Opinion: The solution to blended learning’s problems? Blend more.
Offering blended more frequently and in other classes may improve the system and ultimately MCHS students
Though blended learning has been successful in many ways, MCHS has also struggled with this new class structure. Blending more frequently and offering blended in different classes might remedy many issues.
December 15, 2021
As blended ends early for this semester, administration is looking into changes to be made to the new system. Increasing how many times students blend a week as well as adding certain courses to the blended program will benefit MCHS students.
Starting December 6 to the end of first semester, the administration decided to stop allowing students to blend. Throughout the blended experience it had become easier for students to skip class resulting in many more cuts than years before.
A minor problem with the blended system was the number of times a week classes were allowed to blend. Courses were only granted one day a week to be blended and some didn’t blend at all during certain weeks. This seemed to defeat the whole purpose of taking a blended class. If certain classes need the majority of the week to teach lessons then we should avoid making these classes blended at all.
In this case there are some classes that are not blended that could take the opportunity. For example, most math classes have in-class work days that could easily be made into blended days. Overall, if the classes that were blended are not able to give students independent opportunities, then there are plenty of other courses that seem more suitable and could be utilized.
This would help students get the benefits that blended is supposed to give if they are able to partake more often and in a greater variety of classes. According to the Administration, “MCHS believes that blended learning is a powerful instructional tool for teachers and can empower and motivate students for greater academic and interpersonal success.” However it’s difficult for students to apply and receive these benefits if they are only blending once a week or not at all.
Expanding the blended system might not be the most reasonable considering how fresh it is and some of the problems MCHS has dealt with during the first semester. However, if the system is here to stay then these improvements will advance it and upgrade blended learning altogether.
Blended has faced some issues throughout this past semester but considering and improving how and how often students blend will be able to utilize the system the best they can and reshape MCHS for the better.
