There are methods and models for implementing blended learning — from the flipped classroom, to the flex model. All of them are on the continuum of just how much time is spent online and in the online classroom. Blended Learning can provide a unique way of not only engaging students in collaborative work and projects, but also personalizing and individualizing instruction for students.

However, there is still one piece that is missing from a great blended learning environment: engagement! As an experienced online teacher of both K-12 and higher education students, I am familiar with the challenges of engaging students in virtual work. Luckily, the blended learning model still demands some in-person, brick-and-mortar learning, so there is a unique opportunity to use this structure to engage students.

#1 Leverage Virtual Class Meetings with Collaborative Work
One of the most prominent features of blended learning is the virtual meeting or synchronous class meeting. Sometimes teachers spend the entire class meeting in a virtual meeting room lecturing and presenting content. The irony is that this meeting is often recorded, and available for students to watch later (so students can watch the meeting on their own time). Instead, use the time that you have with the entire class to problem solve together, collaborate on projects, and use virtual break-out rooms for guided practice. If you want students to be engaged in the class meetings, it must be meaningful. Collaborative work can be meaningful when students problem-solve together, plan, and apply their learning in new contexts.

#2 Create the Need to Know
The key here is an engaging model of learning. Teachers can use project learning to create authentic projects where students see the relevance and need to do the work — whether that work is online in the physical classroom. The same is true for game-based learning. If students are engaged playing a serious game about viruses and bacteria, then teachers can use the game as a hook to learn content online or offline. Through metacognition, and the “need to know” activity, students “buy-in” to the learning — no matter when and where that learning occurs.

#3 Reflect and Set Goals
Related to the comment on metacognition above, students need to be aware of what they are learning as well as their progress towards meeting standards. Teachers need to build in frequent moments, both as a class and individual, to reflect on the learning, and set S.M.A.R.T. goals. Through these measurable and student-centered goals, students can become agents of learning, rather than passive recipients. Use reflecting and goal-setting both online and offline to create personal connection to the learning and personalized goals.

#4 Differentiate Instruction Through Online Work
In a blended learning classroom, there is often online work that needs to occur. This might be a module on specific content, formative assessments, and the like. However, students may or may not need to do all the work that is in a specific module. In an effort to individualize instruction, use the online work to meet individual students needs. Whether an extension of learning, or work to clarify a misconception, the work that occurs online can be more valuable to students when it is targeted. Students are no longer engaged in uninteresting busy work, but focused, individualized learning.

#5 Use Tools for Mobile Learning
Edutopia recently published the guide, Mobile Devices for Learning. The guide provides a variety of apps and tips, proposing teachers use mobile learning as part of the learning environment. The great thing is that blended learning can partner well with many strategies and apps. If you use the flipped classroom model, for example, apps like the Khan Academy, BrainPop, and YouTube are incredibly useful. Leverage the flexibility of where students can learn, having them learn outside the four classroom walls. Use scavenger hunts, Twitter, and back-channel chats to engage students in a variety of mobile-learning activities to support your blended-learning model.

Successful blended learning educators and schools are focusing on engagement as they work towards student achievement. We have the unique opportunity to not replicate a system that has not served all students. Instead, we need to look at flexible time and place to innovate through blended learning.

If you want students to collaborate it is imperative that educators establish this as a norm at the beginning of the school year. Great teachers leverage group work and collaborative activities and projects in their curriculum and instruction, but oftentimes teachers “push-back” with the difficulties of having their students collaborate. I agree, it is a daunting task, but I always respond, “How have you taught them to collaborate and providing scaffolding of that skill?” This is the key! If you want your students to collaborate effectively, you must give the opportunity to do so, as well as give the necessary instruction in skills and scaffolding.

Team Building: Most teachers take time at the beginning of the to do team building activities to create a community in their classroom. These are great activities that can be intentionally tied to creating a culture of collaboration. Have students participate in an activity like the “Human Knot,” and then reflect individually and in a discussion about the effective and non effective ways they collaborated. After many activities like this, have students create or co-create the norms for collaboration in the classroom. When students create the norms, through reflective activities, they are more likely to own them.

Explicit Instruction: Teachers must model good collaboration. There are many ways to do that. Perhaps you get a group of teachers together and do a fishbowl activity where students watch for effective collaboration. Another lesson might be watching videos of examples and non examples of teams working together to analyze the best ways for students to collaborate. To build authenticity, consider bringing in adults from a variety of fields to share how they collaborate. Through this and other activities, teachers can give explicit attention to the collaboration in the instructional design and build the relevance for the skill itself.

Technology: There are many tools out there that can help foster a culture of collaboration. Whether Edmodo, TitanPad, or Twitter, use technology tools to push students thinking of what it means to collaborate. In addition, you the teacher now have documentation of that collaboration that can be used in the assessment process. Make you choose the best times to use these tools throughout curriculum, but also model and teach students how to use the tool. Teaching collaboration through technology can help build the 21st Century skill of Digital Citizenship. In fact, collaboration is leveraged in the ISTE NETS for Students, further espousing collaboration as critical in person as well as digitally.

Assessment: Coupled with instruction, collaboration must be assessed along with the content in the class. This leverages this as a true 21st Century Skill that is transferable across content and tasks. Using rubrics for collaboration, teachers gave give focused feedback to students on what they are doing well, and how to improve. As 21st century skills like collaboration gain more and more clout, they can be included in the grade-book, as a standard to be met and built upon. Great schools are assessing not only critical content, but also collaboration as crucial to student achievement.

As educators plan for the next year, it is critical that they use some of the strategies above, as well as others, to create a culture of collaboration. Through intentional instruction and scaffolding, we can set our students up for a successful year of collaboration with their teachers, their peers, and experts in the field. We can empower our kids to be effective collaborators in and outside of school!

Game-Based Learning, and particularly serious games that teach content, are fast becoming utilized in the classroom. Frequent success stories are appearing, from Minecraft in the elementary classroom to games that teach civics. There is curriculum that pairs World of Warcraft with language arts standards, and many other variations where the gaming focus is on content. What about 21st century skills? Yes, games can be used to teach and assess 21st century skills! As the conversation in education reform moves forward, and educators are increasingly leveraging 21st century skills, we need to consider how to couple games with reform. Let’s take a look at what many consider the top three 21st century skills and how games can teach and assess them.

Collaboration
MMOs are hugely popular. As an avid gamer myself, I see a new MMO almost every month. The brilliance and appeal of games like World of Warcraft is the requirement for collaboration with others to complete quests, raid enemy territory and destroy bosses. In addition to MMOs, games with online team battles like HALO, Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty utilize the team to complete goals. You survive together, plan attacks and work together. These games, coupled with instruction and other assessments, could be used in and outside of the classroom. A teacher can “translate” the game experience to classroom teams through written reflections and discussions, as well as hands-on gameplay in a fishbowl, where the classroom observes and documents elements of successful collaboration.

Communication
All of the games above, which require collaboration, also require communication. Whether written in the chat window or via oral communication through a headset, gamers constantly communicate to each other. This is because there is a clear goal and purpose for the work. Why do students often appear disinterested about communicating in class? Because, to them, the purpose of the classroom situation seems inauthentic. By design, games create the authenticity that attracts them. Getting your point across in a chat window or generating effective team directions and communication can be used in the classroom as lessons to demonstrate the challenges and teach the skills of effective communication.

Critical Thinking/Problem-Solving
Well-designed games require players to solve a variety of complex problems, some of which require standards-aligned learning and some that simply require general critical thinking and problem-solving. Consider a couple examples. Angry Birds (which also doubles in teaching perseverance), progressively gets more and more complicated. Each level adds newer variables and aspects to increase difficulty, leveraging effective gameflow. Your brain must evaluate, analyze, plan ahead, try new ideas and more to solve these levels. You can use reflection and other techniques to have students demonstrate and document their critical thinking skills. Pocket Law Firm, a game which helps players learn civics content in the Bill of Rights, requires explicit critical thinking through the content learned. Teachers can use the game to teach the standards content, as well as critical thinking and problem solving. Through successful planning of the law firm, evaluation of incoming cases and more, players are using critical thinking to get the highest score. Great games require critical thinking with a great “flow.”

We must find time for students to play these games in and out of the class to teach content and 21st century skills. To make it easy and save time, pick a game that develops a relevant area of content learning as well as building 21st century skills. In addition, you can target one or two of the 21st century skills that you intend to teach and assess, as games require many skills to play. In the end, if students are successful in the game, hasn’t the game assessed the skills and content required?

One of the biggest misunderstandings about games, and people who play them, is that games don’t “teach” anything. It’s assumed that there is no value in the experience. Hopefully, others can see that the skills utilized in games can be translated from the gaming experience to the real world through a skillful teacher. When you plan to teach and assess 21st century skills in the classroom, consider games as a valuable method for engaging your students.