What does blended learning mean?

Blended learning, sometimes also referred to as hybrid teaching or integrated learning, stands for a combination of face-to-face teaching and digital teaching methods. It is important that both forms of teaching are closely and sensibly linked in order to balance the advantages and disadvantages of pure online and offline teaching. The actual time spent in online and offline phases can be ignored for the time being. Both should merge as seamlessly as possible. When planning a blended learning event, it should already be decided which learning objectives can be achieved more through digital methods and which content requires more face-to-face teaching.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of blended learning include greater flexibility in terms of time and location for students and lecturers, new opportunities for interaction and greater learning success compared to purely digital teaching or purely face-to-face events.
However, blended learning formats require more time for preparation by teachers before they are implemented for the first time. Students also have to familiarise themselves with the new teaching formats and take on more responsibility for their own learning progress. However, once a new teaching format has been established, it can be easily adapted and used for several similar courses.

Application example

Blended learning is ideal for seminars, for example. If the students normally take on a passive role in the face-to-face event and there is little interaction with each other and with the lecturers, some learning content can be made available as a digital self-study unit. This can be realised in the form of audio slides, videos, podcasts or via the courseware plugin in Stud.IP.
Students should be given very clear goals as to what they should achieve in the self-study phase - for example, working on the content provided or writing a short summary that is visible to everyone and should be posted in the course file folder by a certain date. Alternatively, students can briefly present the results of the self-study phase in groups at the beginning of the face-to-face event. This ensures that all students take part in the self-study phase and can successfully participate in the face-to-face phase.
The seminar date in attendance can then be used effectively for discussions of the learning content; there is no need to simply impart information. This scenario promotes and improves in-depth learning and student interaction.

Further information on blended learning can be found at E-Teaching.org.