Module 1: III.) Survey of Blended Learning Models

Now, blended learning doesn't always look the same. There's many different models in many different settings all across the world.

At the Christiansen Institute, we've been doing our best to actually catalog and give different names for what these different types of models are so that people can have a common language to communicate what they are and are not doing with blended learning, but also so that we don't fall into this game where you show up and you say, mine's blended learning and yours isn't, even though we.

Just did that in our last quiz. Now, for the sake of this course, we're going to focus on three main models. The first is called a station rotation model, the second is the lab rotation model, and the third is the flex model. In this course, we're not just going to use those terms. We're going to give you a protagonist school, a school that's embodied this with really terrific results. And a lot of this course is going to be told through the eyes of those schools. Now, one important thing to know is we've told you about proficiency based learning. We believe in it. So your first quiz about this whole first assignment comes right now. We want you to see what we want you to know. We want you to show us that you know these models. And if you're frankly, incredibly familiar with this part of the curriculum, by all means skip ahead. If you've already read the rise of K12 blended learning that the Christensen Institute wrote and put this on the map, by all means take the quiz and sort of opt out of this lesson. But we do have a lot of content about these schools, and we still think it'd be very valuable, even if you want to brush it up a little bit. So take the quiz and we'll see you right afterwards.

So that quiz started to give you an idea of where we're going in this video. We're going to focus on three models in this course of blended learning. But remember, that's only just a subsection of all the blended learning models that are out there. But we chose these three to go really deep in because they're the ones that are most applicable for teachers and schools on the ground today. Plus, we've got our protagonists alongside of us to help guide you in this journey about learning more about these models.

Now, before we tell you more about these three schools and three models, we do think it's important to mention this term flipped classroom, because you probably have heard about this before. In many ways, flipped classroom is the easiest way to get into the blended learning movement. So let's take a moment to just look at a definition of what flipped classroom means.

So the essential idea of the flipped classroom is simple. Basically what used to be done in the classroom is now done at home online. And what used to be done at home through practice and problems is now done in the classroom so that the teacher can actually guide the students. So in this graphic before you, what you see on the left hand side is that students represented by the blue dots are actually in the classroom with their fellow peers. And you see that teacher at the front of the room in the red and they're working on practice and projects. And then on the right hand side of the screen, that represents students at home and that's where they're doing their online learning.

Now, we're not diving deep on flipped classroom because we actually think it's a great beginning into blended, but we don't want people to just stop there. It's an entry point to the idea of making learning more personalized and better using time. But as you start practicing in your setting, the different ideas of blended learning, don't think that's the end game. Really push yourself to think and be creative and take some risks around how kids can have more agency in the learning process and how we can differentiate for each student's needs.

So let's dive into the first model, the station rotation model. Take a moment to read the definition. In a station rotation model, as we've said, students are rotating between different stations. So here what we see is that some students might start with teacher led instruction, then they move to collaborative activities and stations, basically projects with other students, and then they move once again to that time when they're actually working on the computers in online learning.

So our first protagonist school is KIPP Los Angeles and we'll be visiting a school called KIPP Comienza Prep that was founded in 2010 by their founding principal, Margarita Flores. This school is super interesting because they use a station rotation model as a core part of their educational model. Essentially for two different 75 minute blocks, students have rotations within their classrooms to go after their holy grail or which is all about small group instructional time with one teacher. With a small group of students in that time, they can make fascinating gains on students comprehension and math skills while other students are in the classroom doing online learning to develop some new skills or practice old ideas. This school is a very typical urban elementary school in Los Angeles Unified School district. It's over 90% Latino and free reduced lunch students and they have some of the highest test Scores in the state of California in just their first few years of being in existence. Among the many things that Kippla does well and the strategies they use, they're zoning in on blended learning as a key change strategy to get out of the box results.

So let's dive into our second model. Brian. Second model is called the lab rotation. Take a look at the definition. This is a generic picture of a lab rotation model. Lab rotations are taking lots of different forms, but the basic idea is similar across all of them. You can see in these three images over here on the left and top that students are in traditional classrooms with other students represented by those blue dots, with teachers in the red who are just leading them through very traditional instruction. And then students rotate out at very specific times to that bottom right hand square, which is the learning lab. And that's where they're working online individually at computers. So in the lab rotation model, what you've probably figured out is that it's very similar in some respects to the station rotation model. The difference is in the station rotation students are rotating within a given classroom, whereas in the lab rotation they're actually rotating out to a learning lab where students are actually doing their online learning. We've got a great protagonist to really showcase this lab rotation model in Navigator schools. Brian?

Yeah. So Navigator was founded by Sharon Waller and James dent back in 2011 and we'll be visiting their Gilroy Prep campus. And what they've done so neatly at this campus is combine the best of a traditional sort of tech enabled classroom with thoughtful use of a learning lab where students rotate out on a day to day basis based on their data for what they need to practice. And they're on iPads or laptops working on a couple different pieces of software too support their reading or to go deeper in their math.

It sounds like a really thoughtful model. How have their results been?

I mean, it's a great story. So this is a community where the students are about 67% English language learners. And in their very first year they had one of the highest test scores in the state of California. I'm really excited to take you into the school and show you some footage of this place.

It's going to be fun to see. And for our third model, we've got the Flex model of blended learning. And for this one, take a look at the definition, then we'll come back and talk about it as well. So in this picture of a flex school, we're just showing a generic Flex model because lots of flex schools are doing Very different setups within their actual physical space. In this particular model, what you see is that there's a central learning space where students have their individual offices. And you can see that each student has their computer, which is where they learn online. Now, around the perimeter of the central space are where there's lots of breakout rooms. You see the breakout rooms where students can work in small groups. You see a breakout room where students can go for their science instruction and actually do their lab work. You see a social area down at the bottom. And this is where students can jump in, sort of like a cafe, and actually learn with other peers when it suits their purpose. And the big idea, right, is that students are moving flexibly through these different modalities based on what they need, when they need it. So in a flex model, the big idea is that it differs from a rotation because students aren't constrained to spend a certain amount of time in any given learning activity. Instead, every student, in essence has a customized playlist for what they need, when they need it. We have a great protagonist to showcase the flex model that both of us are really excited about, called Summit Public Schools.

So Summit was founded in 2003 by Diane Tavener, and we're going to be visiting their Denali campus in Sunnyvale, California. Now, this is a little hard to explain, but the big idea here is kids go as fast as they need, as fast as they can, and in different pathways depending on what they're ready for. So think of it as a long playlist that's cultivated by the teachers for the students. At the beginning of a unit, a student takes a mastery quiz to see what they need to know. And if they already know this material, they can go right over into the testing room, take the assessment and show mastery. But assuming they don't, they work through this playlist. And maybe the playlist has a Khan Academy video or a lecture that the teacher's recorded, or maybe it's a hands on project with the teacher or the other students. The key is it's truly proficiency based, it's truly mastery based. And by doing a large portion of the day under this flex model, they free up some time to do different things and go after some of that deeper learning concept. So they're starting to put project based learning into their school and really try some different approaches to get agency into the hands of their students.

And something I think you'll see as we actually visit Summit on the ground is, is that student agency is really palpable. And a big part of that model but why don't you tell us about who they're actually serving in these schools and how they've done great.

So Summit has six campuses throughout the Bay Area currently and is expanding. They have a really nice mix across income levels with some low income, middle income, and some higher income students as well. And the results have just been very strong. Their founding school, which has got the most experience, is parentally on the US News and World Report list of top high schools in America.

Now, with only three protagonists, we know we're not covering the full gamut of what's out there in blended learning. We also know that we've picked three charter schools and we haven't focused on districts in our actual examples. But that's not to say that districts across the country are not doing really interesting blended learning implementations right now. In fact, if you jump on our website and check out the blended learning universe, which will pop up in a moment, you can take a look at lots of the charter and district programs around the country and that are doing really interesting blended learning implementations. Take a look.

So we're coming to a close on the first week of our course. Let's recap by looking at the four things we've talked about so far. First, we talked about what is blended learning and tried to use a definition so we could be on the same page. And then second, we put in the caveats around what high quality blended learning looks like. Third, we gave you different examples of blended learning and the three core models that we're going to focus on. And fourth, we introduced you to our protagonist schools that we're going to be visiting again and again throughout this course.

And in the coming weeks, we're going to dive much deeper into the elements of how the student experience actually changes in blended learning and what are the inner workings of a school in a blended learning model. That is, what are teachers and administrators actually doing so that you can start to do this yourself? It's going to get a lot more involved each week and it should be a lot of fun.

At least we hope so.

For now, though, we're going to kick it over to Rob so he can give you a sense of where we're going in this course and actually preview the final prototyping assignment.