It is believed that an environment enriched with media activated platforms can help students to gain autonomy in the learning process since students of the contemporary era are one with the technology of the day. Now, more than ever, with the transmission to virtual learning such tech-savvy learning spaces have become a necessity to continue the learning/teaching process in ordinary and special circumstances such as those precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic. No sooner did life return to the physical space, many institutions realised the high-end efficacy and feasibility of striking a balance amongst the hybrid, classroom, and online modes of learning. Such Blended Learning is the most viable design for the future of education; it combines the best of physical and virtual properties. In such environments, the role of the teacher is that of a facilitator in the learning process. Self-dependency or autonomy is a quality that successful teachers strive to inculcate in their students for the current as well as lifelong learning.
The higher education sector is seeing transformation with the realization that the learners are the main stakeholders and the academic systems need to respond to their dreams and aspirations. The features that give adequate leverage to the learners engaged in higher education are, typically, flexibility and quality, focus on learner needs and interests, learner centricity, learner autonomy ensured by learning through any mode, and learning and assessment on demand. Technology is a critical element in this process.
For this article collection, emphasis is laid on the components of Blending Learning and exploration of environments most suited to this kind of learning. The central theme of this Research Topic is to ensure a seamless transition from the classroom to the virtual world and vice versa that can also be applied to any higher education program, identifying and applying different models of blended learning to bring “the best of both the worlds’” into the higher education experience. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to explore the role of Blended Learning as an educational model in ELT by focusing on (but is not limited to) the following themes:
- How to get the maximum advantages of physical and virtual learning in English?
- The future of blended education in ELT methodologies
- The downsides of applying blending learning on learning of language skills
- The role of Blending Learning in developing EFL learners' communicative ability
- Analyzing the existing theoretical background on Blending Learning
- Blending Learning and learner-centeredness
- Developing global language skills in a Blending Learning environment
- Assessing EFL students' progress during Blending Learning
- Teachers’/students’ attitudes towards Blended Learning
- Syllabus design for Blending Learning
- Predicting the future of Blended Learning
- Blended Learning in low-tech countries
- Blending Learning in developing learners' life-long learning and creativity
- Forming new learning habits suitable to learners' interests
- Developing materials for Blended Learning
It is believed that an environment enriched with media activated platforms can help students to gain autonomy in the learning process since students of the contemporary era are one with the technology of the day. Now, more than ever, with the transmission to virtual learning such tech-savvy learning spaces have become a necessity to continue the learning/teaching process in ordinary and special circumstances such as those precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic. No sooner did life return to the physical space, many institutions realised the high-end efficacy and feasibility of striking a balance amongst the hybrid, classroom, and online modes of learning. Such Blended Learning is the most viable design for the future of education; it combines the best of physical and virtual properties. In such environments, the role of the teacher is that of a facilitator in the learning process. Self-dependency or autonomy is a quality that successful teachers strive to inculcate in their students for the current as well as lifelong learning.
The higher education sector is seeing transformation with the realization that the learners are the main stakeholders and the academic systems need to respond to their dreams and aspirations. The features that give adequate leverage to the learners engaged in higher education are, typically, flexibility and quality, focus on learner needs and interests, learner centricity, learner autonomy ensured by learning through any mode, and learning and assessment on demand. Technology is a critical element in this process.
For this article collection, emphasis is laid on the components of Blending Learning and exploration of environments most suited to this kind of learning. The central theme of this Research Topic is to ensure a seamless transition from the classroom to the virtual world and vice versa that can also be applied to any higher education program, identifying and applying different models of blended learning to bring “the best of both the worlds’” into the higher education experience. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to explore the role of Blended Learning as an educational model in ELT by focusing on (but is not limited to) the following themes:
- How to get the maximum advantages of physical and virtual learning in English?
- The future of blended education in ELT methodologies
- The downsides of applying blending learning on learning of language skills
- The role of Blending Learning in developing EFL learners' communicative ability
- Analyzing the existing theoretical background on Blending Learning
- Blending Learning and learner-centeredness
- Developing global language skills in a Blending Learning environment
- Assessing EFL students' progress during Blending Learning
- Teachers’/students’ attitudes towards Blended Learning
- Syllabus design for Blending Learning
- Predicting the future of Blended Learning
- Blended Learning in low-tech countries
- Blending Learning in developing learners' life-long learning and creativity
- Forming new learning habits suitable to learners' interests
- Developing materials for Blended Learning