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Curricula All Over the Map for 'Blended' Classes

The Grand Rapids district in Michigan launched blended-learning classes this school year that combine face-to-face instruction and e-learning. Students, above, do work for a blended social studies course at Ottawa Hills High School.

—Adam Bird for Education Week

The Content and Approaches for Courses that Blend Face-to-Face and Virtual Learning Vary Widely, Raising Questions About What Works Best

By Katie Ash

Although hybrid learning, which combines face-to-face instruction with online-learning components, has begun to take hold in K-12 education, the curriculum for such courses varies significantly from program to program.

Most hybrid educators use modified versions of fully online courses or cobble together a curriculum from various online resources, prompting a push for digital curricula that are broken down into modules, rather than comprehensive, fully packaged courses.

“That’s one of the fundamental things about this industry that’s going to reshape publishing—this idea that schools are going to need to be able to access curricula at a higher level of granularity,” said John Danner, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Rocketship Education , an elementary charter school that serves more than 1,000 students at three different campuses...