![]() School systems need to evolve into the digital age with the rest of the world, otherwise a great disservice is being done to our students. As Horn and Staker (2015) explained, “Today’s factory model of education, in which we batch students in classes and teach the same thing on the same day, is an ineffective way for most children to learn” (p. Now, 200 years later, the goal of the education system has changed, but the model has not. This type of education worked then because the goal was different than it is now. All students were taught the same thing, at the same time, in the same way as if they were on a conveyor belt. Students were placed in groups according to their age (without regard for learning needs or abilities). Hence, the development of a “factory system” of education. Back in the 19th century, the goal of the school system was to prepare students for jobs in factories, mills and other labor-driven employment. This is likely due to the fact that society is changing and the world is evolving, but the education system is the same as it was over two centuries ago. ![]() It is no secret that the education system of the United States is failing students. The potential benefits of blended learning, in particular, are causing K-12 schools to take notice and explore implementation of blended learning models. The learning settings include fully online as well as blended learning programs. Lips (2010) reported, “As many as 1 million children (roughly 2 percent of the K-12 student population) are participating in some form of online learning” (para. However, these blended learning environments are making their way down into the land of high school and elementary education. The demand for online learning opportunities is growing and will only continue to grow as time goes on. Additionally, Lehman and Conceição (2014) reported, “Participation in online courses has grown by 358% since 2003 (p. In fact, The University of Potomac communicated that 6,700,000 students were enrolled in online courses in 2014 (2017). Such learning environments are typically thought of as evolving in higher education. Therefore, blended environments are becoming more and more prevalent in the world of education. ![]() Learning in the digital age means learning can happen at anytime from anywhere. Any mixture of online learning and face-to-face (or traditional) settings can be classified as “blended learning.” For the purposes of this paper, the terms “blended” and “hybrid” will be used synonymously. Blended learning environments are also commonly referred to as “hybrid” courses or classes.
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