Blended Learning: The future of learning for committed teachers and students!

Blended Learning: The future of learning for committed teachers and students!

Blended learning has become more important since the Corona pandemic and combines face-to-face and online teaching to promote flexible and individual learning. Hannah Kröger, a teacher training student and member of the Digital C@MPUS-le@rning project, deals intensively with this learning approach. She has developed a teaching unit that introduces blended learning, with particular attention to the concept of “flip the classroom”. With this approach, lectures are delivered as videos that learners can watch flexibly. Weekly face-to-face meetings offer the opportunity to clarify open questions and deepen understanding.

Dr. Sanne Ziethen, who is responsible for transfer in the project, emphasizes the relevance of the content for the choice of the respective learning format. Blended learning allows for asynchronous learning, which is particularly beneficial for students who commute or have additional care responsibilities. In this context, the le@rningLOTSEN, student experts in media didactics and digital teaching, play a crucial role. They advise teachers on how to design participatory digital teaching and bring in the students’ perspective.

Advantages and methods of blended learning

The benefits of blended learning are complex. The combination of online lectures with face-to-face events allows students to work on learning material at their own pace. Digital self-learning materials offer multimedia content that can be used regardless of time and place. This maximizes classroom time for more complex tasks such as analysis, synthesis and creative work.

The concept of “flip the classroom” reverses traditional learning. Students learn at home through lectures and articles, while class time is reserved for practical applications and complex discussions. This approach promotes learner engagement and increases thinking skills during classroom time. Teachers can respond more directly to questions and provide support, which greatly improves the learning process.

Resources and support

The materials offered range from text and video units to interactive learning resources, self-tests and collaboratively editable documents. These interactive elements support different learning styles and promote understanding through playful approaches. Preparatory measures aim to adapt the participants' knowledge before face-to-face teaching so that everyone is on the same level.

The le@rningLOTSEN, who also run a blog and make their learning units available on the twillo portal, offer competent advice. Advice on application and change can be reached at learninglotsen(at)uni-hildesheim.de. The use of digital tools, the creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) and the creation of multimedia content are a central part of your training.

In summary, the implementation of blended learning promotes progressive forms of learning, gives students more flexibility and supports teachers in digital teaching. The combination of these methods ensures that learners respond to individual needs and can work together on their knowledge.