Special Report
Special Report

Sizing Up Blended Learning

Schools Expand Opportunities, Confront Shortcomings
January 29, 2014
This Education Week special report is the latest installment in an ongoing series about online education. These stories examine the opportunities and persistent questions that surround schools' and districts' implementation of blended learning, the widely used instructional approach that combines technology-based instruction with traditional, face-to-face lessons.
  • At Severna Park High School, teacher Anthony Lopes helps high school freshman Lauren Zlotorzynski, left, as classmate Alex Dusold, works on his own laptop. Students at the Maryland school are using a blended learning curriculum that showed promising results on a recent, federally sponsored study.
    At Severna Park High School, teacher Anthony Lopes helps high school freshman Lauren Zlotorzynski, left, as classmate Alex Dusold, works on his own laptop. Students at the Maryland school are using a blended learning curriculum that showed promising results on a recent, federally sponsored study.
    Swikar Patel
    Classroom Technology Educators, Researchers Look for Lessons in Blended Learning Algebra Program
    Researchers and educators are intrigued by what lessons could be offered from a study showing that students benefited from a blended-learning algebra curriculum.
    Ian Quillen, January 27, 2014
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    7 min read
    VOISE Academy Principal Todd Yarch and teachers in the Chicago school have taken a flexible approach in trying to create greater opportunities for students who lack Web access at home.
    VOISE Academy Principal Todd Yarch and teachers in the Chicago school have taken a flexible approach in trying to create greater opportunities for students who lack Web access at home.
    Peter Hoffman
    Teaching Bringing Blended Models Home No Easy Task
    As schools work to expand tech-based strategies, they are trying to find solutions for students who don't have ready access to the devices they need at home.
    Amanda M. Fairbanks, January 27, 2014
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    9 min read
    Classroom Technology Superintendents, Principals Move to Conquer Tech Weaknesses
    National organizations are beginning to create resources to help school administrators understand technology's instructional potential, and some school leaders are setting out to do so on their own.
    Robin L. Flanigan, January 27, 2014
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    3 min read
    Odin Jurkowski's teacher program encourages educators to become lifelong students of technology.
    Odin Jurkowski's teacher program encourages educators to become lifelong students of technology.
    Classroom Technology Q&A: Grooming Ambassadors for Classroom Blended Learning
    Odin Jurkowski, a professor of educational technology, talks about teaching educators tech skills that require them to rethink how classrooms should operate.
    Robin L. Flanigan, January 27, 2014
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    2 min read
    Clemson University's Danielle Herro talks with students about their preconceptions of video games during the first day of the Foundations of Digital Media and Learning class, held in the school of education's Digital Media and Learning Lab. Most of the students are education majors, but the course also includes business, English and computer science majors, all of whom are learning about the role of games, social media and digital storytelling in the classroom.
    Clemson University's Danielle Herro talks with students about their preconceptions of video games during the first day of the Foundations of Digital Media and Learning class, held in the school of education's Digital Media and Learning Lab. Most of the students are education majors, but the course also includes business, English and computer science majors, all of whom are learning about the role of games, social media and digital storytelling in the classroom.
    Erin Brethauer for Education Week
    Teacher Preparation Teacher Colleges Seek to Shift to Digital Age
    Teacher colleges, often criticized for not training educators to use technology in the classroom, are experimenting with new digital approaches to stay relevant.
    Robin L. Flanigan, January 27, 2014
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    8 min read
    Classroom Technology Districts Weigh Blended Costs, Savings
    School districts find that costs and savings from blended learning vary by factors such as the size of the school system and the technology required.
    Michelle R. Davis, January 27, 2014
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    10 min read
    School Choice & Charters Private Schools Exploring Blended Models
    A growing number of Catholic, independent, and other private schools are attempting to attract families, and improve instruction, by putting blended learning programs in place.
    Benjamin Herold, January 27, 2014
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    5 min read
    Rocketship Mateo Sheedy 4th grade teacher Juan Mateos says sharing a classroom with his colleagues is making him a better teacher.
    Rocketship Mateo Sheedy 4th grade teacher Juan Mateos says sharing a classroom with his colleagues is making him a better teacher.
    Ramin Rahimian for Education Week
    Classroom Technology 'Flexible' Classrooms: Blended Learning 2.0?
    Rocketship Education's new approach to blended learning seeks to increase teacher collaboration and further individualize instruction, but the model poses new challenges for classroom educators.
    Benjamin Herold, January 21, 2014
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    3 min read
    On the far side of the room, teacher Jason Colon works with a group of Mateo Sheedy's most-advanced 4th graders on a lesson about graphing coordinates. Students in flexible classrooms are re-grouping based on ability every six weeks or so.
    On the far side of the room, teacher Jason Colon works with a group of Mateo Sheedy's most-advanced 4th graders on a lesson about graphing coordinates. Students in flexible classrooms are re-grouping based on ability every six weeks or so.
    Ramin Rahimian for Education Week
    Classroom Technology Growing Pains for Rocketship's Blended-Learning Juggernaut
    The highly touted charter network's new "flexible classroom" model failed to reverse steady test-score declines, raising questions about Rocketship's aggressive expansion plans.
    Benjamin Herold, January 21, 2014
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    11 min read