Students’ view on to the ideal blended learning combination

STUDENTS’ VIEW ON TO THE IDEAL BLENDED LEARNING COMBINATION M A Nguyen Luong Hoang Thanh Abstract As technology has been pervasive in every sphere of the teaching and learning process, blended learnin[.]

STUDENTS’ VIEW ON TO THE IDEAL BLENDED-LEARNING COMBINATION M.A Nguyen Luong Hoang Thanh Abstract As technology has been pervasive in every sphere of the teaching and learning process, blendedlearning courses also draw much public attention Although most people seem to agree that digital learning cannot work best without the in-person supervision of a teacher, the ideal division between the time spent in front of computers and the time spent in classrooms is still a topic of contention While pessimists are concerned about students having excessive screen time, about technology doing harm to the correlation between students and teachers, and above all, about learning outcomes, optimists argue that online settings will benefit students in many positive ways, such as adding flexibility and self-paced learning, creating a more engaging study environment, improving virtual communication and collaboration, refining technical skills, etc So what is the ideal blended-learning combination? This research paper aims to study this issue Keywords: face-to-face learning, online learning, blended learning Introduction As the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing in an unpredictable trajectory, innumerable colleges and universities in the world have been shifting their classes to a mix of face-to-face and online medium Nevertheless, what we should bear in mind is that long before the virus outbreak, an increasing number of higher education faculty members had employed the blended-learning courses University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) can be considered as one of the institutions in Vietnam which take early steps toward providing students with hybrid classes In order to make the most out of these classes, we cannot but ponder over the quantity conceptualization of blended learning Literature review on terms and definitions Despite the fact that people may define the term face-to-face (F2F) learning in their own ways, we tend to agree that F2F learning is a teaching method in which the knowledge is taught in person by a teacher to a learner or a group of learners Although F2F learning varies across different cultures, the way people conduct it is pretty much the same When it comes to “online learning”, scholars and linguists interpret this term from different points of view According to Carliner (1999), online learning is viewed as any educational material which is presented via a computer As for Khan (2001), online learning is the delivery of instruction to a remote audience with the web used as an intermediary Another definition of online learning is the use of information and communication technology to deliver education when people are separated by distance, time, or both (Keller et al., 2007) With the same focus on the method of delivery, Horton (2011) defines online learning as a set of instructions that are delivered via all electronic media such as the internet, intranets, and extranets The term “blended learning” is now widely used by both researchers and practitioners However, when did it first appear and what does it exactly mean? It is supposed to emerge from the late-1990s to the early 2000s when the internet started to make a huge difference to every aspect of our daily life and online learning solutions became better known and were integrated into F2F ones Educationists have explained this term in many different ways, among which are two definitions most frequently cited in literature reviews The former is of Graham (2006) and the latter is of Garrison and Kanuka (2004) From the perspective of Graham (2006), blended learning systems “combine face-to-face instruction with computer-mediated instruction” As stated in Garrison and Kanuka (2004), blended learning is defined as follows: “the thoughtful integration of classroom face-to-face learning experiences with online learning experiences” Some other definitions are from Allen et al (2007), Brew (2008), and Horn and Staker (2011) Allen et al (2007) has a quite similar definition to the one proposed by Graham (2006) However, they take one step further by suggesting that the proportion of content delivered online should be between 30 and 79% Giving attention to the aspect of study outcome, Brew (2008) defines blended learning as an integrated format to create a more effective learning experience than either medium (F2F / online) can produce alone Lastly, blended learning is “any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and / or pace” (Horn & Staker, 2011) Methodology Peterson and Horn (2016) conducted a survey in which the respondents were asked “what share of instructional time in high school you think students should spend receiving instruction independently through or on a computer?” The remarkable finding is while 60% of the general public thought that students should work at least 30% on the computer, a roughly similar percentage argued that students should work no more than 30% on the computer Therefore, 30% is the median response In other words, a student is supposed to spend approximately onethird of their study time online In order to learn what the ideal blended-learning combination should be, from the view of students at UEH, a survey, as a form of quantitative research method, was conducted A twoitem questionnaire had been composed to gather information about the learners’ opinions and attitudes on the topic For safety reasons, the questionnaire was then distributed online using Google Form Participants were 192 students aged 18 and 19 They were chosen equally from two proficiency levels All of them have just completed an English for Business Communication blended course Additionally, they were clear about the purpose of the research, and as the collected information was anonymous, they felt no pressure or judgment Findings and discussions What type of learning delivery you like best? The survey starts with a three-option item to get a general view of the students’ perception of learning deliveries At first glance, more than two-fifths of the students surveyed choose fully F2F courses as their most preferred option The figure confirms the fact while online and blended learning have become increasingly popular, the in-person study may still be the best option for many students This can be attributed to many various reasons, including more concentration, less distraction, better learning outcomes, or just a matter of familiarity in traditional classrooms However, interestingly, the proportions of those willing to take fully online courses and blended courses are at 22.4% and 34.4%, respectively Together, they even outnumber the ones in favor of fully F2F courses Taking this into account, students show some degree of preference for the course delivery that combines aspects of both in-person and online settings Not only they become more open-minded about blended courses, but a fifth of them even show no objection to taking fully online courses In your opinion, the division of time between face-to-face (F2F) and online components of a blended course should be / The second item on the questionnaire is to figure out the best division between F2F and online components of a blended course from student’s opinions Strange as it may seem from the graph above, while one-third of them (30.7%) rate 50 / 50 as the most appropriate combination, another one-third of them (29.7%) agree that blended learning works best when the division between time spent in the classroom and time spent in front of the computer screen is 70 / 30 As the survey reveals, the proportions of those selecting options 80 / 20 and 60 / 40 are at 16.1% and 13.5%, respectively Lastly, it comes as no surprise that only one in ten students surveyed opt for the 90 / 10 division Overall, it may be said that from student’s responses, the right way to blend teacher time and computer time is to give the teachers 70%, or about two-thirds, of a school day This is also the time-division policy that our university has been adopting Besides, the survey also discloses that the online learning time can even be increased up to 50% Conclusion Given the various unexplored areas concerning the issue of blended learning, the field is wide open for further research and study As regards this research paper, it has provided us with some encouraging news Even though there are still unprecedented challenges when implementing blended learning courses in the first place, they prove to work well in our university and students also take an accepting and willing attitude toward these courses That many students in the survey enjoy studying online as much as they in traditional classroom settings indicates emergence of qualities such as being self-directed, self-motivated, and selfdisciplined As educators, we cannot but agree that these elements have important roles to play in the success of any learner Nevertheless, what should also be considered is while students have been granted greater autonomy, both teachers and institutions must consistently perform an irreplaceable role and proactively seek more ways to provide expanded assistance as well as additional channels to support our students Only by doing this will we get the most out of blended learning courses References Allen, I.E., Seaman, J., & Garrett, R (2007) Blending in: The Extent and Promise of Blended Education in the United States Newburyport, MA: The Sloan Consortium: USA Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/blended06 Brew, L (2008) The role of student feedback in evaluating and revising a blended learning course Internet and Higher Education, 11, 98-105 doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2008.06.002 Carliner, S (1999) An overview of online learning (1st ed.) Armherst, MA: Human Resource Development Press Garrison, D R., & Kanuka, H (2004) Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education Internet and Higher Education, 7(2), 95-105 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2004.02.001 Graham, C R (2006) Blended learning systems: Definition, current trends and future directions In C J Bonk & C R Graham (Eds.), The handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives, local designs San Francisco: Pfeiffer Horn, M., & Staker, H (2011) The rise of K – 12 blended learning Report Innosight Institute Retrieved from http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The‐ Rise‐of‐K‐12‐Blended‐Learning.pdf Horton, W (2011) E-Learning by Design San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Keller, C., Hrastinski, S., & Carlsson, S A (2007) Students’ Acceptance of E-Learning Environments: A Comparative Study in Sweden and Lithuania International Business Khan, B (2001) Web-based training Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications Peterson, Paul E & Horn, Michael B (2016) The Ideal Blended-Learning Combination Education Next, 16 (2), 94-95 Retrieved from https://www.educationnext.org Appendix QUESTIONNAIRE ON STUDENTS' VIEW ON TO THE IDEAL BLENDED-LEARNING COMBINATION We would like to ask you to help us by answering the following questions concerning online learning This survey is conducted to better understand students’ view on to the ideal blendedlearning combination please give your answers sincerely as this will guarantee the success of the survey What type of learning delivery you like best?  Fully face-to-face (F2F) courses  Fully online courses  Blended courses In your opinion, the division of time between face-to-face (F2F) and online components of a blended course should be /  50% (F2F) / 50% (online)  60% (F2F) / 40% (online)  70% (F2F) / 30% (online)  80% (F2F) / 20% (online)  90% (F2F) / 10% (online) Thank you for your valuable feedback! ... help us by answering the following questions concerning online learning This survey is conducted to better understand students’ view on to the ideal blendedlearning combination please give your... Education Next, 16 (2), 94-95 Retrieved from https://www.educationnext.org Appendix QUESTIONNAIRE ON STUDENTS'' VIEW ON TO THE IDEAL BLENDED- LEARNING COMBINATION We would like to ask you to help... online courses In your opinion, the division of time between face -to- face (F2F) and online components of a blended course should be / The second item on the questionnaire is to figure out the