Complete Research on Blended Learning
In this topic, he researched Blended Learning Environment, one of the most important applications of e-learning in education, and even more closely related to modern trends in education in general. In this topic, we will present the concept of blended learning, its advantages, types, and previous studies related to it, as follows.
The concept of blended learning:
Muhammad (2020, p. 501) defines the blended learning environment as a pattern of teaching and learning that combines traditional education from in-class classes with e-learning through software used in the classroom in addition to some electronic research outputs on the Internet and a set of various electronic means of communication such as e-mail and Facebook for communication. With the teacher and students outside of school hours.
Bayoumi (2020, p. 38) believes that it is an integrated educational and learning system that takes advantage of all available technological capabilities and media, by combining more than one learning method and tool, whether electronic or traditional. To provide a new quality of learning that suits the characteristics and needs of learners on the one hand, and the nature of the course and the educational goals that we seek to achieve on the other hand, to bring the educational process to the level of quality and solve problems related to class management and learning-oriented activities [2].
Types of blended learning:
Many studies and writings dealt with the types of blended learning according to the following [3]:
1. Integration of direct education via the Internet, and indirect education, which takes place within the framework of traditional classes.
2. Incorporating self-paced, learner-controlled learning, and live, dynamic collaborative learning among multiple learners, such as live video conferencing.
3. Integration of ready-made content and live (online and classroom) experiences.
4. Incorporate pre-structured learning, practice (using model simulations of tasks or functional processes), and online support tools.
Advantages of blended learning:
Many writings dealt with the advantages of blended learning as follows [4]:
@. Enhancing the human aspects and social relations between the learners among themselves, and between them and their teachers and among the teachers themselves as well.
@. Full flexibility to meet all the individual needs and learning styles of learners of different levels, ages and times.
@. Enriching human knowledge and raising the quality of the educational process, and then the quality of the educational product and the efficiency of the learners.
@. Providing a continuous interactive environment, in order to achieve ease of communication with the learner, and to provide him with the scientific material in a clear manner through various applications accompanied by graphics, sound and image, through visual presentations.
@. Providing practice and training in the educational environment, this system achieves the possibility of training in the study environment, providing practical training and actual practice of skills and providing appropriate reinforcement of performance to achieve educational goals.
@. Many scientific subjects are difficult to teach in the fully electronic way, such as high-level skills, and the use of blended learning is one of the proposed solutions to solve such problems.
@. Blended learning allows each learner the freedom to choose the educational resources that suit their different needs.
@. The real employment of information technology applications in teaching situations, saving the time and effort of the teacher and the learner compared to traditional education alone.
Previous studies in blended learning:
Many studies have confirmed the effectiveness of the blended learning environment in developing achievement and skills in the educational process, including:
@. A study (Ali, 2019) found the effectiveness of blended learning in developing the skills of producing an electronic achievement file via the web, and its use had a significant impact on developing the teaching skills of the student teacher in the computer department at the Faculty of Specific Education [5].
@. A study (Ahmed, 2017) found the effectiveness of using blended learning based on cloud computing applications in developing self-management among secondary school students [6].
@. A study (Harb, 2017) indicated the effectiveness of the blended learning environment on two styles of navigation and guidance in developing the design of interactive websites among university students [7].
@. A study (Turpin, 2018) confirmed the effectiveness of blended learning in increasing student achievement in social studies when using traditional learning by 50% and e-learning by 50% [8].
@. A study (Muhammad, 2020) indicated the effect of using a blended learning environment based on participatory learning and cloud computing in developing math tables skills among middle school students.