[SkyeParticipant]

Hello everyone!  It’s great to see your shining faces again!!  Here’s to a great start in the new year!
In response to the questions posed here and in the short survey, my definition of blended learning at this point would be learning that is facilitated with a variety of methodologies, mediums, tools and pedagogies that facilitate student curiosity, motivation, engagement, critical thought and understanding of information.
This  blended learning approach opens up opportunities for providing students with a more self-directed way of learning and can foster a more holistic educational experience to provide students with the skills and expertise they will need in their future professions.  Blended learning also provides a more balanced and equal opportunity for students with different abilities or learning disabilities.
Some of the challenges discussed in relation to blended learning tend to be the time commitment, cost, training and level of responsibilities placed on class room teachers to facilitate this type of education.
As a part time assistant in the front office and Fresh Start Program at St. Anne I notice that blended learning is already seamlessly integrated into our work environment.  We use email, internet, intranet, websites, printed handouts, online forms, verbal communication and physical/body language communication everyday.
In the Fresh Start Program students are given the opportunities to chose the mediums they feel most comfortable learning on, paper, text, Ipads, mobiles, peer discussions, etc.  For research on an ELA assignment, a student chose to search online articles and I also suggested a CBC Online Documentary for her to explore the topic as well.  She chose to write her notes on paper by hand.  It’s both a conscious and subconscious application in our lives everyday.

Many thanks for your interesting perspectives and experiences all!
All the best,
Skye

[Author]

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