How to Make the Most Out of Blended Learning in 17 Easy Steps?

 Blended learning is an effective tool for both teachers and students, as it gives a better learning experience, especially when used right.

Instead of going to the classroom, getting stuck in traffic, and wasting time, you can simply learn or teach from the comfort of your home. Actually, that is one of the main benefits of blended learning.

How to make the most out of blended learning? To make the most out of blended learning you should first define what you want to accomplish, what are the outcomes and the objectives of the course, what your students need, and what will best work for them. Knowing your students and using the right approaches is what makes the best learning experience.  

In this article, we will discover how to make the most out of it, and the techniques that help you reach your goal, so, let’s get started.

What is blended learning?

What is the blended learning solutions definition? A blended learning solution is a way of learning that mix e-learning techniques with traditional learning techniques to get the best of both. In it, you have a teacher or trainer explaining the lesson with the help of a variety of e-learning tools.          

Blended learning is designed to give the best virtual learning experience instead of traditional learning where learners are bored and cannot wait until the lesson is over. The LMS technology helps in improving the quality of learning and saving everyone’s time.

Let’s sum it up, blended learning offers you the best of both worlds, it combines e-Learning techniques and traditional classroom techniques to give the best learning experience. In which the training is led by an instructor using e-learning tools to make the training easy to understand and engaging. So, it offers a hybrid solution to meet the needs.

How to make the most out of blended learning in 17 easy steps?

Now that we know what is blended learning solutions, it’s time to see how to make the most out of it, and how to engage students throughout the lesson. Here we go:        

1. Define Your Role.

As a teacher you play a critical role in the learning process, your role is not just explaining the lesson but ensuring the students understanding, making them a part of the learning process, and encouraging them to interact and communicate with you and each other.

2. Give a Brief Description of The Curriculum.

blended learning solutions are of great help if used right. Starting the first lesson by summarizing what you will discuss throughout the course or the week will give students a better idea about what to expect. For example, discuss the learning goals and objectives, and the approaches you will use, like conducting tests and quizzes.

3. Define Your Goals.

The most important step to the most out of blended learning is to know your goals, what you want to accomplish, what you expect from the course, what are the outcomes, and how it will benefit the students.

4. Determine the Learning Objectives.

The next step to make the most out of blended learning solutions kit is to determine the learning objectives of the course or curriculum so that you can measure student performance easily and effectively.   

5. Define Learning Outcomes.

Learning outcomes refer to what the student will learn, including the information, knowledge, skills, and so on, in order to complete the curriculum.

6. Choose the Right Blended Learning Model.

When you know what you want the student or learner to learn and what you want to achieve you start considering the various blended learning models. you need to decide which blended learning model you will use, is it The Flipped Classroom Model, The Enriched Virtual Model, The Individual Rotation Model, The Flex Model, or any other model that will best work for your students?

 One of the blended custom learning solutions is the flipped classroom model. In this model, the lecture is delivered online, then students go to school to discuss their projects or assignments. You could use more than one model if you like to engage your students effectively.

7. Explore Different Teaching Methods.

The teaching method you follow normally in the traditional classroom might not work when using blended learning, therefore, you should consider other approaches that make learning more fun and active, one way to think about it is how to engage students more to make them the center of learning, and you could do that by using peer teaching for instance.

8. Use the Right Technology.

There are various blended learning strategies that you could use, however, the success of the approach you use is affected by the technology and tools. Blended learning tools are there to help you, and to make the most out of it you should consider your students’ needs, learning objectives and outcomes, and your method of teaching, and then use the tools that will help you achieve your goals quickly. You can use more than one tool, and that is something to keep in mind.

9. Make Learning Fun and Relevant.

Learning can be both fun and relevant, it does not have to be just one of them.  There are many Blended e-learning solutions to help you reach your goal, using the right one is what makes the difference, many tools offer a variety of options, however, the right tool is the one that helps you make learning fun and engaging.        

One of the Best blended learning solutions is Manaarah. It is designed to suit your organization’s needs and requirements, andis a premier learning management system to suit your needs.  It empowers your school or organization to provide online classes or training and an overall engaging educational experience. Provide engaging and easy-to-access classes for your learners.

Manaarah LMS offers a variety of learning styles, such as tutoring, group classes, on-demand courses, and in-person learning. With a wide range of features, such as Course Builder & Pre-Made Courses, Practice Center, Activity Center, Report Cards and Transcripts, Certificates, Course Management, Student Management, and More, your school or organization will be able to provide the best education with ease.

Manaarah blended learning solution makes it easy for you to manage all of your users in one place. Record all of their information, take notes, upload user-specific documents for reference, and more. Your learners get their own personal account, can customize their settings, and can access all of their courses easily in one place.

10. Determine Your Course’s Interactivity.

Another thing you need to think of when changing to blended learning is how much of the course will be interactive. Blended learning helps you reach students anywhere, without leaving home, it is created to combine the advantages of the e-Learning experience and the traditional learning experience and make the most of them. But the course will not be entirely online. Therefore, you need to decide which part needs to be online and which part needs to be accomplished in the classroom.

When knowing this you will be able to plan your course effectively, which will be better for you and the students.

11. Use Flipped Classroom.

As we mentioned before, flipped classroom is one of the best approaches to make the class interactive. Where the lecture is delivered online, then students go to school to discuss their projects or assignments.

In traditional learning, the lecture is given throughout the class time and students can revise the lesson at any time. But in the flipped classroom, students study the lecture at any time and then take advantage of the class time to discuss their projects and ask about what they don’t understand.

11. Use different types of instructional materials.

One of the types of blended learning strategies is to use various types of instructional materials and strategies. To give the best learning experience you shouldn’t just stick to the textbook, use different methods to make learning fun and engaging.

One of examples of blended learning strategies for a science lecture is adding videos from the internet to show how to do an experiment, adding pictures that explain every section, and so on. By using various types of teaching materials and resources, learning will be fun and easy for your students, and you won’t face any challenges during the class.

12. Conduct Collaborative Learning.

One of the best blended learning solutions for employee training is using collaborative learning. It encourages them to think together and share their knowledge, and opinions which helps them brainstorm and come up with new ideas and understand what they failed to understand on their own.

When students share their knowledge together it will help them understand the lesson even better and retain the knowledge for the long term.      

When can you use it in the class? You could use it before you start the lesson, to refresh their memory, or use it after the lesson to let the student apply and discuss what they learned. This blended learning strategy will encourage students to share their opinions and express themselves without any fear.

13. Conduct pre and post-testing with real-time feedback.

To ensure students understanding it is a good idea to evaluate their performance through the use of pre- or post-testing. You could use google forms, prepare the test and send it to your students. After they solve each question, the correct answer will be shown to them to indicate whether they answered right or not. Manaarah LMS offers you a set of tools to use and the ability to conduct quizzes and tests to evaluate your student’s progress easily instead of using other tools for assessments.

With Manaarah blended learning LMS, you have all the tools you need in one place.  The blended program is designed to suit your organization’s needs and requirements. It is a premier learning management system to suit your needs.  Our LMS also empowers your school or organization to provide online classes or training and an overall engaging educational experience. Provide engaging and easy-to-access classes for your learners. Check out our guide to the Best blended learning solutions to learn more about it.

Real-time feedback and test are useful for both teachers and learners, it helps teachers learn about their students’ needs, and which part of the classroom they need to work on to make it easier and more understandable for students.

Additionally, tests help students track their progress and performance to know their strengths and weaknesses and work on enhancing them.

14. Create interactive resources such as quizzes and online games.

Among the blended learning best practices are using games and conducting quizzes to keep students active and engaged. Sure, you heard about Duolingo, it is one of the most famous language apps that many users love. The app uses many features of gamification, for instance, every time you level up you get a badge, which makes learning fun. That is why many users love this app, as it teaches languages through games.

If you can use games that serve the goal of the lesson it will significantly make your lecture interactive and engaging.

15. Tell Real Stories.

Stories are easy to remember because they are fun and emotional, they will make students feel emotionally connected. You can use the blended learning tools is to present real-life stories that relate to what you are explaining. This will also demonstrate how to use what they learn in the class in their real life.

Also telling a story of how a specific skill impacted and improved someone’s life or helped someone to succeed makes it even better. Stories help students connect with what they learn and understand its importance, instead of seeing it as something they must memorize for the test.   

16. Use Videos.

Videos are fun to watch, and adding video tutorials to your blended learning classroom makes it more fun and engaging. Additionally, besides being fun, they can be of great help when explaining something complicated or a difficult subject. Videos are great tools to make learning easier for students.

Furthermore, they are great for engaging students, after watching the video you can ask them about what they understood from the video, their opinion of what they saw, or if they have any questions. This way you will encourage students to interact with you and the class.

17. Assignments and Revisions.

The benefits of blended learning are more than we can count, and to make it even better you could conduct assignments and revisions to keep students active. Because let’s face it, most students won’t study the subject unless they have a test or assignment to solve. Therefore, assignments are essential tools when it comes to blended learning.

Using the right platform or tool will make it much easier for you, instead of using external tools. The best platform is the one that offers you the ability to make assignments, quizzes, and projects. And so on.

Conclusions and recommendations of blended learning.

A blended learning solution is a way of learning that mix e-learning techniques with traditional learning techniques to get the best of both. In it, you have a teacher or trainer explaining the lesson with the help of a variety of e-learning tools.              

To make the most out of blended learning you should define your role as a teacher. As a teacher, you are responsible for helping students understand the lesson in a fun and easy way, and to engage them with you, to give them the best learning experience.

Defining your goals and objectives will help you set a plan and understand which tools and technologies are best to use. Based on your objective you can easily measure students’ performance and the success of your plan. Also, you should be aware of what you want students to learn, the knowledge, information, and the set of skills they need to succeed.

Then you need to decide which blended learning model you will use, is it The Flipped Classroom Model, The Enriched Virtual Model, The Individual Rotation Model, The Flex Model, or any other model that will best work for your students?

Furthermore, you should keep in mind that Blended learning tools are there to help you. And to make the most out of it you should consider your student’s needs, learning objectives and outcomes, and your method of teaching, and then use the tools that will help you achieve your goals quickly. You can use more than one tool, and that is something to keep in mind.

If you found the article helpful feel free to share it. If you still have any questions comment below and we will be more than glad to help you.