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    Blended learning

    Learning institutions around the world have encountered enormous changes over the last year, and the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered the way that many educators teach. Bearing in mind that some of these changes may well be temporary, others could be now setting deeply entrenched roots. Although the practice of blended learning has been around for some time, its utilization and constraints have been very much in focus recently.

    Here, we take a look at the fundamentals of blended learning. We will define what it is and then discuss the benefits of its usage.

    What is blended learning?

    To put it simply, blended learning fuses face-to-face learning with learning that is delivered online or through mobile technologies. Its aim is for each element to improve the other.

    In higher education, the implementation of blended learning is relatively common. The autonomy and independence of students allows for greater flexibility through online learning.

    Blended learning doesn't have to follow any specific instructive methodology. It can be real-time, face-to-face synchronous learning, or it may be asynchronous as per the student’s own schedule.

    Benefits of blended learning

    There are various advantages to using blended learning. Here are just a few of them.

    • Teachers can utilize a wide range of media and assets, which improves the learning experience and accommodates students’ varying learning styles. These include recordings, presentations, webcasts, and industry material.
    • Blended learning lets instructors to connect both online and in class, allowing them to draw upon the qualities of each medium.
    • Classes, teachings, and resources can be made or recorded once and then used on different occasions and across different classes.
    • Blended learning facilitates the flipped classroom teaching model, wherein students first encounter the learning material at home before working through it in the classroom.
    • It also enables teachers to provide response to intervention (RTI) and differentiation.
    What is social-emotional learning, or SEL?

    Social-emotional learning, or SEL, is an educational method that helps students understand their emotions, express their feelings and demonstrate empathy. Learning how to execute these practices assists students with creating frameworks that help them accomplish their objectives, make caring and dependable choices and build positive relationships with others.

    The benefits of SEL for both educators and students

    The teaching of SEL requires teaching the five main skills of SEL: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. When taught to children of school age, SEL skills have proven to promote positive relationships, increase academic performance, reduce behavioral problems, and have a lifelong effect on students’ future studies and careers (Schonert-Reichl, 2017).

    Students who have learned social-emotional skills are better able to adapt to emotional pressure and problem-solving and stay away from peer pressure. In the long term, these students are able to develop the skills that are needed in many jobs, such as the ability to understand their peers, problem-solving, critical thinking and team building.

    References

    Schonert-Reichl, K.A., (2017). Social and emotional learning and teachers. The Future of Children, 27(1), 137-155. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1145076.pdf

    What are multiple intelligences?

    The theory of multiple intelligences was first proposed in the early 1980s by Harvard analyst Howard Gardner, and his research into multiple intelligences continues today. Gardner’s MI theory challenges the traditional idea that humans possess only one type of intelligence, defined as their IQ, and that this one intelligence is solely what defines their cognitive abilities. MI theory proposes that there are eight different kinds of human intelligence, and that every person possesses each of them, but to varying degrees.

    The eight multiple intelligences categories

    Verbal-linguistic

    People with verbal-linguistic intelligence are good at written and spoken languages. They have a greater ability to learn different languages and are good writers and speakers. William Shakespeare, Edgar Alan Poe and Al-­Mutanabbi were people with verbal-linguistic intelligence.

    Logical-mathematical

    People with logical-mathematical intelligence are good with numbers and logic. They can perform mathematical operations with ease, and they are good at solving problems logically and abstractly. Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking all had logical-mathematical intelligence.

    Visual-spatial

    People with visual-spatial intelligence are good at analyzing and manipulating large-scale and small-scale visual models, drawings, patterns or images. Leonardo Da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and the architect Zaha Hadid all had visual-spatial intelligence.

    Musical

    People with musical intelligence have a good ear for music, notes, rhythms and pitch. Musicians like Mozart, Beethoven and Luciano Pavarotti were people with musical intelligence.

    Bodily-kinesthetic

    People with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence like creating work with their hands and utilizing their body and mind in physical activities. The basketball player Michael Jordan, the choreographer Martha Graham and the footballer Neymar are examples of this type of intelligence. Athletes, builders, potters and handymen also have bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

    Interpersonal

    People with interpersonal intelligence are good at understanding and interacting with others. These people use both verbal and non-verbal communication techniques effectively. Examples of people with this intelligence include Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Oprah Winfrey. Teachers, actors and comedians also have interpersonal intelligence.

    Intrapersonal

    People with intrapersonal intelligence are good at reflecting on their own thoughts and feelings. They are self-motivated and have a deep understanding of human nature. Psychologists and philosophers like Plato, Jean Piaget and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche are examples of people who had intrapersonal skills.

    Naturalist

    People with naturalistic intelligence are in great harmony with nature. They can recognize flora and fauna and are good at understanding the environment and its dynamics. John Muir and Charles Darwin are examples of people who had naturalist intelligence.

    The benefits of multiple intelligences

    MI theory can help educators and students better comprehend their own capacities. It assists them in utilizing their strengths to address their weaknesses. It can also motivate them to discover where their advantages and strengths lie and drive their capabilities further.

    MI theories are suitable for both differentiated and individual education because they enable educators to foster and adapt new projects so that they address their students’ strengths and interests. Educators can create instructions to suit their students’ various intelligences using a wide array of exercises and activities aligned with students’ interests.