Students at my school currently have one-to-one Chromebooks and are learning both at home and in-person simultaneously during class. Research has shown how simply buying computers changes very little regarding how students are learning and how teachers deliver instruction (Horn & Staker, 2018). Spending money on technology alone does not do much for students. Research shows that purchasing computers only guarantees a rise in costs and a removal of resources away from school priorities (Horn & Staker, 2018).
As of now, our school is working to strengthen its math program. However, it is becoming increasingly hard to provide individualized support during a pandemic. We simply cannot hire an additional teacher for online students nor pay for an expensive curriculum created especially for improving math scores. Funding has recently been prioritized and focused on technology and student-protection. We still must improve our teachers’ ability to allow students to develop the necessary skills to succeed and grow, while meeting the needs of each individual student.
I propose to implement blended learning. Implementing blended learning will allow teachers to have the resources necessary to be able to create a student-centered environment and will provide more time to focus on individual student needs. With blended learning, students will be working at their own pace. Students will be able to have access to activities that allow higher-order thinking. Click here to see a more detailed Innovation Proposal for my school administration.
Due to the pandemic, we have had to rethink education. No longer can we lead direct instruction without putting a lot of thought into it for our online and in-person students. It can also be overwhelming to make the shift to allowing student choice, or a student-paced environment in the classroom.
Thankfully, providing student choice and eventually implementing blended learning will give students the opportunity to develop the values and character-traits necessary for our students to become self-motivated and life-long learners that can withstand the struggle of learning in-person and potentially online. Our students deserve the opportunity to receive individualized instruction with a basis in research-based practices.
The next step for carrying out my implementation plan requires an explanation of the research-based practices. I have researched and found several articles, books, and studies that support my innovation plan. Click here to see my literature review documenting important take-aways from research.
As I stated in the literature review: “Improving culture, creating professional development, engaging teachers in the plan, and allowing student choice in the classroom will prepare students for a future that is improved by a blended learning environment. Students deserve the opportunity to become independent learners. We cannot begin preparing our students for the future unless we step back and develop pedagogy focused on current research-based practices, such as implementing the station-rotation model.”
Over the next three years as the plan progresses, more research and plan modification will be necessary. Research shows how “almost anything you can do to a student can contribute to their achievement, but the key is to do what is most effective” (Harapunuik, et al., 2018, p. 13). Click here to view an outlined plan of how I will begin to successfully implement blended learning in the classroom.
I am excited to begin this innovation. Will you join me in supporting students in developing them into life-long learners?
Annotated List of Resources
At the end of October, Caitlin Tucker’s recent post she tweeted caught my eye. She wrote a post about how the station-rotation model might be part of the solution to the struggle at-hand in many classrooms (Tucker, 2020). Many teachers at my school will agree with the struggle and I believe this post would be a great place to start to explain the “why” for blended learning. Her post certainly took a hold of my heart and made me feel empowered to make a change in my classroom. I would want that for my fellow teachers.
I also would want to provide coworkers with access to research on the blended learning topic. The research done by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development in the Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies would be a great place to start for teachers who are curious about what current research is proving.
After reading more about Caitlin Tucker’s approach to blended learning in the classroom, I believe it would benefit teachers to have the opportunity to read Blended Learning in Action: A Practical Guide Toward Sustainable Change. Our teachers are looking for ways to make teaching sustainable and sustainability is a word I commonly hear in the teacher’s workroom. As of now, teaching is incredibly time consuming and it is a struggle to keep up with everything.
I appreciate the way Caitlin Tucker has organized her books in a way that goes well with how I organized my literature review. She has recognized how teachers must be a part of the sustainable change, partner with students, and have appropriate professional development provided. The next book I introduce would be a great book for our administration and our curriculum coordinator and technology specialist to read. Power Up Blended Learning: A Professional Learning Infrastructure to Support Sustainable Change would be a great book to start with our administration because it provides specifics about how administration can support teachers with this improvement.
Reading and using The Blended Workbook: Learning to Design the Schools of Our Future to support our blended learning team would be very effective. I hope to be able to provide effective literary support to the team. I believe the workbook would guide us in a great direction, especially if we cannot afford to attend any of the blended learning conferences.
References
Arnett, T., Moesta, B., & Horn, M. (2018). The Teacher’s Quest for Progress: How school leaders can motivate instructional innovation. Christensen Institute. https://www.christenseninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/JTBD.pdf
Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., Cummings, C. (2018). Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning. Creative Commons License.
Horn, M. & Staker, H. (2015). Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools. Jossey-Bass.
Horn, M. & Staker, H. (2015). The Blended Workbook: Learning to Design the Schools of our Future. Jossey-Bass.
Tucker, C.R. (2020) Combatting the Challenges of the Concurrent Classroom with the Station Rotation Model. Retrieved November 08, 2020, from https://catlintucker.com/2020/10/concurrent -classroom-with-station-rotation-model/
Tucker, C. R. (2019). Power up blended learning: A professional learning infrastructure to support sustainable change. Thousand Oaks, CA: CORWIN.
Tucker, C. R., Wycoff, T., & Green, J. T. (2017). Blended learning in action: A practical guide toward sustainable change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a SAGE company.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. (2010). Retrieved October 20, 2020 from
Education with Meaning 
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