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To begin this blog post, when I think of blended learning I often think of a blender and putting ingredients into that blender to make a smoothie, which makes me start thinking about how will one design a blended learning programme what ingredients or tools are needed in order for the programme to run smoothly.

Thinking about the elements/ingredients that I have come across in my practice. I can say in my classroom I use digital technology tools but I often incorporate it into a lesson rather than giving students the opportunity to work through the content online and then come to a face to face session with questions or activities to complete. It could be that I still want to hold on to control the learning in some way rather than letting it happen within an online environment. Even though the campus has a learning management system in which we could create opportunities for the blended learning design we often get caught up in our day to day activities that a blended learning model sometimes becomes a tedious task. As the Educational Technologist on campus my job is to be informed about upcoming trends in the field as well as train lecturer to use blended learning in the classroom. On the other hand, it is also to support the students within these environments, they are used to the social media platform but may need to be scaffolded to navigate the digital space and use it to their advantage for learning. As I reflect on this topic it makes think of the types of training and support that is needed for both the lecturer and the students and I need to factor their understanding of blended learning as well motivate both parties to see the benefits and values of blended learning.

As I end of my reflection I realise there is a lot that needs to be done but with the knowledge I have gained through engaging discussions such as when we design we need to think about the CoL model, the resources we want to use , the teaching and learning technique to scaffold the students, thinking about the lecturer as a facilitator an the students becoming more responsible for their own learning. The ingredients are out there it’s about starting somewhere and begin creating a blended learning design.

The future is now, the fourth industrial revolution has begun it is time to bring forth the blend and develop as well as support a new learning experience.

Cleveland-Innes, M. (2019). Emotion and learning –  emotional presence in the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI)?

Cleveland-Innes, M. (2018) Community of Inquiry and Teaching Presence: Facilitation in online and blended learning.

Salmon, G (2013) The Five Stage Model. [Homepage]

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Edmonton: AU Press.