Blended Instruction: Inverting Instruction to Literacy Method Courses Page 1

Blended Instruction: Inverting Instruction to Literacy Method Courses

MAIT 650
Caitlin Mull
February 5, 2017
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Abstract
This is an assignment for my MAIT 650 class where we must research Online, Blended

or Flipped Instruction. It must be a peer edited article that outlines one the practices listed above.

The following article Blended Instruction: Inverting Instruction in Literacy Method Courses

provides readers with an ongoing look at the Blended Instruction in a undergraduate and

graduate college/university. The article states why blended instruction was used for the research

and how it was implemented in the classroom. Technology is stated in the article and outlined in

the research paper. This article gives insight to a blended classroom while providing information

about Blended Instruction.

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Blended Learning Inverting Instruction in Literacy Method Courses

In the education world today, there are so many approaches to teaching. Every teacher

has his or her own style of teaching instruction that is appropriate for all students. With every

style taught, there are a few methods of teaching the curriculum. The three most important styles

of teaching are Online, Flipped and Blended Instruction. For the topic at hand, Blended

Instruction is commonly used in many classrooms today. In the following article, Inventing

Instruction in Literacy Method Courses by Lisa M. Zawilinski, Kimberly A. Richard, and

Laurie A. Henry, Blended Instruction is outlined by looking at the differences and struggles with

blended learning across literacy method courses. According to the article, it will be of interest to

literacy educators working with adolescents and adults, who are interested in in-innovative

teaching approaches (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015)

In the K-12 educational world, Educators need to stay current with the different

instructional approaches and teaches. They need to be able to improve their own instructional

practices. With that, Blended Instruction can help teachers achieve that goal. A blended learning

approach is one in which instructors purposefully combine face-to-face classroom time with

digitally supported, online learning using a broad array of instructional strategies (Nell &

Wilkinson, 2008). This will allow teachers to have more face to face interactions along with

more time to have outside research/homework. We are simply suggesting that the types of

homework we assigned seemed to require higher levels of thinking than our students often did in

class (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015). We chose to make the more challenging assignments

the focus of our face- to- face time with students. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015).

Within the article, the researchers looked at different universities and colleges where

blended instruction was implemented to see if students were achieving results better than in a
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regular face to face classroom. The articles outline the findings from each class and how Blended

Instruction was used or performed. The students and teachers surveyed were undergraduates and

Graduates. The sample module occurs across two weeks, with class meetings on Tuesdays and

Thursdays for about 75 minutes per class (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015). Materials for this

module include relevant readings, websites, instructor- created presentations, and existing, online

videos (i.e., YouTube) (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015). During class, we incorporate a

variety of individual, small- group, and whole-class teaching approaches, which include

instructor demonstration. Instructors also embed quick- writes and writing- to- learn

opportunities within classwork (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015). The instructor is trying to

rationale students into getting the necessary information needed to gain a better insight to the

class. This is what most college professors do when students are meeting face to face. When

presented with information, students understand that they must read all assignments and

complete this in an orderly fashion to have success in the class. This is where feedback from the

professor becomes extremely vital. When the instructor presentations on foundational content

are moved out and ahead of in- class work, increased class time becomes available for activities

requiring application and synthesis; however, this also increases student responsibility for

homework completion (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015). This continues in the classroom and

for each night students were attending class, the professor followed the same outline in the

blended instruction. Students were participating in small groups, whole groups and individual

assignments while the professor assisted students with difficult tasks or provided feedback to

students. Through observation and discussion while students work on activities that build toward

graded assignments (CLOs 46), instructors can assess whether and to what degree students can

apply information to relevant tasks (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015).

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In addition to all the instructional practices involved with Blended Learning, teachers rely

somewhat heavily on Technology in their classroom. In the study above, technology played a

huge role in the Blended Instruction Process. Most of the classes listed work and activities on

Blackboard while some made students look at videos on YouTube and screen captioning

technologies. Screen- capturing software, such as Camtasia (TechSmith), can be used to capture

lectures. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015) This allowed us to capture audio explanations with

visual references to slides, documents, and other resources while capturing our voices and

computer screen with Camtasia. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015) This would allow

professors to write, draw or annotate on the screen for better experience and understanding. Most

online courses have such an advanced technology resource that professors publish more content

online than face to face. Students responded to assigned readings through discussion board

postings on Canvas, and they used a digital or physical critical thinking and creativity sketchpad

(format selected by the individual students) to capture their reactions to video content.

(Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015) For each of the courses, moving the in-class presentation

and demonstrations outside class freed up additional time for students to work on challenging

assignments and to dive deeper into course content. For example, in- class activities included

student demonstrations of think- aloud strategies that teachers model during read- aloud with

young students. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015) Deepened instructional practices allowed

students to make better connections and lead to an overall success in the classroom. This can be

implemented into any classroom but tailored to fit the need and grade level of the individual

student. The classroom can be more engaged in discussions and lead to peer to peer edits and

discovery. In the article, students had a positive reaction to having their classwork/homework

presented in an online format. Many students indicated that they enjoyed viewing lectures online
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because they could do so when it was convenient within their schedules and in ways that

supported their own learning. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015) Students also indicated that

they liked being able to rewind or pause videos because it gave them time to take notes and write

down questions to consider for deeper class discussions. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015)

One student stated, I liked having the time to prepare questions at home. It gave me time to

think about questions that I wanted to ask in class. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015)

Students felt that working on instructional assignments and applying literacy methods during

class provided time to think through and clarify their ideas before crafting the final product; this

also provided opportunities to ask the instructor questions to clarify components of the

assignments. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015) Students discovered that technology could

help keep instructional momentum, provide a means of communication, and allow learning at

their own pace. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry, 2015) There were some drawbacks to the Blended

Instruction where teachers had to allow more time on assignments, adjust activities and more

hours were spend creating the materials presented to the class. The primary benefits of inverted

instruction, from an instructor perspective, were increased class time for a variety of active

approaches to learning, in-creased opportunities for formative assessment, and the ability to

better adjust instruction to meet the needs of a variety of learners. (Zawilinski, Richard &Henry,

2015) The article ended with believing that students can learn with Blended Instruction allowing

teachers to explore different technology resources. It is our hope that our teacher candidates will

utilize technology in ways that will enhance learning for their own students. (Zawilinski, Richard

&Henry, 2015) Technology is just a tool and instructors will need to learn how to adapt their

classroom to meet all the needs of the individual students.

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References

Zawilinski, L. M., Richard, K. A., & Henry, L. A. (2015). Inverting Instruction in Literacy

Methods Courses. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59(6), 695-708. doi:10.1002/jaal.498