Technology is becoming increasingly popular in schools, with education facilities more and more frequently purchasing tablets and Chromebooks for students to carry around throughout the year. Often, these new tools are used to help implement blended learning practices, and make it easier for kids to access online assignments from home. According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a survey estimated that during the 2007-08 school year, more than a million K-12 students took online courses. Although some people see blended learning as detracting from the student/teacher relationship, this method actually acts as a supplemental teaching tool that benefits both teachers and students.
Easier for Common Core State Standards teaching
The implementation of e-learning tools can help teachers handle the more difficult State Standards by allowing students to grasp the basics from online sources while the teachers focus on the more complex Common Core goals. For example, instructors can use interactive websites to virtually engage students in a literary world and then use textbooks and research papers to further develop their understanding of the information. Students will find the online portion of the assignment fun and entertaining and will be eager to understand the virtual world they explored through in-class discussions and readings. Plus, PARCC and other core-aligned tests are done online, so students need to be familiar with the technology.
Better performance assessments
Using online tools is also beneficial for monitoring a student's performance levels. As the kids complete various assignments and quizzes, teachers can easily pull up their progress and determine where students can use more instruction. In cases where one particular student is falling behind, teachers will be able to catch the problem early and provide a little extra help to bring that student back up to a normal grade.
More options for students
In many smaller and low-income schools, there are not enough resources for providing a variety of course options to students. With online learning, however, students have the opportunity to enroll in courses that offer college credit as well as an array of course subjects. This is beneficial because it allows students to get a head start on college credits and work at their own pace. Similar benefits can be found in other blended curricula in which students are allowed to take their time completing assignments and have personalized lesson plans.
Blended learning practices help provide students with a more comprehensive education. A report by the U.S. Department of Education even found that blended learning had a larger advantage compared to purely face-to-face instruction. Since technology is such a major part of everyday life, teachers may as well start taking advantage of the benefits online resources offer.
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