewaytothatgrade.
MyLabcanshowtheteacherhowmanystudentsgaveincorrectresponsestoitem5inExercise
7ofUnit3.WithMyLabteacherscannotonlymonitortheprogressofindividualstudentsbutof
eachstudentrelativetotheclassasawhole.
How does MyLab w or k ?
Unlikeatextbook,workbookorCDROM,MyLabisnotaphysicalproductwhichyoucanholdin
yourhands.Itisawebsiteontheinternet.Studentslogonwithanindividualusernameand
password.Theyselecttheunittheywishtoworkonandthenstartthesequenceoftasks.
Asthestudentswork,theMyLabwebsiterecordsalltheirresponses,thetimetheyspendon
eachexercise,thenumberoftimestheyrepeattheexercise.Theteacherhasaspeciallogonwhich
permitsthemtoseeallthisinformation.
How i s MyLab f or t eac her s?
Forteachers,MyLabprovidesanonlinecalendarwhichisusedtoorganiseaplannedhomework
syllabusandsetdatesforcompletionandsubmission.ThewealthofresourcesinMyLaballow
teacherstodevelopabalancedhomeworkprogramme,combiningproblemsolving,skills
development,vocabularyrevisionandtrainingwhichwillreinforceclassroomlearning.Teacherscan
planabalanceofcreativeandpracticeactivities,ofshortandlongeractivities.Inthisway,thereis
thesamevarietyinhomeworkaswetrytocreateintheclassroom.
BecausethetasksinMyLabareselfchecking,teacherarefreefromthedrudgeryofmarking
pilesofworkbookexercises.Theonlinegradebookkeepsarecordofeachstudentsgrades,soitis
easytotracktheirprogress.
MyLabgiveslearnerspracticeinproducingEnglishonakeyboard.Morestudentswillwantto
prepareandsubmittheirlongerwrittenassignmentsinelectronicformorprintedoutonpaper.
Teacherswillnolongerstruggletodecodethestudentshandwriting.Theirlanguagewillbecome
moreaccuratebecausetheycannolongerhidetheirbadspellingwithbadhandwriting.
How i s MyLab f or t he l ear ner s?
LearnerslogontoMyLabwiththeirusernameandpassword,theychoosetheUnittheywantto
workon,choosetheexercisetheywanttodo.
FromthemomenttheylogontoMyLab,thelearnersbrainsareworkinginEnglish.Astheytry
oneachexercise,solveeachpuzzleorplayeachlanguagegametheirbrainsareprocessingEnglish,
newconnectionsareformedintheirbrains,theirbrainsaredevelopingandlearningnewcapacities.
Insomesmallway,thelearnerwhologsoffattheendofasessionisdifferentfromthelearnerwho
loggedon.Theyhavechangedinsomewaybecausetheyhavelearntsomethingnew,havebecome
moreproficientinaskill,orbecausenowtheycandosomethingwhichtheycouldntdobefore.
Learnershaveaccesstotheirpersonalgradebookandcanuseittoselfmonitortheirown
progress.Thisisusefulwhenrevisingforexams.Studentscanlookbackattheirgradesandidentify
theunitsorskillswhichneedextrawork.Inthisway,theycanplanapersonalisedrevision
programmebeforetheexam.
Itisveryexcitingwhenweseelearninghappeningintheclassroom.Weseeourstudentsgetting
betterandbetter.Thisdevelopmentmotivatesusandgivesustheenergytocontinueteaching.Itis
excitingthatnow,withMyLab,thisprogresscanbeenhancedandreinforcedduringprivate
learning.
Does MyLab r epl ac e t he t eac her ?
Definitelynot!MyLabisacomputerbasedprogrammeandalthoughcomputersmayseemtobe
veryintelligent,theyarebasicallycalculatingmachines.Acomputercanseethedifferencebetween
correctandincorrect,butcannotseenearlycorrect.Computersdonotsmile,encourage,discipline
orinteractwiththelearnerinahumanway.
MyLabisasetofmaterialswhichcomplementtheworkoftheteacherandtheexperienceof
communalclassroomlearning.TheblendedlearningintheclassroomandusingMyLabprovide
studentswithmanystimulitouseandprocessEnglish.Thiscombinationofpublicandprivate
learningprovidesbenefitsforteachersandforlearners.
NickDawson2011