31.4: Stories from the Continuum

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The lovely thing about a continuum is that items on it are linked to represent a continuous series of possibilities that blend into each other gradually and seamlessly. Unfortunately, the physical presentation of Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) suggests otherwise, with the rows and columns appearing fixed; the individual cells, independent and rigid.

When we reduce Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) to its simplest form. The educator, learner, and content components appear on the left side of the simplified continuum in Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\) .

31.4.1.png — Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Continuum of Instructional Practice Typically Found in Online and Blended Learning

So, how can an awareness of Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\) affect teaching and learning opportunities in either online or blended contexts? In the introduction we stated that educators, as never before, have a full toolbox of instructional strategies, methods and media at their disposal. They only need awareness and opportunity to make rich and meaningful choices for their students. Teachers must recognize that software and hardware that support online learning need not dictate instruction. The needs and goals of the teachers, students and the demands of the content must do that, trusting that the technology will be flexible enough to support it.

If students need certification on a specific training issue, synchronous online instruction may be adequate, while students requiring more complex, higher-order thinking activities might need a blended learning experience. The onus is on the teacher / institution to match the learning outcomes to the instructional opportunities suggested in Figures \(\PageIndex{1}\) and \(\PageIndex{2}\) , if the promise and potential of rich education environments are to be fully realized.

Online and blended learning create opportunities for remote, rural, and less-mobile learners, as well as for those in urban settings with access to both physical campuses and online options. By thinking about both the instructional strategy and the role of media, students can benefit from extraordinary multimedia-enhanced, customized learning experiences. Teachers begin to realize that they can actually offer learning content that previously would have been impossible in traditional, face-to-face classrooms.

In traditional classrooms, teachers confront the reality of a totally synchronous environment. Bells ring, class periods start and stop; instruction is reduced to chunks of time—typically less than 60 minutes. In the world of adult education and training, the reality of time and the reliance on the synchronous environment is no less apparent. The distractions may be slightly different as cell phones, laptops, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) compete with the training for the learners' attention, but the chunking of instruction is constant. Main and supporting content areas are layered around the mid-morning and afternoon breaks and sandwiched between is the ever-protected lunch break.

In both settings, as the content becomes more complex, students begin to break from the pack with some ready to move ahead and others falling behind. Tests typically occur at regular intervals, and mastery of content becomes lost in the need to cover the curriculum within a prescribed semester or school year or the workshop content before the session ends. Consequently, we see a range of grades or course completions and dropouts rather than a consistent mastery of core concepts by all students. With facilitated or blended instruction comes the potential for more flexible, asynchronous learning. Time demands change as the teacher or facilitator assists and mentors, rather than directing the instruction. The role of the content becomes important, as the student engages with it while the teacher/facilitator supports the process.

So what might the learning options presented in Figures \(\PageIndex{1}\) and \(\PageIndex{2}\) look like in actual practice? We have experienced all four options, as well as modifications and variations along the continuum, noting that rarely does learning opportunity rest solely in one type or another. In the next section we will share examples. Each of the examples was a course-based learning experience that resulted in formal evaluation and a final grade or certification. This is an important distinction, as many online training and professional development activities that use blended or fully online delivery models do not evaluate.