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The Ultimate Guide to Blended Learning [PLUS: 8 Free Strategies]

Get the tools, strategies and tactics necessary for effective and engaging blended learning experiences

Danielle Leboff

Blended learning is an educational approach that allows students to learn through electronic and online media, as well as traditional face-to-face teaching.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the blended learning approach became more prevalent out of sheer necessity. But the model has been growing in popularity for several years, thanks to its plentiful advantages, which include allowing instructors to play to the strengths of both online and in-person course delivery. For example, consuming lecture content through video streams, along with readings and other assignments, lets instructors use class time for interactive discussions and problem-solving exercises, encouraging students to apply what they have learned.

What’s more, students are changing—they aren’t just 18 to 24-year-olds. Increasingly, the student body on higher education campuses includes adults with work and family responsibilities, making flexibility even more important for students juggling academic, professional and family demands.

So expect blended learning to stick around. Here, we provide an overview of what blended learning is, its history, and its benefits and disadvantages. We also examine eight different blended learning styles, as well as six blended learning best practices to consider when applying it in your higher education classroom.

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Table of contents

1. what is blended learning.

2. Blended learning in higher education

2.1. Building a blended learning course for higher education

3. Blended learning methods and models

3.1. Flipped classroom

3.2. Flex blended learning

3.3. À la carte learning

3.4. Project-based learning

3.5. Self-directed learning

3.6. Inside-out blended learning

3.7. outside-in blended learning, 3.8. supplemental blended learning.

4. What are the benefits of blended learning?

4.1. Faster feedback for students

4.2. Flexibility

4.3. Better learning outcomes

5. The disadvantages of blended learning

5.1. Time investment

5.2. dependence on technology.

6. Best practices to incorporate blended learning in your class

7. Looking forward

Sometimes referred to as hybrid learning, blended learning is a combination of traditional in-classroom and online education. Individually, both have their advantages. Blended learning, however, combines the strengths of both: 

• It provides students with opportunities to work independently
• It allows for collaborative group work
• Blended learning uses technology to supplement learning

To better understand what blended learning is, here’s a simple explanation. Instructors deliver 30 to 80 percent of course material through online instruction, combined with some face-to-face components. Any education program where students learn partly online and have some control over their learning pace (and place) is considered to be an integral part of what blended learning is. Students complete certain parts of the course according to their schedule and can revisit the material as needed. The rest of student time is then spent in a brick-and-mortar setting, like a classroom, lecture hall or lab, with supervised instruction.

2. What is blended learning in higher education

Higher education students today are generally less willing to tolerate the ‘sage-on-a-stage’ style of teaching, which is a passive approach to delivering educational material. Most have lived steeped in modern communications technology and social media for the better part of their lives (consider that nearly 98 percent of Generation Z members own a smartphone). That means they respond well to collaborative, communal learning approaches. At their best, blended learning environments provide opportunities for exactly this kind of engagement, motivating students more actively through discussions and exercises that promote critical thinking and creative reflection.

Blended learning requires that educators use class time to build on key concepts through dialogue and debate, and that may require rethinking how best to use in-class and online teaching methods.

To understand how to implement blended learning in your classroom, consider the key skills and concepts students need to master by the end of your course. Then, use this to develop material, activities and assessments that align with these goals. After that, the next step is sourcing the right technology to help accomplish these objectives and deciding how the traditional and technological aspects of the model can work together. Some tech options include:

Understanding students’ prior knowledge, their comfort with technology and which (if any) learning accommodations they need is also important in delivering an effective blended learning experience. Having students participate in a student interest inventory is a great way to get the additional insights you need to fine-tune your course and set your learners up for success.

3. Blended learning strategies to implement in your course

Following the flipped classroom model , students are given pre-recorded lectures, readings and other assignments to complete on their own time. This allows instructors to use blended learning strategies during class time to help students apply what they’ve learned, as opposed to the other way around. Helping students apply learning is often a more valuable use of the instructor’s time and expertise. To maintain student focus and engagement, try to keep videos under 15 minutes and include elements, such as GIFs and real-world case studies.

Once in class, the instructor can introduce learning activities related to the material. Strategies like peer learning, small-group work, and presentations encourage students to actively apply important concepts.

Blended learning techniques provide deeper insight into how well students comprehend the material, and what’s working and what isn’t. Tracking grades, participation and attendance through online learning platforms allow you to create a more detailed and holistic view of each student. This creates opportunities in class to focus on where students are struggling, or pair up students who can help each other based on complementary strengths.

Using flex blended learning strategies, according to the Christensen Institute , students have the latitude to pace their learning more freely, tackling each learning activity based on their needs and skill level.

Online learning is the backbone of such a strategy, supplemented by teachers providing support and instruction as needed, while students work through materials and activities. The benefit is that students learn independence, and have a high degree of control over their own learning experience.

3.3. À la carte

À la carte blended learning strategies allow students to choose when their classes take place and which modality—in-person or online—they’ll use. This learning model gives students more flexible schedules, which can be especially useful for those with work or family responsibilities. This way, students can study and complete assignments when it is most convenient for them.

3.4. Project-based

Project-based blended learning provides students with real-world tasks, with resources provided by instructors, based on lesson concepts

To implement effective project-based blended learning strategies, instructors should ask themselves why students are learning a concept or subject, rather than just what they are learning. Then, try focusing on activities that require them to apply those concepts and put them into action.

And by working with students to identify where support is needed, you can provide guidance and resources to assist them.

3.5. Self-directed blended learning

In self-directed blended learning, students make use of online and face-to-face learning. This way, they are able to choose how to pursue personalized inquiry, meet learning objectives and collaborate with their peers. Since these blended learning strategies are self-directed, the role that online learning and instructors play change often, as there is no formal course structure to follow.

Following inside-out blended learning strategies, student learning experiences are designed to extend beyond the classroom, while making use of both in-person and online environments. Instructors can implement real-world case studies, videos, podcasts and group discussions in their classrooms. This way, students can grapple with course concepts in meaningful ways. This in turn leads to a deeper understanding of course material.

Students begin new units and learning modules in the classroom and then complete the learning independently. Much of the higher-order thinking activities are completed on their own time and give students more flexibility to learn in a way that works best for them. This framework is especially beneficial, as higher education student populations become increasingly diverse. The added level of flexibility provides students with childcare responsibilities, part or full-time work and other obligations to learn in a way that makes the most sense for them.

In outside-in blended learning, students begin learning activities independently as a homework assignment or self-paced learning module and cement that learning during class time.

This provides instructors with a great deal of flexibility in the classroom. Many choose to make use of blended learning techniques that use less traditional teaching and learning. For instructors who choose to primarily engage their students in synchronous learning experiences, outside-in blended learning provides a helpful framework to build on learning that students have begun independently. Classroom discussions and team-building activities are great ways to help solidify course concepts. An example of such an activity is think-pair-share. Think-pair-share exercises encourage students to collaborate and share their thoughts with one another. First, each student works independently to solve a problem or answer a question. Then, they tackle the same challenge with a peer, before sharing with the broader class. This way, instructors can use the classroom as a space for students to share, collaborate, create and receive feedback that helps them grow as learners.

As part of the supplemental blended learning model, students complete either entirely online work to supplement their face-to-face learning, or entirely face-to-face learning experiences to supplement the learning gained in online blended learning techniques.

Students perform tasks to meet learning objectives in one space. Meanwhile, the ‘opposite’ space provides learners with supplemental blended learning strategies to complement what they learned in the other space. For example, one modality provides students with collaborative group work while they pursue independent study in the other environment.

4. What are the benefits of blended learning for students in higher education?

Many students appreciate the flexibility that blended learning provides, and having direct access to the instructor to ask questions about challenging aspects of the course. But that’s not all. Here are some other benefits.

Online learning platforms offer several options to assess students through regular low-stakes assessments. Because they are digital, the instructor can see the results almost instantly, and students can receive feedback more quickly.

Auto-graded tests and quizzes can be administered online, so students know immediately where to dedicate further study instead of waiting until the next class to get their results. Frank Spors , Associate Professor of Optometry at Western University of Health Sciences, leverages these informal assessments to guide his lectures. “The assessment identified content areas that required more clarification during class, and I adjusted my planned lecture accordingly to focus on areas where students needed the most help,” Spors said.

4.2. Increased flexibility

The ability to control when and where they engage in coursework and lectures provides students with some autonomy in their learning and opens up classroom time for more collaboration and project-based activities.

This flexibility is necessary for some students, allowing them to focus on online components when it suits them.

The flexibility of blended learning techniques also helps students self-monitor their time and pacing, teaching them valuable time management skills that will help them outside of school. Students who are struggling can spend more time on concepts they find most difficult, while those with a stronger grasp on the material can move ahead at a faster pace.

Digital learning helps increase student engagement by appealing to a wide array of learners. Students can work both independently and collaboratively through online learning platforms or real-time online lectures.

As teachers participate in online discussions and grade and analyze course work, they can also get a better handle on how students are progressing, and tailor instruction accordingly. Being forthright with the skills and concepts students need to master by the end of a course helps students take away much more relevant and meaningful learning outcomes.

5. The disadvantages of blended learning in higher education

Blended learning models might not apply to all types of subjects and classroom settings. While it’s ideal for cognitive learning, it isn’t as applicable for hands-on practice, such as professional programs like dentistry or nursing. Context can also be lost online without factors like facial expressions and voice inflections.

Blended learning is heavily dependent on technology, which raises concerns around student equity, especially for those who don’t have sufficient access to a computer or the Internet. Many students rely on their campuses for these resources, and when campuses are closed, the impact on learning and academic achievement can be significant. Further, students and instructors may not understand the full value of the tool, and not use it to its fullest capacity.

Feelings of isolation are also more prevalent when a good portion of the learning process happens away from the classroom setting. This can lead to feelings of confusion, anxiety, and frustration. Here are a few more common disadvantages of the blended learning model.

Once set up, technology can be easy to use. But it can take time to feel comfortable conducting elements of a course using new teaching platforms.

Blended learning requires instructors and higher education institutions to have access to reliable, easy-to-use technical resources and tools. When adopting new tech platforms, instructors should also consider whether students have the tools and equipment they need to complete coursework.

6. Best practices to incorporate blended learning techniques in your class

Presenting information to students in the right way can be the difference between achieving learning outcomes or not. Blended learning can be tremendously effective, because it involves imparting and applying knowledge, and helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as opposed to passively consuming information. Here are six strategies that make your blended classroom engaging and effective for students.

• Ensure activities are relevant to student learning: Students must become personally invested in the curriculum. If they don’t see the point of what you’re asking them to do, they’re less likely to do it. Activities and projects must connect to their interests and have a meaningful purpose. Using real-world case studies, incorporating multimedia elements and encouraging collaboration through online discussions are all ways to ensure students remain engaged.
• Provide students with different types of learning activities: Blended learning incorporates both face-to-face and online instruction, giving students different avenues to explore concepts. This helps make learning more varied and effective. By reinforcing concepts through several modalities and activities, students are better able to reflect and think critically on the lessons.
• Familiarizing students with mobile learning tools: Blended learning typically involves using a learning management system (LMS) and other online learning tools to support students. When adding a new piece of technology to the classroom, instructors shouldn’t assume students automatically understand how to access and navigate these systems. Taking time to walk them through how to log in, navigate it and access important resources is essential to ensuring participation and engagement in the course.

• Help students set goals that are actionable and realistic: For students to be engaged , they need to be agents of their learning. In class, they are often given information that may or may not factor into what is important to them. Without specific goals in mind, students quickly become passive learners. Keep them engaged by helping them set goals that match their interests and the knowledge they need.
• Make sure assignment instructions are clear: When instructions and assessments are unclear, students are more likely to get distracted and discouraged. Consider taking the time to make sure students are clear on course expectations and what resources are available, academically and personally.
• Create variety in learning: Providing students with different types of tasks, activities and assessments keeps them engaged by providing multiple opportunities to reinforce learning. In blended learning programs, instructors can also gauge student performance and adjust subsequent lesson plans according to what students do and don’t know.

As instructors become better acquainted with technology and teaching online, expect to see continued growth in blended learning as they take the best of both worlds to create more dynamic, more flexible and more impactful approaches to teaching.

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University of Notre Dame

How Does Homework Fit into a Blended-Learning Classroom?

As a former secondary English teacher, I battled the homework question many times throughout my ten years of teaching. On the one hand, homework, particularly reading homework, was necessary for students to build their literacy skills and stay on top of classwork. When studying a novel, assigning 20 pages of daily reading during class was not an effective use of class time. However, if I gave too much homework (more than 20 minutes or so of reading, unnecessary worksheets for extra practice, etc.) then students would not complete it.

I now have a little one who is beginning her school experience as a kindergartener. There are so many changes — socially, emotionally, and academically — for her. As her mother, I can honestly say I am so thankful that she does not have homework yet. Thanks to her amazing teacher, my daughter and I have had the opportunity to slowly adjust to new routines and the big changes that come with school without the added stress of homework responsibilities. With this being said, homework in the form of nightly reading and logging books will come soon, but the grace period for adjustments has been refreshing.

Now back to the homework question...and the answer — in short — is YES to homework, but with limits. Based on my research, teaching experiences, and parenting, I have come up with four criteria for homework in a classroom, blended or not. Keep these four points in mind, tighten up your teacher superhero cape, and you will be a homework HERO!

When assigning homework, ask yourself, "Is this specific assignment helpful?" Be very intentional about what and how much you assign. Are students able to complete this assignment in 20 minutes or less without additional help? If you answered no, reconsider assigning it, or modify it. Remember, not every student in your classroom has someone at home who can assist them with homework. Make sure homework is accessible for all students. Otherwise, the achievement gap will unfortunately widen, and the students who have support at home will thrive, and those without support will fall further behind.

Ask yourself, "What is the purpose of this homework assignment?" Is your homework absolutely helpful and necessary? For example, research shows that reading for 20 minutes a night greatly improves literacy skills in early-elementary aged students. Be mindful of the amount you are giving. Yes, homework does help establish good work habits and sets students up for success. However, too much homework has been proven to do the exact opposite.

The purpose of homework should be to reinforce or enrich skills taught during the school day. Homework assignments reviewing baseline skills and reinforcing concepts are invaluable for closing the achievement gap for students who are behind grade level. To ensure all students are successful and benefitting equitably from your homework assignment, make sure they have at least a baseline understanding of the skills needed to be successful. In a blended-learning classroom, students are able to receive personalized instruction based on their individualized needs, which means that homework assignments may vary from student to student.

To ensure all students are successful and assignments are equitable in your classroom, you must take into account students' home lives. Remember, not all students have access to technology at home, so make sure you have offline resources. Take a moment to ask yourself, "Is this assignment only possible to complete online?" If the answer is yes, then either modify your assignment or think of a way to incorporate it during class time instead.

These are just a few quick tips I have found to be helpful to be a homework HERO in your classroom. What are some tips you have found? Let us know, post below!

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What Is Blended Learning? Examples, Benefits, and How to Get Started

Author & Editor at ProProfs

Michael is a seasoned writer with 12+ years of experience in online learning and training. His work empowers organizations to harness the potential of knowledge in the digital era.

Let’s look at some data to get a better idea.

• 85% of educators prefer blended classrooms due to the personalized learning experiences it offers
• More than four out of five learners (82%) said they wanted at least some of their course activities to take place online
• The size of the eLearning market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of more than 21% between 2021 and 2027

So, investing in blended learning programs can be a game-changer not only for the education sector but also for corporate training programs . 

You might, however, be surprised to know that modern technology does not replace traditional methods. Instead, it works hard to find a new approach, which is a perfect blend of old-school norms and modern teaching aids .

Modern learning has become a perfect mashup of traditional and contemporary methods, courtesy of the digital revolution.

That’s what blended learning is all about.

It has been a major buzzword in education and training circles over the past few years.

If you’re still not a part of this trend, don’t worry! This blog post explains in detail everything you need to know about it so that you can start implementing it right away.

Read on to find out.

What Is Blended Learning?

Let’s start with the basics by understanding the meaning of blended learning .

In its broadest sense, blended learning is any learning environment in which instructor-led face-to-face learning is combined with technology-enabled online learning.

Blended learning can essentially be any type of learning experience that relies at least partly on technology. This format is also commonly referred to as “ hybrid learning ” or “ integrated learning ”.

Let’s explore some other blended learning definitions to come up with something more focused. To be useful, we need a statement that really gets into the why of blended learning rather than just the what .

Online Learning Consortium, an organization that promotes online education, defines blended learning as any course that “integrates online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner.”

Still, as TeachThought points out, “educators probably disagree on what qualifies as ‘pedagogically valuable.” The definition moves past just integrating technology to using technology to improve the learning process .

The Clayton Christensen Institute, which is a non-profit think tank working in various areas of disruptive innovations, says:

“Blended learning is not the same as technology-rich instruction. It goes beyond one-to-one computers and high-tech gadgets.

Blended learning involves leveraging the Internet to afford each student a more personalized learning experience, meaning increased student control over the time, place, path, and/or pace of his or her learning.”

Although blended learning has only recently become a part of the education vocabulary, the idea of combining in-person and technology-enabled learning has been around for some time.

Nevertheless, the recent explosion of technologies such as learning management systems based opn the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model has made blended learning a practical solution in various contexts.

The co-existence of in-person and technology-enabled learning makes blended learning a rich learning experience.

5 Examples of Blended Learning

Since a blended learning approach can involve any combination of technology and face-to-face education, perhaps the easiest way to understand it is by exploring some examples.

Here are five blended learning examples you can use in the classroom:

1. Flipped Classroom

In a flipped classroom, rather than attending lectures in person and then doing homework outside of class, learners watch the lectures online independently and then use class time for activities, such as group discussions and projects, usually considered homework.

This format is popular because it gives learners the best of both worlds: 

• video-based lectures that they can go back to and watch at any time to ensure comprehension and retention
• valuable interaction with both instructors and peers

2. Digital Assignments

Digital skills are important for modern learners to master. Digital assignments, like video making, creating presentations, and writing blogs, are all fun ways for learners to engage with the course material and technology. They help them acquire the necessary digital skills.

3. Online Assessments

Many instructors are now moving their assessments online , even if the rest of the class is conducted in person. This format has several advantages.

• It frees up class time for other activities
• It enables instructors to use a wider variety of question types than is possible with paper-and-pencil tests
• Online assessment software makes assessments easier with ready templates, questions, and automated grading

Watch: How to Create an Assessment Online

4. Online Course Discussions

Online course discussions let learners continue with conversations even after the class hour . This makes it easier for all learners to participate, even if they are shy about speaking in front of the whole class.

According to a Bloomfire , a knowledge management and sharing platform:

• 70% to 90% of all workplace learning happens informally
• 87% of employees identify social knowledge sharing as essential
• Over 50% of companies are using social learning practices today

You can organize such discussions via email, in virtual classrooms , or even over social media. Anywhere where learners gather can become a digital discussion forum .

Watch: How to Enable Collaboration & Discussions in Your Course

5. In-Class Polls and Surveys

Using a classroom response system (aka a “ clicker ”) is a good way to incorporate technology during lectures. Instructors can also use an online survey tool to create opinion polls or comprehension questions, which participants respond to in real time.

This increases learner engagement and provides information that instructors can use to adjust their content or delivery method as necessary.

These are just five examples to illustrate what blended learning is. Implementing at least some of them, if not all, can enhance your learning experiences and bring better results.

Top 6 Benefits of Blended Learning

Wayne Feller, Technology and Innovation Coach, Stillwater Area Public Schools, Minnesota, says, “Today’s students are easily bored with slow-moving teaching techniques or those they view as antiquated. Both students and parents have higher expectations for teachers to use current technologies, content, and teaching methods, and that includes blended learning.”

Blended learning in the classroom brings significant advantages to both learners and instructors.

3 Benefits for Learners

• Blended learning gives learners the convenience and flexibility to learn anytime and anywhere . They can also self-pace their learning.
• Since it’s a blend of brick-and-mortar education and virtual learning, it offers opportunities for comprehensive learning by combining the best of both worlds.
• This approach to learning enables learners to interact with instructors and fellow learners. It, thus, promotes social learning .

3 Benefits for Instructors

• Blended teaching reduces training costs, efforts, and time on things generally associated with face-to-face learning, such as venue, printed materials, and traveling.
• Organizations can use various blended learning methods , such as webinars and gamification, to deliver engaging and productive eLearning .
• When implemented using a learning management system ( LMS ) , blended learning makes learning cost-effective and efficient. It gives assured ROI.

Blended Learning Case Study

Before we move to the next section, let’s quickly look at a real-life example of how transferring some training functions online and building a blended learning strategy can bring incredible results.

Who: College Hospital Cerritos

What It Is: A leading mental health services provider in Cerritos, California

Learning Problem It Encountered: Its annual education was still on paper , and it was not as efficient as the hospital wanted it to be. So, it thought of transferring the education online with automatic scoring.

Solution It Deployed: College Hospital started using an online training maker and used it for automatic grading and scoring , which it used to do with pen and paper. For College Hospital, the product and its attendant services were the selling points.

Results It Got: With at least a part of the hospital’s education taking place online, it has become easier for employees to access and submit their tests . The ‘save and resume’ feature proves helpful. The hospital easily achieved 100% compliance in a short time.

Read more about this success story here .

4 Blended Learning Models

There are different interesting models of blended learning. Four of the popular ones are described below:

Flipped Classroom

This is one of the most common blended learning models used by learners worldwide. In flipped classrooms , learners study lecture materials at home before class. The classroom time is devoted to discussions and homework.

In the case of a traditional learning system, homework is usually done at home. The flipped classroom is, thus, a reversal or 180-degree flip of the traditional education model.

The rotation model is characterized by a learning cycle that rotates between online study and face time with instructors. The schedule between the two learning methods is divided, fixed, and usually announced at the instructor’s discretion.

Learning is rotated between online learning and pen-and-paper assignments according to a plan.

Self-Directed Blended Learning

In this model, learners take online courses in addition to face-to-face learning . As the learning is self-directed, there’s no fixed weightage given to online learning or offline learning .

Learners usually use this model to supplement classroom learning , and they learn at their own pace and convenience.

Flex Blended Learning

It’s a self-guided and independent method of learning in which online learning forms the mainstay for learners, punctuated by offline learning from time to time.

In other words, learners rely primarily on digital platforms to learn, even as instructors are available offline for face-to-face consultations and support.

How to Create an Impactful Blended Learning Program

If you’re wondering how to start with blended learning, this section will address that question. Follow these steps to launch the program for your corporate training .

Define Your Learning Objectives

Do you want to develop leadership skills in your employees? Or are you targeting the strategies to improve their productivity level?

No matter what type of training you plan to administer with blended learning, it’s always best to begin with the end in mind .

Whatever the intent is, determine all the learning objectives and goals beforehand. Knowing this will help you take a focused approach to instruction while injecting clarity into learners on what they must learn, how, and why.

Watch: How to Set SMART Goals | Training Course Introduction

Choose a Blended Learning Model

The next step is to select the blended learning model that would work best for you and your learners. It can be a flipped classroom, rotational, or self-directed learning.

This is based on your predetermined goals, and you may use more than one model.

Remember, different models might require different environments, tools, and strategies.

Make Learning Interactive

“If you want people to have fun, give them a day off. If you want them to learn, engage them with your content.” – Karl Kapp, professor of instructional technology, Bloomsburg University

A blended learning model can be made interactive like a fully online learning environment. You can add similar engaging elements, such as interactive videos , microlearning, gamification, quizzes , flashcards , simulations, and group activities.

This kind of active learning supplements regular in-class experiences and facilitates the fuller development of learners.

Deploy the Right Content & Tool

The right type of content and a robust tool to deliver them are a must to launch blended learning programs successfully. They reinforce each other.

For example, you can use expert-designed, engaging, and self-paced online courses and an intuitive blended learning LMS .

Need content for your training program? 

Such courses should contain accurate and updated information, while the LMS should serve as a one-stop learning solution . When you combine these two resources, you get a streamlined and flexible learning system that caters to all learning styles, environments, and needs.

Blended learning software such as a cloud LMS come with many compelling features for maximized engagement and impactful learning. They include mobile learning , scenarios, interactive videos, labeled graphics, flashcards, and audio feedback.

Watch: How to Choose the Best SaaS LMS Software

Launch Your Program

Once you’ve sorted your learning objectives, content, tools, and classroom sessions, it’s time to set the program in motion. You can set a specific time for both online and classroom activities based on the blended learning model you choose.

Make sure your learners follow this predetermined learning pattern consistently so that you get positive results. Provide ongoing support to ensure that participants fulfill their learning obligations and that there are no obstacles along the way.

Use Online Assessments

Regular assessments are a must in any learning system, including blended learning. Assessments such as online quizzes help identify learners’ retention capacity, gaps, challenges, and milestones.

Besides, quizzes make learning engaging and fun and provide a break from continuous learning that learners can utilize to monitor their progress.

An online quiz-making tool with different question types, quiz formats, video responses, anti-cheating settings , and remote proctoring can be an ideal solution for you.

Evaluate Your Training Programs

When you evaluate the effectiveness of your training programs, you get a fair idea of how helpful they are to your learners and how they impact your business . Based on it, you can improve your learning approach. So, this is another vital element in a blended learning plan.

Here, post-training surveys can be insightful in determining your learners’ experiences with course content, delivery methods, instructors, and more. Like quizzes, these surveys should be customizable with selected questions, preferred designs, user-friendly formats, and personal branding.

Read: 100 Best Post Training Survey Questions for Employees

Best Practices for Blended Learning

Like every learning model, blended learning demands a few proven techniques or strategies to succeed. Instructors or training administrators should follow them to make the process more effective and sustainable.

Here are the top ones.

👉 Let the Top Management Know the Benefits

Your management team should be convinced about the merits of your blended learning program . Only then will you receive the necessary moral, financial, and manpower support from start to end.

Management should know what their employees need to learn and why . Their active participation is essential to assess learning needs, measure learning outcomes, and align them with company goals.

👉 Take Learners’ Preferences Into Account

Today, learning has become increasingly learner-centric and so understanding how they want to learn is key. Different learners learn differently, hence the importance of incorporating different learning models that address these needs.

A mix of video lessons, group discussions, role-plays, reading through docs, and listening to podcast series can add variety to learning and make it more engaging for everyone.

👉 Emphasize Learning Outcomes, Not Just Technology

It’s true that the type of blended learning tools you use determines how your learners learn. But never focus so much on technology that it becomes an end, not a means . Learners should not waste much time on the technicalities of a software solution.

Shift your attention to the learning outcomes or outcome-based learning. Learners should have demonstrable and measurable skills a t the end of a course or training session. Based on the outcomes, you can determine whether your blended learning program is successful.

👉 Leverage Learning Management Tools

As already discussed above, choosing the best tool for blended learning is half the work done. A SaaS LMS can be the right tool here.

These blended learning platforms enable users to seamlessly create, design, share, and track online courses and tests. They usually support different file types to cater to the different preferences of learners and make learning engaging.

Also, automation in enrolment, notifications, reminders, grading, and certification saves you time and labor. Similarly, custom reports enable you to make informed decisions.

Some of the market-leading LMS software tools come equipped with a library of pre-built courses. This makes it easy to deploy training in no time. Similarly, an LMS with virtual classrooms helps you centrally manage all activities from one place.

Other useful features you get from a robust LMS include:

• advanced security features such as two-factor authentication
• a learner dashboard for streaming announcements and updates
• displaying completion certificates on social media sites
• email notifications to group admins to alert about course activities
• scenario-based learning which makes it easy to explain complex concepts and teach decision-making

Start Implementing Your Blended Learning Program!

When you mix instructor-led face-to-face learning with self-paced, self-guided eLearning, the result can be amazing.

With various models to choose from, blended learning can give a richer experience to learners than it would have been if they had opted for strictly physical classroom or online learning only.

The advantages it brings to both learners and instructors are too substantial to ignore. It promises a flexible and more rounded development of learners .

Make a cloud-based learning management system your staple training solution to create and share training courses online in a blended learning classroom. Enable anytime, anywhere learning , save admin time through automation, and unlock the rest of the benefits it offers. It’s easier than you think.

About the author

Michael laithangbam.

Michael Laithangbam is the senior writer & editor at ProProfs with 12 years of experience in enterprise software and eLearning. Michael's expertise encompasses online training, web-based learning, quizzes & assessments, LMS, and more. Michael’s work has been published in G2, Software Advice, Capterra, and eLearning Industry. You can connect with him via LinkedIn .

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What is Blended Learning? Everything You Need To Know

How do you learn best?

You may be the type of person that needs to handwrite notes, ask a lot of questions on how something works, or maybe you’re a hands-on learner. There are many ways to learn, so how can a learning program cater to all of their learners’ learning styles?

This is where Blended Learning can help.

In this article, we will get back to the basics of blended learning, including what it is, why it’s popular, and what the advantages and disadvantages of blended learning are.

What is Blended Learning?

Blended Learning, also commonly known as Hybrid Learning or personalized learning, is a concept that brings together traditional and digital learning techniques to create a fully comprehensive program. It’s the best of both worlds that incorporates both synchronous and asynchronous styles and tools that are combined to create a training program that works for everyone. 

Some popular tools used for personalized learning programs include:

• Learning Management System (LMS)
• Augmented Reality (AR)
• Virtual Reality (VR)
• Video Conferencing (Skype, Zoom, etc.)
• Discussion Boards and Forums
• Management Tools (Basecamp, Asana, etc.)
• Online File Hosting
• Gamification Programs

Read More: 10 Great Blended Learning Tools

Why is it Popular?

Blended Learning has become popular with learning and development because everyone learns differently; some people may want to engage face-to-face with others, while some may want to take their time to learn alone. Others may prefer to listen to a lecture. Everyone learns differently, and by creating a program that includes different modalities, you can be more inclusive to your learners.

Watch More: A Learner-Centered Model of Blended Learning

In addition to personalized learning opportunities, blended learning can be more cost-effective for an organization. When utilizing digital modalities, you can educate large groups of learners while saving money on facilitating brick-and-mortar location training. You can work around your learners and employee’s schedules when you use digital training in the workplace, therefore ensuring that their workload remains balanced.

Example of a Blended Learning Program

That definition seems pretty straightforward, but what does a blended learning program look like?

Your program can start with Instructor-Led Learning that allows the learners to meet the instructor and each other in one physical location. During that seminar, there can be a Virtual Reality activity that is done in smaller groups. Then, the learners can be assigned eLearning homework that is hosted on an LMS platform that can later be reviewed on a discussion forum or hosted video.

A learning program that combines traditional and digital learning techniques allows the instructional designer to build a more personalized learning experience that can lead to a higher retention rate.

Read More: How to Launch an eLearning Program

Pros and Cons of Blended Learning

Advantages:.

• Convenience – By utilizing digital learning in your program, it can be more convenient for learners to complete work on their own schedule wherever they feel comfortable. This convenience can also save you time and money throughout the lifetime of the learning program.
• Increased Engagement – You can entice your learners to engage more in your program by catering to their learning language. A learner that doesn’t want to participate in role-play at a seminar may be more comfortable doing online activities to practice the curriculum.
• Personalized Learning – When you have different modalities lined up, you can create a more personalized learning program, whether you assign eLearning modules based on departments or give options for online vs. in-person seminars.

Disadvantages:

• Technology Troubleshooting – Whether it’s remembering your password or just getting to the right place, some people are not comfortable using technology. Your learners can run into technical problems that can cause them to stall and lower their retention rate.

Solution – You may not be able to avoid technical issues completely, especially user error, but you can help avoid them by providing how-to lists and comprehensive user manuals. 

• Self-Pacing Requires Self-Discipline – When you have a self-paced eLearning platform, it may be challenging to motivate your learners to log in and finish their program. Discouragement can come with low performance and an instructor may not catch a low performing learner in time for corrections.

Solution – This can be helped by instituting deadlines, offering rewards, adding gamification, and using engaging content .

• Learner Credibility – When you allow learners to work on their own, especially using online tools, you lose oversight to ensure they’re not plagiarizing or being untruthful about their work or assessments. 

Solution – This problem can be mediated by creating original content and assessments that the learners won’t be able to find online, and instituting anti-plagiarism checks on assignments.

Is Blended Learning Right for You?

We covered everything you need to know to get started with blended learning, including what blended learning is, an example of blended learning, and what the advantages and disadvantages of blended learning are. 

So now it’s time to ask, are ready to build a more personalized learning experience?

Is your learning and development program using Blended Learning? Comment below and share your experience!

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Center for Teaching

Blended and online learning.

Online courses are those in which at least 80 percent of course content is delivered online. Blended (sometimes called hybrid) instruction has between 30 and 80 percent of the course content delivered online with some face-to-face interaction. Blended and online courses not only change how content is delivered, they also redefine traditional educational roles and provide different opportunities for learning. As described by Palloff and Pratt (2013):

This teaching guide presents research on the learning possibilities offered through online and blended learning, as well as effective practices for facilitating online courses. Platform-specific resources and activities can also be found at the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching’s BOLD website .

What does the research say about blended and online learning?

What are elements that can make blended and online learning successful, what are good practices to use.

Online learning is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. A recent survey (Allen & Seaman, 2013) of more than 2,800 colleges and universities reported the following:

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education released a meta-analysis and review of empirical studies focused on online learning in K-12 schools and higher education from 1996-2008. Their findings revealed that “students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction” (p. xvi). In addition, they reported that blended instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage than purely online instruction (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones, 2010).

Although these results suggest that blended learning environments can provide a learning advantage when compared to purely face-to-face instruction, the researchers emphasized the findings “do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium …It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages” (p. xviii, original emphasis). In other words, it’s important for the instructor to create an interactive, supportive, and collaborative learning environment for students to reap the potential benefits afforded by online learning. Specific tips for facilitating an effective blended or online class can be found in the good practices section of this teaching guide.

As noted above, the research suggests that when facilitated effectively, online education can not only match, but also surpass traditional face-to-face learning (Means et al., 2010). Here are some of the potential benefits of online education:

• Learner-Centered Education: Palloff and Pratt (2013) explain that an effective online instructor is someone “who is open to giving up control of the learning process” by making students active participants in their learning process (p. 24). A learner-centered approach acknowledges what students bring to the online classroom—their background, needs, and interests—and what they take away as relevant and meaningful outcomes. With the instructor serving as facilitator, students are given more control and responsibility around how they learn, including the opportunity to teach one another through collaboration and personal interactions (Palloff & Pratt, 2013).
• Collaborative & Interactive Learning: Research has found that online instruction is more effective when students collaborate rather than working independently (Means et al., 2010; Schutte, 1996). There are a variety of ways for students to collaborate online, including synchronous and asynchronous discussions and small group assignments. In addition, the relative anonymity of online discussions helps to create a “level playing field” for quieter students or those from typically marginalized groups. When posed questions in advance, students have the opportunity to compose thoughtful responses and have their voices heard, as well as respond to one another in a manner not usually afforded by face-to-face instruction (Kassop, 2003).
• Metacognitive Awareness: Since online learners have more autonomy and responsibility for carrying out the learning process, it’s important that students understand which behaviors help them learn and apply those strategies proactively. This awareness and knowledge of one’s personal learning process involves increased metacognition —a key practice for student success (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000) .
• Increased Flexibility: Online learning offers more flexibility because students can control when and where they learn. By self-monitoring their time and pacing, students are able to spend more time on unfamiliar or difficult content (Aslanian & Clinefelter, 2012).
• Immediate Feedback: Online learners generally have greater access to instructors via email and are able to have questions answered by their peers in a timely fashion on discussion boards. In addition, online tests and quizzes can be constructed with automatic grading capability that provides timely feedback (Kassop, 2003). Immediate and continual feedback throughout the learning process is beneficial for gaining understanding of difficult concepts, as well as triggering retrieval mechanisms and correcting misconceptions (Thalheimer, 2008).
• Multimodal Content: The Internet provides an abundance of interactive and multimodal materials that can be used to increase engagement and appeal to diverse learners . Click here to learn about specific ways to deliver multimodal content online, including through videos, podcasts, screencasts, video conferencing, and presentation software.

Designing Your Online Course

• Most online students have several responsibilities in life, so they seek convenience and flexibility when furthering their education. Millions of post-secondary students have turned to online education because it enables them to fit education around their work and family responsibilities and to study anytime and anywhere (p. 16).
• Online students unquestionably value the independence, self-direction, and control online education offers them. Among several factors that drive them to online programs, students most often point to “the ability to study when and where I want” and “the ability to study at my own pace” (p. 17).

As you design your course, it’s important to develop as comprehensive a picture as possible of the specific students who will be enrolling in the class (Angelino, Williams & Natvig, 2007). Gaining a sense of their prior knowledge and technology competency will help you to know what supports they will need and tailor your instruction accordingly. A few ways to gain these insights include asking students to complete an online survey, concept inventory, or pre-assessment. In addition, students can reflect on their prior knowledge and experiences through an online discussion or blog post.

• Develop Learning Goals: As with face-to-face instruction, it’s imperative to begin with the end in mind by developing learning goals first (Froyd, 2008). Ask yourself, what are the key concepts and/or skills students need to master by the end of the course? The answer to this question will help in developing course content, activities, and assessments that align with your learning goals, as well as choosing the appropriate technology (Caulfield, 2011).
• Have Clear Expectations: Present clear guidelines for participation in the class, as well as specific information for students about course expectations and procedures. In addition, use rubrics to clearly communicate learning objectives and grading criteria for each learning activity in the course (e.g., quality online discussions) and incorporate them into student assessments (Palloff & Pratt, 2013). Lauren Palladino’s online module for a graduate astronomy class is a great example of how to present clear expectations early on.

Organizing Course Content

• Provide an obvious path through the material, and make sure guideposts are clear to the student. Savery (2005) explains that organization is essential since online learners need to fit the course into their crowded schedules. He emphasizes the importance of posting course assignments and due dates early and having clear directions. Shea and colleagues (Shea, Fredericksen, Pickett & Pelz, 2003; Shea, Pickett & Pelz, 2003) also explained the importance of clearly labeling and organizing course-level and section-level materials in order to create a path that students can follow.
• Organize the content in logical units, or modules, in which each module is organized around a major topic and contains relevant objectives, material, and associated activities . In the introduction to the module, include information about how long the student should expect to spend working on the module. This helps to keep students moving along at a similar pace (Shea, Fredericksen, Pickett & Pelz, 2003; Shea, Pickett & Pelz, 2003). The course demo from Boston University here illustrates this modular organization.
• When presenting text, format the content for the Web by breaking it into short paragraphs and using headings, bullets, graphics and other formatting devices that make webpages easier to read and comprehend. The “7+/-2”instructional design rule of thumb, based on the work of psychologist George Miller, suggests inclusion of 5 to 9 pieces of information in a segment. This self-paced asynchronous course from UC-Irvine demonstrates several of these principles.
• When presenting audio or video, include a brief description and information about the length. Keep the segments short, from 2-15 minutes, to help maximize listeners’ retention (Smith, 2008). Strategically chunking content helps students to absorb the information, avoiding information overload and exhaustion (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2001).
• Help your students digest the chunks of material by providing short recall or application questions after each one. Research has demonstrated the critical role of retrieval practices for conceptual learning (Karpicke & Blunt, 2011; Karpicke & Roediger, 2008).

Facilitating Online Learning

• Promote metacognitive awareness. Since online learners have more autonomy and responsibility, it is crucial that are supported in planning, monitoring, and assessing their understanding and performance (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). As mentioned earlier, providing clear expectations and a clear path through the material can help students monitor their pace. In “ Promoting Student Metacognition ,” Tanner (2012) offers a handful of adaptable specific activities for promoting metacognition, including pre and post-assessments, reflective journals, and questions for students to ask themselves as they plan, monitor, and evaluate their thinking.
• Maintain a Social Presence: Stay present and be responsive to student needs and concerns (Savery, 2005). The instructor should engage in a balanced level of participation and communication—both publicly and privately—so students know he or she is engaged and available. This includes modeling good participation by frequently contributing to discussions through responding to students’ posts and asking further questions. The instructor is instrumental for creating a warm and inviting atmosphere that promotes an online sense of community (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008; Jiang & Ting, 2000).
• Promote Collaboration: As described by Palloff and Pratt (2013), “Collaborative learning processes help students achieve deeper levels of knowledge generation through the creation of shared goals, shared exploration, and a shared process of meaning making. In addition, collaborative activity can help to reduce the feeling s of isolation that can occur when students are working at a distance” (p. 39). Collaborative learning can be promoted through a variety of activities, including small group assignments, case studies, simulations, and group discussions.
• Promote Active Learning: Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) explain that “learning is not a spectator sport…[Students] must talk about what they are learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves” (p. 5). Keeping in mind the characteristics of online learners, it’s also important to make tasks authentic for students. That is, complex tasks related to real-life experiences that can also be applied to future activities (Woo, Herrington, Agostinho & Reeves, 2007). Here are some specific ideas for online activities.
• Incorporate Multiple Media: A key mistake instructors make is simply converting print materials for an online environment. Instead, leverage the possibilities of the Internet by considering various content sources and media formats to motivate learning and appeal to different learning styles (Mayer, 2001). CIRTL suggests that when selecting media for a course, think about how it accomplishes learning goals and how the medium will affect the learner (e.g., technology needs, download time, disabilities). In addition, Kapus (2010) recommends that when incorporating streaming media in a course to also post complete transcripts and encourage students to both watch the content and read the transcript.
• Provide Adequate Technical Support: It should not be assumed that all students have experience with online learning or using the necessary technology. Provide ample technical support for learners by including links to resources, making yourself available to students, and promoting collaborative peer problem solving on the discussion board .
• Respect Copyright Rules: The rules of fair use described here may apply to copyrighted material that you wish to excerpt.
• Allen, E. & Seaman, J. (2013). Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States. Wellesley, MA: Babson College.
• Angelino, L. M., Williams, F. K., & Natvig, D. (2007). Strategies to engage online students and reduce attrition rates. The Journal of Educators Online, 4(2), 1-14.
• Aslanian, C. B., & Clinefelter, D. L. (2012). Online college students 2012: Comprehensive data on demands and preferences . Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc.
• Bransford, J. D., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (1999). How people learn: Mind brain, experience and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
• Caulfield, J. (2011). How to Design and Teach a Hybrid Course. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
• Chickering, A. W. &  Ehrmann, S. C. (1996). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. AAHE Bulletin, 49(1-10), 3-6.
• Froyd, J. (2008, June). White paper on promising practices in undergraduate STEM education.
• Paper presented at the National Research Council’s Workshop Linking Evidence to Promising Practices in STEM Undergraduate Education, Washington, DC.
• Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008) Blended learning in higher education: Framework, principles, and guidelines. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Garrison, R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 87-105.
• Jiang, M. & Ting, E. (2000). A study of factors influencing students’ perceived learning in a web-based course environment. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications 6(4), 317-338.
• Kapus, J. (2010, June 25). Five quick tips for using streaming media in your blended or online courses .
• Karpicke, J. D. & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772-775.
• Karpicke, J. D. & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966-968.
• Kassop, M. (2003). Ten ways online education matches, or surpasses, face-to-face Learning.
• Mayer R. E. (2001). Multimedia Learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., and Jones, K. (2010). Evaluation of Evidence-
• Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies . US Department of Education. Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. Policy and Program Studies Service. ED-04-CO-0040
• Palloff, R. M. & Pratt, K. (2013). Lessons from the Virtual Classroom (2 nd Ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Savery, J. R. (2005). BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors . Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 4(2). Retrieved from:
• Shea, P. J., Fredericksen, E. E., Pickett, A. M. & Pelz, W. E. (2003). A preliminary investigation of “teaching presence” in the SUNY Learning Network . In J. Bourne & J. C. Moore (Eds.) Elements of Quality Online Education: Practice and Direction. Needham, MA: Sloan Center for Online Education, 279-312.
• Shea, P. J., Pickett, A. M. & Pelz, W. E. (2003). A follow-up investigation of “teaching presence” in the SUNY Learning Network. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 7(2), 61-80.
• Schutte, J. (1996). Virtual teaching in higher education. Retrieved from http://media.sabda.org/alkitab-1/Pdfs/Schutte-VirtualTeachinginHigherEd.pdf
• Smith, R. (2008). Conquering the content: A step-by-step guide to online course design. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Tanner, Kimberly D.  (2012). Promoting student metacognition . CBE—Life Sciences Education, 11, 113-120.Thalheimer, W. (2008). Providing learners with feedback, part 1: Research based recommendations for training, education, and e-learning.
• Woo, Y., Herrington, J., Agopstinho, S., and Reeves, T.C. (2007). Implementing authentic tasks in web-based learning environments. Educause Quarterly 3, 36-43.

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Blended Learning Models Simply Explained

By Med Kharbach, PhD | Last Update: May 9, 2024

Welcome to the latest post in our series on blended learning. Previously, we’ve explored what blended learning is and delved into its strengths and weaknesses. We’ve also looked at practical examples of blended learning and how they are applied in various educational contexts.

Today, we shift our focus to the models of blended learning. This post aims to provide an understanding of different blended learning models, their structures, and how they are implemented in educational settings. By examining these models, educators can gain insights into how to best integrate blended learning strategies into their teaching practices.

For those of you not familiar with the concept of blended learning. This is an educational approach that combines traditional classroom teaching methods with digital and online media. It aims to provide a more integrated learning experience, leveraging both face-to-face teacher guidance and the flexibility of online resources. This approach allows for a personalized learning journey, accommodating different learning styles and needs, and often involves some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace of learning.

Blended Learning Models

In the realm of blended learning, various training organizations and educational institutions adopt different models, and there is no single set of definitive models universally recognized in literature. This post explores blended learning models from two distinct sources: Dreambox Learning by Discovery Education and Blendedlearning.org .

While Dreambox Learning presents models like the Face-to-Face Driver and Flex Model, Blendedlearning.org offers models like Station Rotation and Flipped Classroom. These models, despite coming from different sources, often share similarities in their approach to integrating online and traditional learning methods.

However, they also exhibit unique characteristics tailored to specific educational needs and contexts. The exploration of these models provides a comprehensive understanding of the diverse ways blended learning can be structured and implemented.

We will start with the models featured by Dreambox Learning then talk about Blendedlearning.org ‘s models:

Blended Learning Models by Dreambox Learning :

• Face-to-Face Driver Model : This model primarily uses traditional classroom instruction, with online learning components serving as supplementary. It’s ideal for subjects where hands-on or face-to-face interaction is crucial, allowing for online resources to enhance understanding or provide additional practice.
• Rotation Model : Students rotate on a fixed schedule or at the teacher’s discretion between learning modalities, such as online learning, group projects, and traditional classroom instruction. This model fosters a diverse learning experience, catering to different learning styles.
• Flex Model : Predominantly online, the Flex Model allows students to work through course content at their own pace. Teachers provide support and guidance as needed, making it suitable for self-directed learners.
• Online Lab Model : Instruction occurs entirely online, but in a supervised school environment. It’s often used when schools lack the capacity for certain subjects or advanced courses, providing access to a broader curriculum.
• Self-Blend Model : Students supplement their traditional classroom learning by taking additional online courses. This model offers greater course variety and flexibility, allowing students to explore subjects beyond their school’s offerings.
• Online Driver Model : Instruction is primarily online, with face-to-face check-ins. This model offers flexibility and personalization, ideal for students who thrive in an independent learning environment.

Here is a visual I created capturing the 6 blended learning models proposed by Dreambox Learning:

This visual is also available for free download in PDF format for Educators Technology subscribers. Subscribe to get your free copy!

Blended Learning Models by Blendedlearning.org

• Station Rotation : This model, commonly used in elementary schools, involves students rotating through various stations, including an online learning station. It’s akin to traditional “centers” or station-based learning, seamlessly integrating online components.
• Lab Rotation : Similar to Station Rotation, but the online learning takes place in a dedicated computer lab. This model utilizes existing school computer labs and supports flexible scheduling with teachers and paraprofessionals.
• Individual Rotation : Students rotate through stations based on individual schedules set by teachers or algorithms. They engage only in activities specifically tailored to their learning playlists, offering a personalized learning experience.
• Flipped Classroom : Inverts traditional class and homework roles. Students learn at home through online courses and lectures, while class time is used for practice or projects, enabling interactive and hands-on learning during school hours.
• Flex : Features a fluid schedule where online learning is central, and teachers provide support as needed. This model offers students significant control over their learning, adapting to individual needs and pacing.
• A La Carte : Allows students to take online courses alongside face-to-face classes, offering greater schedule flexibility. Particularly useful for providing access to courses not available in the school, like Advanced Placement or electives.
• Enriched Virtual : An alternative to full-time online schooling, combining online coursework with mandatory face-to-face sessions. This model requires less frequent on-campus attendance compared to traditional schooling, offering more flexibility.

Analyzing the blended learning models from Dreambox and Blendedlearning.org reveals distinct preferences and approaches. Dreambox’s models, like the Face-to-Face Driver and Flex Model, seem to emphasize a more structured approach, balancing online learning with traditional elements. This might be more suitable for settings that require a strong in-person component.

On the other hand, Blendedlearning.org’s models, including Station Rotation and Flipped Classroom, appear to be more flexible and student-centric, allowing for more personalized learning paths. The similarities lie in their shared goal of integrating online and offline learning experiences, yet they differ in execution, with each model catering to varying degrees of flexibility, student autonomy, and instructor involvement.

Final thoughts

In wrapping up our series on blended learning, we’ve traversed a comprehensive path from understanding what blended learning is , to discussing its advantages and disadvantages, and exploring real-life examples of blended learning . Today’s exploration of various blended learning models offers educators a framework to consider how best to integrate digital and traditional learning methods.

Each model presents unique opportunities and challenges, catering to different educational needs and contexts. This series aims to equip educators with a deeper understanding and practical insights into the versatile world of blended learning, enhancing their ability to create more dynamic and effective learning environments.

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Meet Med Kharbach, PhD

Dr. Med Kharbach is an influential voice in the global educational technology landscape, with an extensive background in educational studies and a decade-long experience as a K-12 teacher. Holding a Ph.D. from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada, he brings a unique perspective to the educational world by integrating his profound academic knowledge with his hands-on teaching experience. Dr. Kharbach's academic pursuits encompass curriculum studies, discourse analysis, language learning/teaching, language and identity, emerging literacies, educational technology, and research methodologies. His work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in various esteemed academic journals.

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Flipped Classroom Pedagogy

Main navigation.

Flipped pedagogy refers to a specific and widely used variety of blended learning, discussed in depth here.

What is flipped teaching?

Flipped  teaching is a specific variety of blended instruction in which traditionally in-class activities (especially lectures) are done as homework, while traditional homework activities (like working through practice exercises) are done in class. A typical example of a flipped class is one in which the instructor pre-records the lectures, posts the recordings to Canvas for students to watch before class, and then assists the students as they work through assignments during class time. Such an approach is designed to maximize the special power of the in-person classroom to facilitate social learning while moving content delivery like lecturing to out-of-class homework time, where students have the best opportunity to focus individually.

Challenges of flipped teaching

While flipped teaching now has a great deal of empirical support, there remain significant challenges to those undertaking it, mainly in preparation (which is often extensive) and student adaptation (students often feel at first that they are not learning as well as in traditional classes).

Fortunately, remote teaching has become more pervasive which has eased both of these challenges: many departments and instructors have accrued considerable preparatory materials (pre-recorded lectures, engaging activities) for online delivery, and students have greater experience with various modes of online interactions. In addition, the widespread adoption of technologies like Zoom, Panopto, and Canvas has made pre-recording and posting material a great deal easier.

Resources for flipped pedagogies

The Center for Teaching and Learning is happy to provide consultations  for those beginning or fine-tuning a flipped class. In general, the way to begin is the same as with any blended instruction: looking first at your learning goals for your students, considering the assessments and activities that will allow them to meet those goals, and then designing the class based on which activities are most likely to work best online, and which are likely to benefit most from in-person instruction.

For those interested in getting started with self-recording media, the Stanford Center for Professional Development offers this helpful guidance . Also, consider these strategies for developing pre-recorded instructional videos .

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Blended learning in higher education: research findings

Norm Vaughan, Charles Graham,Charles Dziuban and Vitor Duarte Teodoro

The focus of this special issue of the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education is on blended approaches to learning and teaching in higher education. It provides readers with current research and strategies to support a blended approach to learning and teaching at the course, program, and institutional level in higher education.

This issue contains the following four articles:

“Blended learning: The new normal and emerging technologies”, by Charles Dzuiban, Charles Graham, Patsy Moskal, Anders Norberg, and Nicole Sicillia;

“Integrating MOOCs in traditionally taught courses: Achieving learning outcomes with blended learning”, by Antonia Bralic and Blazenka Divjak;

“Seeking the best blend for deep learning in a flipped classroom: Viewing student perceptions through the Community of Inquiry lens”, by Ingrid le Roux and Lynette Nagel;

“Supporting decision-making processes on blended learning in higher education: Literature and good practices” review by Alvaro Galvis.

To begin, each of these four manuscripts discusses the challenges of defining blended learning in higher education. The article Blended learning: The new normal and emerging technologies by Dzuiban et al. (2018) describes the definitional continuum that ranges from Oliver and Trigwell’s (2005) critique of blended learning as being a vague concept to Sharpe et al.’s (2006) notion that the definitional latitude of blended learning is what enhances it’s contextual relevance. Galvis (2018), in his Supporting decision-making processes on blended learning in higher education: Literature and good practices review, adds that blended or bLearning is a multidimensional concept that allow distinct stakeholders to create different blends in their effort to transform educational practices that get the best from both face-to-face and virtual modalities.

Each article offers a specific definition or approach to blended learning.  For example, the Dzuiban et al. (2018) study focus on the United States Department of Education approach to blended learning involving “a combination of online and in-class instruction with reduced in-class seat time for students” (Lewis and Parsad, 2008, p.1). Bralic and Divjak’s (2018) research involves the integration of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) with a campus based course where students have the option of participating in a MOOC rather than completing project work. The article by le Roux and  Nagel (2018) involves a flipped classroom. The authors indicate that this is a  type of blended learning that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom. It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. In this study, students watched content videos online, outside of the classroom, with in-class time focused on seminars that followed a Harvard-style case method. Galvis (2018) emphasizes the importance of aligning strategic and tactical decisions in order to integrate the face-to-face and virtual modalities in a bLearning multidimensional educational model.

The University of Central Florida (UCF) has been at the forefront of blended and online learning research for over twenty years as they began a longitudinal impact study in 1996 with the start of their distributed learning initiative.  During this time, they have been systematically collecting data about the student and faculty experience with blended and online courses. In their most recent research study, Dzuiban et al. (2018) focus on student access by examining success and withdrawal rates in blended learning courses by comparing them to face-to-face and online modalities for minority and non-minority students over an extended period of time at UCF. The authors found that a blended approach maintains or increases access for most student cohorts and produces improved success rates for minority and non-minority students alike. Student participants in this study indicated that the three criteria for success in any course modality are the clear establishment and progress toward course objectives, the creation of an effective learning environment,  and the instructor’s effective communication.

A massive open online course (MOOC) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2016). The majority of research carried out on MOOCs has focused on learner engagement and behavior in the online environment (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2018). Bralic and Divjak’s (2018) research investigates the integration of MOOCs into a campus based course. In their study, students can complete either course-based project work or participate in a MOOC. They found that the number of part-time students opting to follow the MOOC instead of doing project work is increasing each academic year. In addition, those students who select MOOC participation over project work are achieving higher final grades. Bralic and Divjak’s (2018) suggest this is because students can learn at their own pace, receive peer support, and gain regular assessment feedback in a MOOC.

There has been a great deal of debate about the use of flipped classrooms in higher education. Bergmann and Sams (2012) coined the term to describe an instructional strategy that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom. It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. In a flipped classroom, students watch online lectures, collaborate in online discussions, or carry out research at home while engaging with the concepts in the classroom with the guidance of a mentor. The concern for some educational researchers is that this instructional approach still relies on a passive approach to learning such as watching online video lectures (O’Flaherty & Phillips, 2015).

The research conducted on flipped classrooms by le Roux and Nagel (2018) indicates that the use of online videos helped students better understand the theoretical underpinnings of the course by being able to watch the videos multiple times. They also suggest that the in-class seminars allowed students to deepen their theoretical knowledge through collaborative problem solving and negotiation of solutions related to the case studies. In addition, le Roux and Nagel (2018) used the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to underpin their study. The CoI model consists of three main elements; social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence (Garrison, 2017). Teaching presence is defined as the design, facilitation and direction of the educational experience. Roux and Nagel (2018) emphasize that these responsibilities need to be shared with the students (e.g., teaching rather than teacher presence) in order to focus and sustain an effective collaborative educational community.

Blended learning research in higher education often focuses on factors that could influence an institution’s decision to implement this modality at the course or program level.  Recently, Porter et al., (2016) investigated the drivers and barriers to blended learning’s extensive adoption at the institutional level. Galvis (2018) builds upon this research in his literature and good practices review of institutional blended learning in higher education. He first demonstrates the institutional complexity of implementing and supporting bLearning environments. Galvis (2018) then provides a blueprint for supporting institutional decision-making processes related to Blended Learning through the examination of pedagogical, operational, and organizational conditions.

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: reach every student in every class every day. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.

Bralic, A., & Divjak , B. (2018). Integrating MOOCs in traditionally taught courses: Achieving learning outcomes with blended learning.  International  Journal of Educational Technology  in Higher Education, 15(3).

Dziuban,  C., Graham,  C. R., Moskal,  P., Norberg, A.,  & Sicilia, N. (2018).  Blended learning: The  new normal and  emerging technologies. International  Journal of Educational Technology  in Higher Education, 15(3). http://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0087-5

Galvis, A. (2018). Supporting decision-making processes on blended learning in higher education: Literature and good practices review. International  Journal of Educational Technology  in Higher Education, 15(3).

Garrison, D.R. (2017). E-Learning in the 21st century: A framework for research and practice (3rd  ed.). London, England: Routledge Falmer.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2016). Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster.  Business Horizons, 59(4), 441–50. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2016.03.008.

le Roux, I., & Nagel, L. (2018). Seeking the best blend for deep learning in a flipped classroom: Viewing student perceptions through the Community of Inquiry lens. International  Journal of Educational Technology  in Higher Education, 15(3).

Lewis, L., & Parsad, B. (2008). Distance education at degree-granting postsecondary institutions : 2006–07 (NCES 2009–044). Washington: Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009044.pdf.

O’Flaherty, J., & Phillips, C. (2015). The use of flipped classrooms in higher education: A scoping review. The Internet and Higher Education. 25. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.02.002.

Oliver, M., & Trigwell, K. (2005). Can ‘blended learning’ be redeemed? e-Learning, 2(1), 17–25.

Porter,  W. W., Graham,  C. R., Bodily, R.,  & Sandberg, D. (2016).  A qualitative analysis  of institutional  drivers and barriers  to blended learning adoption  in higher education. Internet and  Higher Education, 28(1), 17–27. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.08.003

Sharpe, R., Benfield, G., Roberts, G., & Francis, R. (2006). The undergraduate experience of blended learning: A review of UK literature and research. London, England: The Higher Education Academy.

Zawacki-Richter, O., Bozkurt, A., Alturki, U., &  Aldraiweesh, A. (2018), What research says about MOOCs: An explorative content analysis. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(1), 242-259.

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The New Meaning of Hybrid Learning During the Pandemic

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• Olga Nikolaevna Imas   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6068-0939 13 ,
• Olga Vladimirovna Yanuschik   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8541-0153 13 , 14 ,
• I. G. Ustinova   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6005-5121 13 ,
• S. V. Rozhkova   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8888-9291 13 , 15 &
• Evgeniia Aleksandrovna Beliauskene   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1638-4366 13  

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The pandemic sought the international educational community with a choice: to stop the educational process until “better times” or to find alternative approaches to the educational process. We offer one of the variants of the educational process, which we call the “hybrid form”, putting a new meaning into this concept. We are considering combining on-line students with face-to-face students. Of course, the new form found can not do without the support of e-learning. Here we offer a new approach that develops computational skills, supported by STACK simulators. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to discuss a new form of the educational process and a comparative analysis of the rating results of teaching mathematics in the classical approach and using STACK simulators.

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Ustinova, I., Tomilenko, V., Imas, O., Beliauskene, E., Yanuschik, O.: STACK assessment in mathematics classroom: advantages and disadvantages. In: Auer, M.E., Rüütmann, T. (eds.) ICL 2020. AISC, vol. 1328, pp. 174–182. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68198-2_15

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Imas, O.N., Yanuschik, O.V., Ustinova, I.G., Rozhkova, S.V., Beliauskene, E.A. (2022). The New Meaning of Hybrid Learning During the Pandemic. In: Auer, M.E., Hortsch, H., Michler, O., Köhler, T. (eds) Mobility for Smart Cities and Regional Development - Challenges for Higher Education. ICL 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 389. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93904-5_57

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Design and practice of blended teaching of internal medicine nursing based on O-AMAS effective teaching model

• Anyan Duan 1 , 2 ,
• Fen Jiang 1 ,
• Ling Li 3 ,
• Qun Li 1 , 2 &
• Wei Chen 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  580 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Self-directed learning (SDL) ability is the basis for cultivating nursing students’ ability to find and solve problems, lifelong learning, and providing high-quality nursing talents for healthcare. The O-AMAS (Objective, Activation, Multi-learning, Assessment, Summary) model adheres to the teaching philosophy of student-centered, result-oriented, combines the advantages of online and offline teaching, enriching teaching resources and learning channels, diversifying teaching and evaluation methods, and emphasizing integrating and applying knowledge conducive to improving students’ SDL ability and achieving teaching objectives. This study explored the course design, practical, and application effects under the O-AMAS effective teaching model in internal medicine nursing to provide a basis and reference for combining effective teaching models with blended teaching in future nursing courses.

This study is a self-controlled before-after trial. The participants were 76 nursing undergraduates from Hunan Normal University. This study utilizes the O-AMAS effective teaching model to design internal medicine nursing courses and implement blended online and offline teaching. Main links: The overall course design and application are student-centered, after clarifying macro and micro multi-dimensional learning objectives, with online and offline blended teaching environments activated students’ learning behavior and diversified teachers’ teaching activities, then based on instant and dynamic provide effective feedback; finally, students take the initiate to make a brief and potent summary under the teacher guidance. After the course, a unified assessment of the learning effect of nursing students was conducted, including the evaluation of the SDL ability of nursing students, a final comprehensive evaluation grade, and a teaching satisfaction survey.

The nursing students’ SDL ability scores are higher than before teaching, and the results were statistically significant ( P  < 0.05). The final average comprehensive evaluation grade of nursing students was 78.38 ± 7.12. More than 96% of the students are satisfied with this course.

Applying for internal medicine nursing blended teaching integrated with the O-AMAS effective teaching model is conducive to improving nursing students’ SDL ability, academic grades, and teaching satisfaction.

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The overall purpose of internal medicine course is to cultivate high-quality nursing talents with multi-field adaptive learning ability, cross-field practical ability, and interdisciplinary comprehensive thinking ability to improve the quality of nursing services, meet the increasingly diversified and differentiated nursing needs of people, and achieve the goal of “universal health coverage by 2030” [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. With the rapid update of medical knowledge and technology, nursing students must constantly improve their knowledge, ability, and quality in theoretical teaching and clinical practice, which puts higher requirements for their self-directed learning ability [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. The self-directed learning ability of nursing undergraduates is the ability of undergraduate nursing students to obtain and master the necessary knowledge and skills of nursing services with meta-cognition and objective human and material resources. Its main components are the three abilities of self-management, information, and learning cooperation [ 7 ]. Self-directed learning ability is a core competence that equips nursing students with lifelong learning [ 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Relevant studies show that the SDL ability enables nursing students to enhance their professional nursing values, self-efficacy, meta-cognitive ability, critical thinking, academic performance, academic resilience, time management tendency, problem-solving ability, health education ability, and resilience [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. However, because nursing students in the process of learning are still influenced by the traditional teaching concept, nursing students’ learning mainly depends on teachers’ classroom teaching, still a passive accept knowledge role, lack of learning initiative, do not understand discipline dynamic and master essential knowledge, especially difficult to use theory knowledge analysis and solve the problem of clinical practice, the nursing students overall SDL ability and SDL readiness is still at a low to medium level [ 11 , 15 , 18 , 19 ]. Therefore, educators must reform the traditional teaching mode according to the growth law and the learning needs of contemporary students.

O-AMAS, an online and offline hybrid interactive teaching model, was independently developed and launched by the effective teaching team of Nankai University in 2017. The model has five links: Objective, Activation, Multi-learning, Assessment, and Summary [ 20 ]. The model is oriented by learning results and driven by benign interaction. After clarifying multi-dimensional goals, it realizes the teaching objectives and objects are deeply penetrated and participate in the course, advocates student-centered, pays attention to contextualization, gives full play to students’ enthusiasm and initiative, and inspires students to become knowledge builders and problem solvers. The model has been applied in pharmacology, microbial physiology, and community pharmacist training and achieved good results in improving study objects’ self-directed learning ability, academic grades, and satisfaction [ 21 , 22 , 23 ].

In recent years, blended learning strategies have become the most potential teaching strategy in nursing education [ 24 ]. In 2022, China launched the educational digitization strategy, built an online national intelligent education platform for higher education, and an intelligent overpass for teachers and students to teach and learn [ 25 ]. In 2023, China’s Ministry of Education proposed that the digital reform of higher education should pay great attention to content reform and thus provide high-quality educational content to effectively support the steady development of digital education [ 26 ]. Therefore, the Internet-based online and offline mixed teaching mode offers new ideas for promoting the construction of nursing “golden courses” [ 27 , 28 ]. So, this study combines the O-AMAS effective teaching model and online and offline blended teaching to design the internal medicine nursing course. Given the problems existing in the current teaching, analysis and grasp the students learning characteristics and cognitive way, optimize the online teaching resources construction and offline teaching methods, rebuild the internal medical nursing teaching process, use diversified teaching mode, implement effective evaluation and feedback, finally through a brief but potent summary to promote deep learning, fully arouse the students’ learning, improve students’ SDL ability.

Study design

This study is a self-controlled before-after trial.

Participants

Through cluster sampling, the study defined participants as 76 second year nursing undergraduates from Hunan Normal University, including 11 males and 65 females. All subjects signed an informed consent form before participating in the study.

Tools and measurements

Self-directed learning instrument for nursing students

Self-directed learning instrument for nursing students (SDLI for nursing students) consists of 20 items, using the Likert 5-point scoring method; each item is 1 ~ 5 points, the total score is 20 ~ 100 points, the higher the score, the stronger the self-directed learning ability. The scale contains four dimensions (learning motivation, learning plan and implementation, self-management, and interpersonal communication) [ 29 ].

Curriculum academic grades

According to the course design, the course team has developed a comprehensive assessment and evaluation system, which combines the process evaluation and final evaluation from online and offline, including classroom performance, chapter test, topic discussion, group activities, clinical internship, and final examination, with each part taking different weights.

Teaching satisfaction for nursing student’s questionnaire

The teaching team of this study designed the questionnaire through an extensive review of the literature, examined other satisfaction questionnaires, interviewed nursing students, consulted with academic experts, and then adjusted it according to the course design and practice. The questionnaire comprises eight items on three options (approval, neutrality, and disapproval); the questionnaire assesses aspects such as increased learning interest, engagement, and efficiency. In the current study, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.916, indicating a high level of reliability.

Internal medicine nursing is a core and practical clinical course in nursing, but learning it is challenging for most students. On the one hand, the complicated and scattered course content, abstract mechanism, and uneven difficulty hindered learners from activating learning interests and focusing on learning objectives; on the other hand, tight class hours, limited classroom learning resources, and learners cannot reasonably arrange learning resources and formulate learning strategies aren’t conducive to cultivate self-directed learning ability and innovation consciousness [ 30 , 31 ]. So this study chooses internal medicine nursing to explore the application effects of the O-AMAS effective teaching model and provide a basis and reference for combining effective teaching models with blended teaching in future nursing courses.

The internal medicine nursing course adopts the O-AMAS effective teaching model to design and mainly includes five parts. The design is summarized in Fig.  1 . Internal Medicine Nursing (6th edition) is the primary textbook, edited by You Liming and Wu Ying and published by People’s Medical Publishing House. Besides, this course quoted Internal Medicine (9th edition) and relevant literature as references, using the MOOC and Chaoxing of online learning applications to assist teaching.

Flow chart of the design of blended teaching of internal medicine nursing based on the O-AMAS effective teaching model

Assemble a teaching team

This study’s teaching team includes 1 department head, 2 pedagogy experts, 5 internal medicine nursing teachers, and 1 teaching assistant from the Chaoxing learning platform. The department head is responsible for the overall design, implementation, adjustment, and summary of internal medicine nursing; pedagogy experts are responsible for guiding and analyzing students’ learning situation, integrating O-AMAS effective teaching model and blended teaching method design; teachers are responsible for building online teaching platform, course teaching, communicating with students and course evaluation; the teaching assistant is responsible for the smooth combination of online teaching platform and offline courses.

Combining blended teaching with the O-AMAS model effectively

Design effective teaching objectives.

The goal of traditional teaching is unclear; most nursing students aim to pass examinations and get a bachelor’s degree certificate, which leads them to neglect often to cultivate their self-directed learning ability. In the long run, it is not conducive for individuals to adapt to the rapidly changing clinical environment and long-term benign development. Therefore, the course team analyzed the students’ learning characteristics and cognitive methods, and under the guidance of the O-AMAS effective teaching model, according to the SMART principles (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed) studied and revised the teaching objectives of the internal medicine nursing course, and formulated the macro objectives of the course. The overall teaching objectives of the course: ① Knowledge objectives: Master the basic theory, knowledge, and skills of internal nursing; master the clinical manifestations, nursing diagnosis, nursing plan, nursing measures, and nursing evaluation of common internal diseases; be familiar with the pathologic and physiological change process, diagnostic points and prevention points of common internal diseases; understand the etiology, pathogenesis, and the related frontier research dynamics. ② Ability objectives: Cultivate the ability of nursing students to exert nursing procedures to achieve holistic care; apply interpersonal communication skills to educate medical patients and their families; and learn internal medicine nursing and other related disciplines independently. ③ Quality objectives: Cultivate students’ professional spirit and professional quality; cultivate a rigorous and realistic scientific attitude and an innovative scientific spirit; possess a high degree of patriotic feelings and cultural, legal, moral, and professional literacy.

Based on understanding the course’s overall teaching objectives and Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives, this study from six bands, including knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, to design each lesson gradually ascend from low to high orders and student-centered micro-teaching objectives, teachers focus on diversified teaching activities to help students to learn independently and building knowledge system effectively.

Take the Transient Ischemic Attacks(TIA) section as an example: ① Pre-class self-directed learning stage: mainly the first order of knowledge and comprehension, memorizing the brain’s blood supply, and grasping the disease characteristics of TIA. ② Cooperative learning stage in the class: mainly the middle and high order of application, analysis, and synthesis. Students can observe and make initial evaluations, judge the condition of TIA patients, and cooperate with doctors to actively treat, raise existing nursing problems, implement effective holistic care, and provide health guidance to individuals and families. ③ Consolidation and promotion stage after class. Based on the high-level evaluation, students can use the knowledge to evaluate whether the nursing measures taken for TIA patients are effective. They can find the existing nursing problems and solutions through books, databases, and other resources.

Effective activation to improve students learning interest

Traditional teaching often uses pre-class previews and class tests to activate students, even in some courses that consider the students’ performance an essential part of academic performance. It may have some positive effects, but it also may cause students anxiety and distraction, especially in pure hybrid teaching; students may quickly get answers by intelligent equipment, which not only weakens the students’ interest in learning but can not achieve effective activation. Effective activation requires exciting ways; the activation tools should be closely related to the learning content, and all students participate so that multi-dimensionally activate students’ physical, emotional, and cognition.

This study adopted role-play about clinical reality to activate students’ bodies. Activate students’ emotions by quoting character stories and news reports, such as the diseases that exist in real heroes and ordinary families taking their precious lives, leading to the country and the family loss of talents and relatives to activate students’ empathy; quote positive clinical cases to activate students responsibility, such as healthcare workers save countless patients struggling in disease through solid fundamental knowledge and meticulous clinical work, the teacher praised students’ and created a positive learning atmosphere to activate students’ confidence based on the student’s performance. Presented clinical micro-video and conducted thematic discussions to activate students’ cognition. For example, the leukemia teaching combined with the teaching objectives and content of this chapter, when talking about “acute leukemia,” the teacher through micro-video to initiate a discussion topic, “Does the blood of patients with leukemia turn white?” to motivate student learning interest and enthusiasm, so that students can quickly get into the learning state. The teacher further used brainstorming to guide the students to state whether the blood of leukemia patients will turn white and analyze the causes on the Chaoxing learning platform; the classroom screen will display each student’s ideas to fully mobilize the students to participate actively in the classroom with enthusiasm.

Diversified teaching methods to enhance students’ motivation

Due to the differences between nursing students in personality, learning habits, learning foundation, and learning methods, teachers are required to build new and diversified learning methods to meet the learning needs of most students. This study, based on students’ learning conditions and specific courses, flexibly adopts multiple teaching methods, such as lectured-based learning(LBL), team-based learning(TBL), problem-based learning(PBL), and case-based learning(CBL) etc. A variety of teaching methods are interspersed. At the same time, teachers guided students to experience various learning methods, such as receptive learning, cooperated and explored learning, independent learning, etc. Suppose students must pass the pre-class quizzes to reach the low-order knowledge and comprehension teaching objectives. In that case, the teachers will focus on the class’s LBL and PBL teaching methods, or the teachers will take students as the leading role, application and analysis as the primary teaching objectives, and CBL and TBL as the central teaching methods.

Take acute coronary syndrome and cerebrovascular disease as an example; since students have comprehended the definition and characteristics of the disease, so the teacher took the progressive cases as the main line to present different scenarios of progressive cases gradually. As the disease progresses, it gradually leads to core knowledge points that include the cause of the disease, clinical manifestations, treatment, and nursing measures, etc., and further through teaching strategies such as questioning, enlightening thinking, and group discussion, encourage and guide students to independently explore the implicit knowledge behind the case scenario (such as the causes and inducements of the disease, typical clinical manifestations, and laboratory changes that contribute to identifying the disease, judgment disease of changes, observe treatment efficacy and care adverse reactions), so then guide students to actively participate in the class, more profoundly and systematically understand the internal logical relationship of disease occurrence and development. Finally, according to the feedback from testing, teachers organized students to discuss the frontier or hot topic of clinical nursing. They guided students to track the latest research results and hotspots of nursing. Besides, in the after-class clinical internship, cooperative learning is the primary method; students enter the ward in groups to collect data, and the teachers observe by the bed and give timely guidance and supplements. After the nursing assessment, the students broached the nursing problems and nursing measures according to the case under the teachers’ guidance, evaluated the implementation effect of the nursing measures, and broached the improvement plan. At the end of the internship, the students completed the internship report, which included nursing medical records and experience.

Effective assessment improve teaching effect

The three elements of effective assessment are assessment design, implementation, and feedback. An effective assessment is not a simple score but an effective feedback activity corresponding to the teaching objectives to promote students’ learning effect. This study combines process assessment and final assessment, attaches importance to process assessment and practical ability assessment, continues to assess teaching activities according to teaching objectives, timely adjusts and improves teaching strategies based on students’ feedback, and the assessment runs through the whole online and offline teaching activities. The assessment methods include before and after classroom evaluation, classroom questions and answers, online engagement in the topic discussion, chapter tests, group activities, and clinical internship performance, etc.; the assessment content includes whether the low-order goals (knowledge and comprehension) and the high-order goals (application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) can be achieved. The assessment system of internal medicine nursing is presented in Table  1 . For example, this study adopted multiple assessment forms to achieve practical evaluation and feedback, such as group discussion based on clinical progressive cases, topic discussion, and thinking questions. Students can realize how much knowledge they can master in classroom learning and what aspects they need to make up for the deficiencies; it effectively facilitates students to adjust learning objectives timely. Meanwhile, teachers can also analyze the effect of classroom teaching from a multi-dimensional perspective to improve and further promote effective teaching.

Brief summary to promote in-depth learning

This stage is often at the end of a class. After students focus on learning the vital and challenging points of knowledge in class, they tend to become lax at this stage. Therefore, a short and powerful summary is needed to help students connect the key learning content of a class. With students as the main body, teachers guide students in summarizing the classroom content and integrating the learning emphases. Based on the Chaoxing learning platform, it automatically generates summative hot words, or students summarize the teaching content to form mind mapping to help students review what they have learned, further consolidate, reflect, and deepen knowledge.

Statistical data analysis

Entered and analyzed data using the SPSS 23.0 statistical software, measurement information was expressed as mean ± standard deviation ( \(\overline {\rm{X}} {\rm{ \pm S}}\) ), and a paired-sample t-test was used to compare students’ self-directed learning ability before and after teaching. The test level is α = 0.05, 1-β = 0.9,  p -value<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Ethical consideration

Informed consent was obtained from the study participants before they were enrolled in the study. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of Hunan Normal University School of Medicine before commencing the study. (Ref no 2,023,415, dated 10th February 2023)

Results of final comprehensive grades

In the teaching process, the Chaoxing learning platform, the classroom learning engagement, and the after-class assessment together form the process grades, which combine the final exam score to get the final comprehensive grades. The course passing rate is higher, as recorded in Table  2 .

Results of evaluation of teaching satisfaction

After teaching, using a self-made questionnaire to evaluate the teaching effect, 100% of students gave feedback; more than 90% of students think it is helpful to promote pre-class preview and after-class review and consolidate; more than 80% of students think it helps to stimulate learning interest and enthusiasm, mobilize learning initiative, help adjust learning methods and improve learning efficiency, and teachers can timely feedback; the course satisfaction rate for all students reached 96.1%. The satisfaction results are presented in Table  3 .

Results of comparison of SDL ability before and after teaching

The after-teaching was superior to the before-teaching in the total score of nursing students’ SDL ability ( P  < 0.05). The scores of nursing students’ SDL ability were improved in four dimensions, especially in learning motivation, planning and implementation, and self-management ( P  < 0.05). The SDL ability scores before and after teaching are presented in Table  4 .

Existing research results show that the students’ SDL ability is positively associated with health education ability, clinical practice behavior, and learning motivation [ 17 , 32 , 33 , 34 ] and negatively associated with study burnout and academic stress [ 35 ], so improving the nursing students’ SDL ability is beneficial to promote the nursing students’ better master theoretical knowledge and operation skills, integrate into the clinical work, promote professional identity, cultivate consciousness and ability of lifelong learning, improve clinical nursing quality in all aspects, meet the growing social health needs [ 36 ]. The O-AMAS effective teaching model emphasizes the educational philosophy of “student-centered and result-oriented development” in all teaching activities [ 20 ]. This study is based on the digital educational trend, combined with the national Massive Open Online Courses(MOOC), the school Small Private Online Course (SPOC) teaching resources, the Chaoxing learning platform, and the Wisdom Tree Platform teaching tools, which scientifically cover pre-class preview, class teaching, and post-class improve three teaching link, designed and practiced blended teaching of internal medicine nursing teaching based on O-AMAS effective teaching model. Establishing a multi-level oriented multi-dimensional goal in line with Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives; Quickly activating the learning interest and behavior from the three aspects of students’ physical, emotional, and cognitive; adopting multiple teaching methods to guide nursing students learning autonomously based on the needs of diagnostic theory and experimental manipulation; combined with the Chaoxing online learning platform for effective measurement and assessment, multi-dimensional analysis, process evaluation and dynamic feedback on the teaching and learning behaviors generated during the course teaching process, to promote the timely improvement of teaching and learning; finally, teachers take the students as the main body and guide students to generate summarizing hot words or mind mappings, help students review what they have learned, explore the relevant scientific research frontiers, and further consolidate and deepen their reflections, improve the coherence and efficiency of nursing students both in and out of class, reduce the learning burden of nursing students, so as to promote the improvement of learning enthusiasm and independent learning ability.

Blended teaching based on the O-AMAS effective teaching model is beneficial to improve the academic performance of nursing students. After teaching, the student’s average academic score was 78.38 ± 7.12 points, which was higher than the academic score of the previous students. More than 96% of students are generally satisfied with this course, and more than 80% believe it can stimulate their interest in learning, mobilize their learning initiative, and increase their learning investment. Moreover, the SDL ability of nursing students was higher than before class, with statistically significant differences ( p  < 0.001). These results show that the O-AMAS effective teaching model helps to analyze and grasp students’ learning characteristics and cognitive mode, clarify multi-dimensional learning objectives, effectively and quickly activate the students’ learning behaviors and interests, and significantly improve students’ participation in class. The application of the online curriculum platform for teachers and students to communicate has provided more opportunities and diverse methods; while improving feedback efficiency, it can effectively promote the adjustment and improvement of teaching and learning methods. In this process, teachers’ pedagogy improved, and students effectively realized the enhancement of knowledge level and clinical ability. Both sides progress to complete the overall goal of the course and develop a harmonious relationship. Therefore, students achieved excellent academic performance and were given a higher teaching evaluation. In the post-epidemic era, Shen Bingzheng et al. based on the O-AMAS teaching model and flipped classroom, developed an online continuing training program, effectively improved community pharmacists’ SDL ability, professional competence online, and received a high evaluation of teaching satisfaction [ 23 ]; Luo PeiPei et al. adopted the results-oriented effective teaching mode (O-AMAS) to guide the clinical nursing teaching of undergraduates in cardiovascular internal medicine and improved the nursing students of theoretical scores, comprehensive skills test score, and evaluation of clinical teaching effect [ 37 ]. Wang Xiaojun et al. applied the O-AMAS effective teaching model in the health assessment course, which effectively improved the teaching effect, improved the teaching evaluation of teachers and students, and cultivated students’ independent learning ability [ 38 ]. Therefore, the O-AMAS effective teaching model is helpful in improving students’ self-learning ability, academic performance, and teaching satisfaction and is also suitable for nursing teaching in different settings.

This study further found that the self-directed learning instrument for nursing students of the three dimensions’ total scores (learning motivation, planning and implementation, self-management) were higher than before teaching, with statistically significant differences ( p  < 0.05), which can be attributed to that the teaching model expand the cognition of learning from the starting point of teaching, let students get rid of the idea of learning for the sake of examination, and realize that the course of internal medicine nursing can help them master knowledge, improve their ability, and establish good professional ethics, to correct, activate and maintain the learning motivation of learners [ 39 ]; adhere to the student-centered from beginning to end, online and offline, and provides external learning conditions and resources that suitable for students’ learning paths, starting from the activation of existence, then using self-improvement as the intermediary, students to formulate and implement learning plans according to their own situation in the support of rich teaching resources and various teaching methods, finally promote individual self planning and implementation ability [ 40 ]. Besides, combining the online learning platforms of MOOC and the Chaoxing Learning platform to multi-dimensionally analyze, dynamically evaluate, and provide feedback improves students’ ability to actively think, explore, and build knowledge systems. Supervise and manage students’ online learning situations and include usual performances as process assessment data, which improves students’ self-management ability to a certain extent [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Compared with traditional face-to-face teaching and simple online teaching, the blended teaching mode that integrate online resources and clinical case has more positive effects on student’s academic performance [ 45 , 46 ], self-directed learning ability [ 47 , 48 ], learning interest [ 49 ], motivation [ 50 ], and satisfaction [ 51 , 52 ]. It is also worth noting that the interpersonal communication skills of nursing students improved compared with before teaching, but the result did not have statistical significance. In terms of interpersonal communication, when applying the O-AMAS effective teaching model in this course, the teaching process takes students as the main line and teachers as the guidance, but online learning mainly focuses on students’ independent learning, with fewer chapters on peer learning, team-based learning, and learning feedback between peers. Therefore, there is no noticeable improvement in students’ SDL ability in interpersonal communication. In the future, education must focus on cultivating students’ confidence to improve interpersonal communication.

The results of this study show that the design of blended teaching of internal medicine nursing based on the O-AMAS effective teaching model has an explicit level, rich content, a wide range of applications, more than 100 effective interactive methods, and a variety of teaching methods, teaching techniques, teaching organization and management complements each other, which can effectively improve students’ academic performance and SDL ability, further stimulating students’ enthusiasm for learning to encourage students to learn more actively and effectively. Students’ high satisfaction with the course also promotes the establishment of harmonious relationships between teachers and students and the realization of course objectives; the course objectives and teaching objectives are successfully realized and deeply penetrate the teaching process, the teaching objects are deeply involved, the teaching methods have rules to follow, and the teaching effect is visible and controllable. This study has limitations in the number of courses applied, class hours, and sample size, which need to be improved in future studies. Therefore, nursing teaching needs to innovate the classroom teaching mode and optimize the teaching process constantly to promote the development of students’ self-directed learning ability, improve students’ innovation capacity, and lay a talent foundation for the sustainable development of China’s health cause.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The data are not available publicly due to privacy.

Abbreviations

Self-directed learning

Transient Ischemic Attacks

Lectured-based learning

Team-based learning

Problem-based learning

Case-based learning

Massive Open Online Courses

Small Private Online Course

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all the students who participated in the study.

This work was supported by grants from the Teaching Reform research project of the Hunan Normal University School of Medicine.

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W.C. and A.Y.D. conceived the original idea and wrote the proposal. A.Y.D., W.C., and F.J. designed and applied the study. A.Y.D., F.J., L.L., Q.L., and W.C. organized the data collection and analyzed the data. All the authors contributed to revising the draft of the manuscript, and all the authors read and approved the final draft of the manuscript.

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Duan, A., Jiang, F., Li, L. et al. Design and practice of blended teaching of internal medicine nursing based on O-AMAS effective teaching model. BMC Med Educ 24 , 580 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05588-8

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Purdue Basketball 2024-2025 Offseason Homework - Gicarri Harris

T he signing of incoming freshman combo guard Gicarri Harris is one that had (and has) Purdue faithful amped. The son of Glenn Robinson, Harris comes out of my neck of the woods and folks, the top Atlanta-area basketball recruits are monsters.

As a senior, Harris led Grayson HS (Loganville, GA) to the school’s first ever state championship against my high school’s rival, so good for him. I liked him already.

The final additions to Purdue’s class of 2024, Harris arrives in West Lafayette with a composite 97.3 rating and was considered the eighth best prospect out of the state of Georgia. The 6’4” 185-pound combo-guard out of Grayson will have a solid opportunity to learn from the experienced guards in front of him in Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith, and Harris is capable of playing both the 1 and the 2.

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1. He’s shown his offensive prowess. Not to say he’s a defensive liability AT ALL, it’s just that he played with a very talented group of fellow D1-bound players in high school and was never tasked with being the one guy who does it all on both ends of the court.

To play for Matt Painter, you have to be a two-way player at guard to clock in double-digit minutes. He’s clearly very offensively capable, but that defensive role is a huge aspect for the Boilers as well. Painter doesn’t fit his puzzle pieces together to where he’ll tolerate lackluster defense because a guard can score 30 points in a game. It’s just not the team’s style.

So make sure you keep your head on a swivel in practice and learn that tenacity on defense that’s expected from a Purdue guard. Loyer and Smith have proven that they can be pests on defense.

Start there.

2. This kid is talented enough to where he’ll likely be playing backup point guard and/or shooting guard from the get-go. Harris’s handles and ability to run an offense as either the point or an off-guard will be crucial for depth, and I want to see him look crisp early.

The game moves at a different pace at this level, but he was indeed playing in the largest and most challenging region of Georgia high school basketball. I trust him to adjust quickly, but he has to make sure he’s comfortable handling the ball up the court pretty quickly given the expectations.

It sounds so rudimentary, but in practice, make sure you take care of the ball and balance that judgment of when to pass versus when to pull up and shoot versus when to drive the lane.

3. Given the chance he could play either guard position, this one is simple: off-the-ball movement and catch and shoot drills in practice will prove vital in his utility as a freshman. Shooting, in theory, is his best skill, but sometimes it takes even the best shooters a minute to adapt to having college athletes flying at them on closeouts. Purdue needs floor spacing and Harris can space the floor.

At the same time, the salad days of Zach Edey drawing a triple team while shooters stood around waiting for an opportunity to drain a wide open look are sadly over. TKR (or whoever Purdue features on the post) is a great player, but he’s not a floor distorting monster. Harris and the rest of the Purdue guards will need to return to the Boilermaker tradition of flying off screens and draining 3’s.

Harris is favored to find a place in the rotation this season, either as a shooting guard or an extra ball handler in addition to fellow freshman C.J. Cox (and Braden Smith of course). He’s coming out of a premier high school program and has played a ton of winning basketball at the high school and AAU.

If Harris takes care of his homework assignments, look for him on the court next fall.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at WMU

All Life is Learning - June 2024

Director's note, director's note, returning and new members—it’s time to renew your membership.

OLLI's membership year runs from July 1 to June 30, so, unless you renewed when registering for summer classes, your membership will expire at the end of this month. Don’t worry—renewing is easy! Just go to our website or you can call the OLLI office at (269) 387-4157.

Your membership renewal helps assure OLLI's growth and sustainability. For the current program year, we had a little over 500 members; our goal for 2024-2025 is to grow our lifelong learning community to at least 550 or more returning and new members. Can you help us achieve this milestone?

By the way—everyone who secures their OLLI membership before July 15 will be entered into a raffle to win a pair of Miller Auditorium tickets! Miller Auditorium’s upcoming season includes some amazing plays, of which The Lion King is part of the lineup. Get your membership before July 15 and you could be one of five lucky winners!

Together in lifelong learning, 

Toni Woolfork-Barnes, Ed.D. Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at WMU 

In This Issue

In this issue:.

    Director's Note

    Curriculum

    Membership & Marketing

   Volunteering

    Wellness Moment

   Kalamazoo Literacy Council

We have some exciting courses lined up for our summer semester; many of which are scheduled to take place in the coming days! Don’t miss out—if you haven't already registered , make sure to do so now!

Free Tech Trends Online Bootcamp

OLLI at WMU and Osher Online are teaming up with the AARP’s Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) program to offer a free, one-week bootcamp on "Tech Trends." These five courses will be offered exclusively to select OLLI groups nationwide—including ours—from June 10 to 14. Each course will meet online over Zoom for one hour. The topics for the "Tech Trends" bootcamp series are below; click the links to learn more about each course.

6/10: Intro to Chatting with AI 6/11: Intro to Smartphone Photography 6/12: Intro to Photo Editing Tools 6/13: Wearable Technology 6/14: Smart Homes

Our OLLI at WMU staff will coordinate registration for these Zoom webinars similar to how we handle sign-ups for our free community events; please note that enrollments are first come, first serve, and space is limited.

Bring A Friend

If you plan to take a course this semester that isn’t full, consider participating in our Bring a Friend program, which allows you to invite those who are curious about OLLI to sit in on a course with you for free! This is a great way to introduce your friends and family to our lovely lifelong learning community and encourage them to join. Please don’t forget to contact the office beforehand to let us know that you will be bringing a friend so we can know who our guests are.

Get Your Datebooks Out—Our OLLI Events Calendar is FULL!

The months ahead are chock full of fun-filled activities, enriching events, and informative gatherings for our OLLI members. Here’s our schedule for the rest of 2024 so you can mark your calendars and plan ahead!

• Enjoy the staged reading of a play that explores the myriad facets of growing older, from the humorous to the dramatic, with OLLI’s very own theater troupe from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Portage Zhang Senior Center . Call (269) 329-4555 to register for this free event.
• Bring your non-member friends for this social gathering featuring conversation, refreshments, and games at Milestone Senior Services from 1 to 3 p.m.
• Meet some of our instructors, learn about their fall courses, and delight in our specially-planned entertainment at the Fetzer Center; details to come.
• Another chance to catch up with fellow OLLI members and make new friends as we enjoy games and refreshments together from 1 to 3 p.m. at Milestone Senior Services .
• November 13 – Annual Meeting
• Enjoy our engaging guest speaker and get updated on the latest OLLI news at Advia Credit Union; details to come.

Membership & Marketing

Olli members, let’s go to the theater.

Have you seen the incredible lineup for the 2024-2025 season at WMU’s Miller Auditorium? Even better, would you like to go to the theater together as a group?

Our OLLI staff has been working closely with the sales folks at Miller to hold seats for our members so that we can attend as a group. There are two shows to choose from—or attend both! 

• Currently one of the longest-running shows on Broadway, Disney’s The Lion King is a beloved story—“the young lion cub Simba is destined to become King of the Pride Lands one day, but when his evil uncle Scar usurps the throne and Simba is left on his own, he has to find in himself the qualities of true royalty that will let him retake his rightful place” (New York Theatre Guide). Based on the 1994 film, you won’t want to miss this magical combination of entertainment and art!
• Two Trains Running by August Wilson, dubbed the "theater's poet of Black America" by the New York Times, tells the story of restaurant owner Memphis Lee in 1969. “...Two Trains Running is about racial tensions in the Civil Rights era, as argued over by regulars at a soon-to-be-demolished diner, including a waitress, an ex-convict and a 322-year-old sage” ( awaacc.org ). Two Trains Running is the seventh of ten plays in Wilson’s series “The Pittsburgh Cycle.” It will only be in Kalamazoo one night , so you won’t want to miss this opportunity to see one of the greatest plays of 20th century American theater.

The deadline to purchase tickets is July 15 , which is just one month away. This opportunity is a members-only benefit, so you must have a current OLLI membership at the time of purchase. Secure your seat today! Easily register by following the directions below:

• Click here to go to the OLLI registration landing page
• Sign into your OLLI account
• Click the OLLI SIGs and Special Offerings tile on the far right
• Select the show(s) you want to attend and add them to your cart
• Proceed to check out as you normally would for other courses and events

There will be an accompanying OLLI course (with special guests) offered in the Winter/Spring 2025 semester to dive deeper into these beautiful productions. Details will be in the next course catalog, which will be available in late December/early January 2025.  

Please know that by reserving tickets, you are committing to attend. If circumstances change for you between July 15 and December 1 and you are unable to keep the commitment to attend, you must call the OLLI office for a refund, which is the ticket price minus the fees.

What Members Are Saying...

Ethical and Social Issues with AI with Dr. David Paul: “I am so grateful to Professor Paul for opening up his undergrad classes to OLLI members. I really appreciated the opportunity to learn about AI in depth and discuss topics with students that are going out into the workforce where AI will have a significant impact. I also really appreciated how much time and effort Professor Paul put into finding current readings, videos, etc. as this field is developing rapidly. I hope OLLI continues to offer these blended classes—they are fantastic! “I've taken three of Dr. Paul’s philosophy courses and a summer reading class. This man is a deep diver into the research on the subject. Delivers the information in a way that makes it comprehensible, exciting, and makes argumentative points that make you think. Each time I take a class I learn something new about him. He genuinely is interested in his students and goes the extra mile to help them. He is a jewel.”

Birding for Beginners with John Brenneman: “What a fun outing! The instructor was interesting and knew SO MUCH about birds. It was impressive that he was able to identify so many birds by sound only. The Kleinstuck Preserve was a great place to observe the birds and to learn so many interesting facts about their habitats and migratory patterns.”

The Power of Plant-Based Nutrition for Health with Carol Wroblewski: “The instructor was very knowledgeable and although she is passionate about plant-based nutrition, she recognized that not everyone is ready for that path. She gave lots of good hints about incorporating plant-based foods into the diet provided us with substitutions and good information about where to find ingredients.”  “Recipes actually made during class...so got useful tips on ingredients and how to best prepare.”

The Making of Paper City with Tom Dietz: “...excellent presentation of Tom Dietz, history expert of all things Kalamazoo!”

Prohibition: Its Rise and Fall with Randy Schau: “Randy does a fantastic job of researching his talks.” “Instructor is the best! And his slides, especially old photos and ads and newspaper clips, are great.”

Beginning Calligraphy with Dr. Robert Hosack: “It provided a nice challenge. I liked being able to see how my Copperplate improved over the duration of the class.”

Confucianism Versus Taosim with Dr. Xiaojun Wang: “Professor Wang was at his best sharing his own life experience and sharing ancient stories in his own words.”

Volunteering

It was wonderful to come together in recognition of our incredible OLLI volunteers on May 3! It's been a great year of stability and growth for OLLI and that is thanks to all of you who volunteer. From sharing the yummy refreshments of Generations Catering to hearing the words of affirmation from Dr. Toni Woolfork-Barnes, Director of OLLI, and Dr. Sara Nelson, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at WMU, this afternoon of celebration was a definite success. Our lifelong learning community applauded the dedication of Tom Dietz and Maxine Gilling, who have stepped down from Co-Chairing the Curriculum Committee but are still key members of the We also gave special recognition to Sharon Wade, who, as the Chair of the Events Committee, goes above and beyond for OLLI at WMU.

Wellness Moment

Your next party trick.

Tyler Norman, Ph.D. Manager of Corporate Outreach ACSM Exercise Physiologist NCFI Corporate Fitness Specialist West Hills Athletic Club, WMU

Recently, I’ve been working with a client that has been having some issues with balance. If we live long enough, we will all likely have issues with balance at some point. With all of the spring activities like outdoor landscaping, pickle ball, and everything else we love to do outside, maintaining good balance will certainly prevent injuries. I am hopeful that as you start to notice balance issues, you will fight back! This should be an easy buy-in considering that one in five retiree-aged people will die within one year after experiencing a hip fracture. The best option is to minimize your likelihood of a fractured a hip is through exercise. 

There are a variety of ways to work on balance and proprioceptive awareness (knowing where your body is in relativity to its surroundings). Of course, strength training will go a long way in improving balance, because improving strength will improve muscular stability, making us more agile and able to recover if we start to lose our balance. Yoga and Pilates are also beneficial because they recruit many auxiliary muscles that we do not normally use, which improves overall balance and stability. 

Functional Training is another highly effective way to improve balance and stability. The principal goal of functional training is to incorporate day-to-day activities into forms of exercise, often by adding an element of instability, which will help improve balance and stability. 

Finally, here is a simple exercise that you can do at home, and once mastered, will be your next party trick. Dee Cole, a 75-year-old retired educator, demonstrates the move below:

Start next to a chair just in case. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, keeping good posture.

Slowly bend down and touch the floor, on one leg, with both hands, keeping a slight bend in the front knee, without touching the floor with your back foot. Slowly return to the starting point to finish. Work up to 10 on each leg.

Once you feel good about that move, add a knee raise at the end, without touching your back foot, kind of like Karate Kid. Then, show off to your friends with your impressive balance at your next party—such as Good Times with OLLI on June 20!

Kalamazoo Literacy Council

13th Annual Kalamazoo Scrabble Fest Kicks Off August 10!

We are excited to invite you to the 13th Annual Kalamazoo Scrabble Fest , a fun-filled event that supports the free programs and services provided by the Kalamazoo Literacy Council . Scrabble Fest happens on Saturday, August 10, from 12 to 3:30 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo. This year promises to be even more special as the KLC continues to celebrate 50 years of empowering adults to reach their full potential. 

Each year, players gather for a day of friendly competition, wordplay, and camaraderie. Whether you're a seasoned Scrabble player or just looking to have a good time, there's something for everyone at Scrabble Fest! Trophies will be awarded to the top three players in the Competitive, Just for Fun, and Teams divisions. In addition to the tournament rounds, there will be fast-paced Cage Matches played for great prizes.

Tickets are now on sale for $25 at kalamazooliteracy.org/scrabblefest ; the registration deadline is July 19. A commemorative t-shirt, delicious hors d'oeuvres, and gaming materials are all included with each individual ticket, plus parking is free and a cash bar is available! If you're unable to attend but still want to support this worthy cause, please consider volunteering your time as a word judge, timer, scorekeeper, or to assist with setting up, all of which are important roles that will help ensure Scrabble Fest is a successful event for all! 

All proceeds from the Kalamazoo Scrabble Fest will benefit adult literacy programs in our community, so your participation will make an immediate and meaningful impact. We hope to see you there! 

Questions? Call Kito at (269) 382-0490 ext. 211 or reach out via email at kjumanne-marshall@kalamazooliteracy.org.

A Gift That Keeps on Giving...

Securing the future of olli at western michigan university.

As we continue to cherish and nurture the lifelong learning experiences provided by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Western Michigan University (OLLI at WMU), we also look toward the future, ensuring that these opportunities remain vibrant and accessible for generations to come. One powerful way to support OLLI's enduring impact is through a planned gift—safeguarding the sustainability and growth of our lifelong learning community in a way that doesn’t impact your finances today.

• Bequests: By including OLLI in your will or living trust, you can leave a legacy that supports lifelong learning for years to come. Whether you choose to designate a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or even residual assets, your bequest will make a meaningful difference in the lives of fellow and future OLLI members.
• Beneficiary Designation of Retirement Assets: You can designate OLLI as a beneficiary of your retirement accounts, such as IRAs, 401(k)s, or pension plans. This straightforward method allows you to support our lifelong learning community without affecting your current financial resources and may also provide tax benefits for your heirs and estate.
• Gift of Life Insurance: You can donate a life insurance policy to OLLI, naming the program as both the owner and beneficiary. Alternatively, you can designate OLLI as the beneficiary of an existing policy. This allows you to make a substantial future gift while enjoying potential tax advantages during your lifetime.

By considering making a planned gift, you become a vital partner in sustaining OLLI's mission and impact for years to come—ensuring that future generations of lifelong learners have access to enriching educational experiences, vibrant community connections, and intellectual growth opportunities.

For more information on how you can support OLLI through planned giving or to discuss your philanthropic goals, please contact a member of the WMU Advancement office at (269) 387-8700 .

What is the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute?

The program was initiated under the auspices of the WMU Emeriti Council and  WMUx . OLLI offers intellectually lively and culturally appealing learning experiences. We accomplish this by focusing on intellectual stimulation, personal growth, social engagement and enrichment.   Read more

What do we do?

We offer short courses for one to four weeks. Sessions are usually two hours long. Travel programs are also a part of our offerings. There are no tests and no required homework, just exploring lots of interesting topics.

In the near future we will offer courses in different formats -- noon hour discussions, several sessions in one week, and more evening courses. OLLI courses and activities are developed and produced by its members with the support of the staff of WMUx.

We need your ideas for course topics and instructors. Let us know your suggestions. Call the OLLI office at  (269) 387-4157  or  send an email . The curriculum committee will review all suggestions.

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