What is Blended Learning?

Although the Edutopia article, “From the Classroom: What Does Blended Learning Look Like?” (February 8, 2012), gives an example of a high school English class, the ideas in the piece by teacher Melissa Meyers, should be of interest to all teachers. Meyers, who teaches in a private K-12 special education school, discusses the teaching of Dante’s work with her Grade 12 World Literature class. Her students, even though they have disabilities such as severe dyslexia, writing disorders, and speech and language difficulties, are taken to Hell through the Website Virtual Inferno, which leads them on a journey through the nine levels. They play Dante’s Inferno video game using it as a step off to their research and writing.  “Franz Liszt’s A Symphony to Dante’s Divide Comedy is accompanied by Gustave Dore’s illustrations on Youtube, and ... Dante-era Florence through the “Firenze-Virtual History” iPad app.” To help with their reading of the Inferno, they have it available as an audio book on their iPads. That’s what blended learning is all about—integrating technologies in order to invigorate learning.