Big bucks for blended learning in K-12: Where’s the evidence?
A Bay Area nonprofit called the Learning Accelerator (TLA), started with funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has just scored a $5 million grant to expand its operations greatly and get more blended learning programs into more K-12 schools. (Note: The Gates Foundation is among thevarious funders of The Hechinger Report.)
“Blended learning is the transformative educational innovation of our time and has the potential to significantly improve K-12 education for all students across the country,” Joe Wolf, president and founding board member of TLA, said.
Is this true? Is blended learning the transformative educational innovation of our time? Research tends to support the idea that when you mix technology into a face-to-face classroom setting, it improves learning outcomes. But there are caveats that should temper the zealous rhetoric, and offer direction going forward.
For example, here’s a review of over 1,000 of the most rigorous empirical studies from 1996-2008. It shows what the researchers termed “modest” improvement in performance for online learning vs. face-to-face learning. There was a little more improvement in blended conditions rather than all-