The Clayton Christensen Institute defines and characterizes a variety of blended learning models.  Other e-learning experts cite similar models which are commonly accepted in the field, but what grabbed my attention most, was the concept of a “flipped classroom” where online content is first introduced outside the classroom and then students “attend the brick-and-mortar school for face-to-face teacher guided practice on the content” (Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation [The Christensen Institute], 2012).  This fresh approach to teaching and learning offers tremendous and untapped benefit to learning organizations because it allows the teacher to use his/her time actually helping students understand core concepts that have already been introduced online.  The primary benefit to this approach is the shift of teacher efforts from lecture-based instruction to guiding student practice, identifying knowledge deficits, and adjusting instruction to facilitate more overall masterful learning (Khan, 2011)

The challenges of blended learning for k-12 public school districts, where I have worked for the past 26 years, will center on securing and managing the fiscal resources necessary to develop and maintain blended learning opportunities; acquiring the necessary infrastructure to support universal platforms; finding the right balance to blend face-to-face and online learning; and securing administrative and employee support (Lee, Frenzelas, & Anders, 2008).

Public k-12 education is fairly traditional in its structure and delivery, so shifting the paradigm to one of blended learning will trigger the biggest challenge of all – organizational change (Senge, 2011).  Helping employees know that blended learning opportunities are both relevant and useful to their jobs; keeping the training engaging and interesting; providing uninterrupted time for learning new skills and practices; and providing technical support to navigate the new online systems (Lee et al., 2008) constitute the organizational changes and the primary implementation challenges.

Institutions of higher education have emerged as a leading force in the expansion of e-learning opportunities (Koller, 2012); however, I anticipate an explosion of ideas in the future on how technology can be blended with traditional bricks-and-mortar k-12 public school as well (Staker, 2011). Bill Gates concluded a 2011 TedTalk with Salman Khan about the vision and mission of the Khan Academy by saying to the audience, “I think you just got a glimpse of the future of education,” (Khan, 2011). The challenges for making this shift to full immersion into e-learning will be tremendous, but the benefits of online learning, as Bill Gates predicts, will be transformative to an antiquated system of public education.

References

Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. (2012). Blended learning. Retrieved from http://www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning/

Khan, S. (2011, March). Let’s use video to reinvent education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education

Koller, D. (2012, June). What we’re learning from online education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education

Lee, D., Frenzelas, G., & Anders, C. (2008). Blended learning for employee training: Influencing factors and important considerations. International Journal of Instructional Media, 35(4), 363 – 372.

Senge, P. M. (2011). The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization. [Adobe PDF version]. Retrieved from

Staker, H. (2011). The rise of k–12 blended learning. Retrieved from http://www.christenseninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/The-rise-of-K-12-blended-learning.emerging-models.pdf

I am a child of the sixties; from a decade and a generation known as the precursor to the information age in which we now live. I was born in 1964; I just turned 50 in June. My perspective on the events that progressed the technology-driven eras of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s is unique because I was there; I lived it. I literally saw the emergence of technology unfolding and becoming a staple of American life and a mainstay in American pop culture. What is interesting to me is how the history of educational technology is being interpreted and subsequently conceptualized into multiple frameworks intended to guide future policy and practice. The researchers five, ten, fifteen years from now will answer the questions of today, but until then, the various approaches to implementing technology will serve as the fodder for data collection.

Technologies are diverse and multiple. They are field-specific and operator-specific. It’s hard to believe but even at one time, contact lenses were the latest and greatest technology. Today they are commonplace. They are commonplace for reasons such as being economically priced, accessible, and effective (i.e., scalable, sustainable, reliable, and consistently available). Taking my contacts out at night is a lesson in reality. I am reminded of the privilege of good sight without glasses in that instant after I remove them. It feels like Cinderella returning to the pumpkin. It is a regression to the reality just before the latest technology took hold. The bottom line is that technology is just the next greatest thing within any given field, which by the way, triggers constant organizational change. The extent to which technology is used is directly affected by the leadership who manages the organizational change. This is a critical issue to the science of technology and e-learning.

Judith Pirani’s article about bring-your-own-everything (BYOE) illustrates a changing paradigm that is related to e-learning. Educause’s Top-Ten IT Issues: 2000–2014 likewise maps the progress of technology and e-learning. These articles underscore that organizations and their managers must be able to project future growth all while mobilizing a real-time workforce to accomplish the production of the current reality and doing it within fiscal constraints. It is the role of leadership. E-learning is a viable pathway for this evolution of organizational change.

What we invent today will only advance the people of the future in all areas relative to quality-of-life issues. Technology is the vehicle that drives an era to the next. What e-learning does is provide the practical training to the personnel who will use the technology such that the maximum benefit is achieved.

My priority regarding technology is focused. Issues of finance are germane to developing and launching new technologies. Pioneering is never cheap, so the concern for offsetting the front end set-up cost for technology with the overall investment is great, and the need to monitor the return-on-investment (ROI), is necessary. With finances in mind, I would equally support two policies: 1) be aware of emerging technologies and invest in new technologies as appropriate; and 2) maintain and grow a user-friendly, intuitive, and reliable information system that seamlessly allows all staff to maximize their time and effort.

Technologies have enabled endless possibilities, but they still require human resources to configure, use, and maintain them. To this end, the industry of e-learning is evolving to offer the service of expert trainers to help people use available technologies and maximize the benefits. The last 50 to 60 decades have been focused on establishing infrastructure, hardware, and software and generating information. The time now, however, is shifting to the service of e-learning.

References:

Bates, T. (2000). Managing technological change strategies for college and university leaders. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.

Khan, B. H. (2005). Managing eLearning strategies: Design, delivery, implementation, and evaluation. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Pirani, J.A. (2013

Most would agree that the purposeful act of managing a business, an organization, or another type of entity is critical to overall successful operations. The lingering issue, however, is that the practice of management cannot be fully defined or described because no two circumstances are the same. The responses and outcomes to each issue are likely to be different. Researchers attempt to harness the phenomena surrounding management activities in order to understand the essence of effective management and to teach the concepts relative to practicing management.

Theorists and researchers such as John Kotter and Peter Senge, focus their research efforts on organizational change. Bates and Khan similarly study organizational issues, and like Kotter and Senge, both set forth frameworks to define and guide the ever-fluid practice of management.

Khan’s message is clear; every resource must be maximized in the operation of a business or organization. The approach to achieving efficiency focuses on issues regarding people, the process, and the project (P3). Bates’ theory challenges Khan’s theory further by asserting that efforts must not only be focused on the mission, but they must also be sustainable. Activities such as grant funding are too narrowly focused; they do not consider the bigger picture; and they ultimately undermine organizational development because they offer one-shot opportunities to change an organization without the continued support of necessary grant funds to sustain the mission.

The primary challenge to this line of thinking is how to accurately identify the most efficient processes that exist. What specifically are the common characteristics associated with efficiency. There are more than just financial benefit when considering efficiencies. The strength for consumers is that Bates, Khan, and other researchers contribute to the collective body of knowledge about and the continuous study of management and managerial issues. The efforts of expert researchers contribute to a deeper understanding of the topic of management. Multiple perspectives offer diverse interpretations to various learning-styled students, and the mission of developing effective managers in multiple fields of study becomes more realistic.

The weakness is that social studies such as management are not exact sciences in many regards. As such, researchers like Bates, Khan, Kotter, and Senge will continue to be needed to inform and to advise practitioners on management theory, research, and effective practices.

With some work, practice, and possible tweaking, I believe that Khan’s P3 framework and Bates’ project management framework would both work in the pre-k through grade 12 public school organization where I work. Schools could benefit from the type of planning that Khan supports. The challenge will be in finding the time for the people to participate. For many years, public schools have supplemented their operational cash funds with competitive grant funding. The problem with this is that the focus and requirements of the grant may not be what the school needs, but it does provided needed resources. The ill-effect is that valuable time is diverted from the instructional leaders to compete for and to administer grant funds. Activities such as these are not efficient and are misaligned to the recommended practices of effective management.