Dive Brief:

• The Learning Accelerator, a nonprofit focused on scaling blended learning, has identified six schools that exemplify blended teaching and learning practices through strategies that foster ownership, choice and self-direction among students.
• Daniel Owens, a partner for The Learning Accelerator, writes for eSchool News that the most effective schools offer students choice by letting them choose their learning path, define their pace and decide what environment they prefer to learn in — and they foster ownership by giving them control over their class schedule, their daily schedule, the type of information they receive and the assessments they choose to take.
• When it comes to student self-direction, the best programs shift the teacher role to one of facilitator or guide, like the ReNew Dolores T. Aaron Academy, where students master new skills in the order they choose and turn to video libraries and peers before teachers step in to help them.

Dive Insight:

Blended learning has become a key component of “School 2.0,” especially when it is used to give students more control over their learning and differentiate instruction so their path is personalized. Students do not master concepts at the same rate and technology allows schools to overcome barriers that used to be imposed by space and staffing constraints. Now teachers can do more on their own.

The best schools take teacher training seriously. Every school with a 1:1 device program has some sort of blended learning. Students are getting some of their instruction through their devices. But that doesn’t mean they are actively engaged in that learning or that they have a sense of agency over it. This second tier can only be reached on a systemic level through high-quality professional development.