29 Offline learning and Blended learning

DR. Geeta R Thakur

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28.0 Learning outcomes

 

29.0 Introduction

 

30.0 Offline learning

 

31.0 Advantages of using offline learning

 

32.0 Blended learning

 

33.0 Models of blended learning

 

34.0 Advantages of blended learning

 

35.0 Disadvantages of blended learning

 

36.0 Let us sum up

 

 

28.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

 

After completing this module students will be able to ..

  • To explain the concept of offline learning
  • To explain the advantages and limitations of offline learning
  • To explain the concept of blended learning
  • To explain the advantages and limitations of blended learning

 

28.1 INTRODUCTION

 

To initiate an organization, students and teachers into e-learning, it is very essential to move them gradually from traditional classrooms to e-learning in small steps making changes easier to accept. Offline learning and blended learning provides solution to it by benefitting their bottom line. It enables instructors and instructional designers to develop skills needed for e-learning in small increments. It provides solution to the problem of heavy cost and resources required for e-learning.

 

28.2 OFFLINE LEARNING

The term online and offline have specific meaning with respect to computer technology. In general, “online” indicates a state of connectivity of the computer to the internet , while “offline” indicates a disconnected state. Offline learning is learning done through computer when it is not connected to internet.

 

Offline learning is a convenient way of learning without the need of an internet connection.

 

Ways in which offline learning can be used:

 

Offline browsing:

 

Offline browsing also known as “Offline favourites” is one of the special features of internet explorer. It allows saving single web pages, though not an entire site. In the off-line state, users can perform offline browsing, where pages that have previously been downloaded in the on-line state can be browsed. This can be useful when the connection to the internet is impossible or undesirable. One such web browser capable of being explicitly configured to download pages for offline browsing is

 

Internet Explorer:

 

When pages are added to the Favourite list, they can be marked as “available for offline browsing” which will be available for the learner to read/refer even in the state when the computer is not connected to the internet.

 

Offline navigator :

 

Offline navigator is a computer software that helps a learner to download e-mail, newsgroup posts or web pages, making them available for reference when the computer is not connected to the internet. Offline navigators are often useful for portable computers. Offline mail readers are computer programs that allows the users to read their mails with a minimum of connection time of the computer to the internet by saving the messages for offline reading.

 

Offline storage

 

Offline storage device is any storage medium which has to be inserted into a storage drive before it can be accessed by the computer system.. Offline storage is also called as removable/detachable storage. The learning material/mail is recorded usually in the secondary or tertiary storage device and then it is physically disconnected. The device must be inserted or connected before a computer can access it again. Some offline storage devices are

 

Floppy drive : Floppy drives are portable and are a universal file storage solutions. The standard size of a floppy is 1.44 MB.

 

Hard drive: The hard drive is the main area of storage on your computer which helps storing a large amount of data on your computer. Generally the hard drive is fixed within the computer. It is usually removable, but not easily portable. Storage capacity can range into the gigabytes.

 

Super disk: ThoughSuper disks are similar to the floppy drive, they support very high density diskettes. The super disk allows for a 120 MB capacity on one disk.

 

CD-ROM and CD rewritable: Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory, i.e. CD-ROM is an optical disk capable of storing large amount of data. CD rewritable drives allows the users to record information to a CD thereby providing an easy way to archive data or share files.

 

DVD-ROM and DVD re-writable: A DVD is type of optical disk technology similar to the CD-ROM. A DVD holds a minimum of 4.7 GB of data and are commonly used as medium for digital representation of movies and other multimedia presentations that involves graphics.

 

USB flash drives: A USB drive is a very small, portable flash memory card that plugs into computer’s USB port and functions as a portable hard drive.

 

28.3 ADVANTAGES OF USING OFFLINE RESOURCES

 

Portable: In modern computers, most secondary and tertiary storage media are also used for off-line storage. Off-line storage is used to transfer information, since the detached medium can be conveniently transported physically from one place to another.

 

Secure : In case a disaster destroys the original data, a medium in a remote location will be probably unaffected, thereby enabling data recovery. Off-line storage increases a general information security, since it is physically inaccessible from a computer, and therefore data confidentiality or integrity cannot be affected by computer based attack techniques.

 

Economical: If you connect to the internet via a dial up modem and a standard telephone line it can save money on your phone bill as well.

 

Teacher friendly : Using the sites in an offline state helps the students focus on specific materials, thereby giving control over the material to the teachers . Thus,students have to focus on the material in front of them which prevents them straying onto other sites.Also material that uses language which is slightly complex or which teachers would like to adapt or select from, can be changed offline to tailor them to the students’ needs.

 

 

28.4 BLENDED LEARNING

 

In modern times, with the invent of computer and internet, the idea of using technology in education got importance. E-learning has emerged as the most popular version of education in Western countries. But, serious errors and limitations can be seen regarding e-learning. In a country like India, the economic support is the biggest problem. Lack of social contact, lack of feeling of responsibility, promotion to materialism and lack of human touch are a few objections taken on e-learning. Therefore, purely classroom teaching or purely online learning cannot bring constructive transformation in Indian Teacher Education. Hence, proper co-ordination and meaningful integration of both these approaches is essential to bring revolutionary changes in our system. Blended learning can become the pathway of success towards that direction.

 

The first generation of e-learning or web-based learning programmes focused on presenting physical classroom based instructional content over the internet. In the second wave of e-learning, increasing numbers of learning models that combine various delivery modes are used. Blended learning offers more choices with effective way.

 

Blended Learning: Definition

 

Actually, it is not a new concept. But it has not been thought about or applied clearly and appropriately till yet. This term was initially used in 1997 in UK. According to Graham Spanier,”It is the largest unknown trend in higher education.”

 

“Blended learning is a mixture of online learning and classroom that contain some of the facilities of online courses with the presence of face-to-face communication.”

 

Rovai and Jordan (2004)

 

Bonk (2004, p.5) cited the three most common definitions of blended learning:

 

1.  A combination of instructional modalities (or delivery media)

 

2.  A combination of instructional methods

 

3.  A combination of online and face-to-face instruction

 

“A learning programme where more than one more delivery mode is used.”

 

T.Barker (2005)

 

“There are two significant elements in defining blended learning and those are online and face-to-face instructions.

 

Picciano (2006): “The Blended learning approach combines the best elements of online and face to face learning. It is likely to emerge as the predominant model of the future and become far more common than either one alone”

 

CONCEPT OF BLENDED LEARNING:

 

Blended learning referred to the following four different concepts:-

 

  •  To combine mix modes of web-based technology : To accomplish an educational goals, live virtual classroom, self-paced instruction, collaborative learning, streaming video, audio and text can be blend together with different combinations.
  • To combine various pedagogical approaches: To produce optimal learning outcomes various pedagogical approaches like constructivism, behaviourism and cognitivism can be blend together with or without instructional technology.
  • To combine any form of instructional technology: Instructional technologies, devices like CD-ROM , web-based training, film are used with face-to-face instructor led training.
  • To combine instructional technology with actual job task: Working experiences are blended together with learning experiences to create maximum and effective learning outcomes.

 

Overall, the best mix of resources is used to provide an optimum learning experience for all the students. Blended learning can be described as a learning program where more than one delivery mode is being used with the objective of optimizing the learning outcome and cost of program delivery.

Click here to watch you tube on basic of blended learning Click here to watch you tube on blended learning

 

Examples of blended learning:

 

  1. Make reference material available: Teacher can provide reference material i.e. notes, reference books, videos etc. online through blogs, email etc.
  2. Put the assessment online.
  3. Deliver pre-work online
  4. Provide online remedial teaching
  5. Provide guidance/mentoring online
  6. Arrange expert’s lectures online

Source: https://time2learn.wikispaces.com/Blended+Learning+Environment+(BLE)

 

28.5 MODELS OF BLENDED LEARNING

 

Following are the four models that are most used in schools today:

 

•  Flipped classroom

 

Flipped classroom / flipped learning is a modern approach to learning. It is opposite to that of traditional classroom. In traditional classroom, the classroom time is spent on lecturing to students. Whereas in flipped model, this time is utilized for discussion to encourage individualized learning and provide one-on-one help to students, and also to improve student-teacher interaction. The instructional or teachable content is given before hand to students and still available in class.

 

• Station Rotation Model

 

In a station rotation model, within a given course or subject , students are divided into different groups. Teacher fixed some learning stations i.e. online learning, individual tutoring, project work, assignment etc. students rotate at fixed points in time between these different learning stations. In the Station Rotation model, students rotate through all of the stations.

 

•  Rotation Model

 

In a lab Rotation model, students rotate at fixed points in time between a classroom and computer lab. Students learn online in computer lab. Whereas they are involved in various activities in classroom. In station rotation model students are rotating within a given classroom whereas in the lab model they are actually rotating out to a learning lab where they are doing their online learning.

 

•  Flex Model

 

Online learning is at the centre of students’ learning in the Flex model. Students have flexible schedule of their learning based on their need and fixed goals. Students get online learning experiences as well as offline face to face learning experiences. Face to face learning experiences are given through discussion, projects, mentoring, tutoring etc.; most of the learning take place online.

 

28.6 ADVANTAGES OF BLENDED LEARNING

 

  1. Blended learning allows and schools alike to make maximum use of the technologies and other resources that they have available to them. This means that it allows schools to take a look at all the technologies and tools that they have and see how it can best be used to bring the greatest benefit to students and the organization even as they spend as little as they possibly can and still maintain effectiveness.
  2. Issues concerning distance are eliminated.
  3. The speed with which you can reach thousands of people is unmatched by traditional methods as they can all be reach simultaneously without the restrictions of time and space.
  4. Not all content can be properly delivered online. The challenges of using a purely online modality are eliminated when a blended approach is used.
  5. By making use of traditional approaches where they work best and applying the technology related methods only where they are most appropriate for the achievement of the instructional goals, teachers can avoid the exponential increase in costs that can accompany a complete switch to online methods only. It also allows students to avoid costs that are incurred through travel, accommodations and other expenses that are tied to ‘time and place studies’.
  6. Blended learning allows learners the flexibility with their time to do their lessons anytime and anyplace as they have continuous access to the course material until a meeting with the lecturer becomes compulsory.
  7. It makes it easier to deal with educational administration and enables communication with all students. Virtual office hours make tutors far more accessible than in a strictly face-to-face scenario.
  8. Students get their learning needs and styles catered to whether they prefer online or face-to-face because it offers both in a single course. This leads to more interaction and active participation in discussion.
  9. For sessions held online, the communication between teacher and student is open and everyone can benefit from it because everyone can view the responses sent by the teacher. These are frequent feedbacks from the teacher resulting in effective learning.
  10. Some lecturers experience an improvement in the quality of students’ writing and discussion.According to a 2009 study from the Department of Education: “Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.” Students who mix online learning with traditional coursework (i.e. blended learning) do even better (Internet Time Group Report)
  11. Online resources are updated and upgraded time to time. Thus, students have access to unlimited up-to-date resources.
  12. It helps to develop time management skills and critical thinking skill. Blended learning is flexible as it gives freedom to the students to choose time as per their convenience.

 

28.7 DISADVANTAGES OF BLENDED LEARNING

 

  1. Time consuming: Before a blended learning scenario can be considered ready for use, the lecturer has to do long, detailed and extensive work. Preparation for start up is very time consuming.
  2. Limited interactions: There can be limited contact between lecturer and students and so some of the dynamism that comes with face-to-face interaction can be lost. All students are not self-motivated. They need to be motivated to participate actively in the learning process. Here blended learning can be a hindrance.
  3. Students’ tendencies: Based on what students are used to, they often prefer the paper versions of the materials than to see them online so the face-to-face sessions in the blended programmes usually have a comparatively more successful “feel” for the students.
  4. Extra efforts from teachers: The materials developed by the lecturers cannot simply be the same set that they had developed for hand outs. They have to be reformatted so that they guide the students through a process of independent study when they are not in a face-to-face session. This additional task required of the lecturers is yet to be appreciated for what it is worth. Teachers always need to be ready with plan for the students who need additional help.
  5. Students sometimes feel that they are given more work to do when distance modalities are used.
  6. Blended learning is literally dependent on the technical resource and online information. These tools need to be reliable, easy to use and updated in order to give a meaningful learning experience.
  7. Blended learning needs stable and adequate internet connection. The school or the institution should have adequate infrastructure and all facilities required for computer based instruction
  8. Information literacy is a must for blended learning or it can lead to a significant barrier for students who wish to get access to the course material.
  9. Students generally wait and watch all videos in one sitting, rather than on regular basis. The use of lecture recording technology might result in students falling behind on the resource material.

 

28.4 LET US SUM UP

 

In computer technology, “online” indicates a state of connectivity and “offline” indicates a disconnected state. Offline learning is plays an important role where internet connectivity is a major problem. Offline learning supplements classroom teaching learning process.

 

Blended learning is inventing or adopting new learning environments that work better for students and teachers. Blended learning implies a shift to an online environment and giving students more control over the pace, path, time and place of learning. The goal of blended learning to personalize learning using modern technology and expand learning opportunities.

 

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REFERENCES

  • http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/the-topic-of-blended-learning-education-essay.php
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offline_reader
  • http://classroom-aid.com/2013/02/06/blended-learning-implementation-guide-dlday/