THE BL ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVENESS

 THE BL ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVENESS DESCRIBED (27-28) 


The cohesion of Vision and Pedagogy 

The blended learning initiative should start with a collective vision informed by the instructional needs of the district, school, or classroom. 


This vision should ultimately drive decisions of digital curriculum,  devices, tools, classroom design, and pace of the rollout. Each blended learning model presents unique pedagogical opportunities. To achieve cohesion  of school vision and pedagogy, school  leaders should strive to match the teaching practices embedded in each model to the school's academic 

goals and practices. 


For example, a school that prioritizes collaboration and 

project-based learning  can find cohesion in a rotation station practice in 

which one of the stations is dedicated to small group projects. 



Capacity Building: Teachers and Instructional   Leadership Are   Equipped   With   the Skills to Implement and Sustain Highly  Effective Blended Environments 


Fullan and  Quinn describe collective capacity building as "the increased ability of educators at all levels of the system to make the instructional changes 

required to raise the bar and close the gap for all students" (Fullan & Quinn, 

2016,  p. 57). 


One of the greatest challenges of a blended learning initiative is that the teachers, leaders, and students are learning new skills together. 


This new  paradigm can  be  very unsettling for instructional leaders and teachers, 

create anxiety, and even impede experimentation and innovation.   


On the other hand,  Richardson  in his Ted Talk explains, "People who model  their 

own learning process rare able to I connect to other learners as a regular part 

of their day, and learn continuously around  the things they have a passion 

for" (Richardson, 2012). 


Through this opportunity  for modeling in a blended learning initiative, the whole school becomes a learning community starting with three key behaviors: 


    1. Honesty   and    humility—Admitting that you   are all learning  new 

       skills, tools, and techniques together. This helps create a feeling of 

       safety within the group   and allows  you to be   more reachable for 

       support. 


    2. Becoming   the lead  learner—According   to research   conducted  by 

        Robinson,  Lloyd,  and   Rowe (2008), the single greatest impact a  school principal can   

        have—by   a factor  of   two—was to participate as a learner in  professional 

        development with staff in helping to move the school forward. 

    3. Establishing  and  maintaining  structures of support—This   is   one of 

         the  most important  areas where an instructional leader can best sup- 

         port teachers, especially as you are learning together. In the same way, 

         a practicing blended  learning teacher becomes  a facilitator of learning 

         and  not  a holder of knowledge,  by establishing structures of  support 

         you are reducing the need to be the expert of all things blended learn- 

         ing, and helping to ensure that there are structures in place for teach- 

         ers to continue learning independently and collectively. See Chapter 4. 

LINKS  TO  THE  CLASSROOM  IN  BUILDING  STUDENT CAPACITY 


   Taking the time to build technology skills for students is similarly important. 

   The erroneous assumption  that teachers sometimes make  is that being a digital native    

   means students will pick things up easily and/or without training. 

   Most digital natives have learned to use technology in very specific ways, typically with respect to consumption and social interaction. The reality is that students need just as much onboarding into new technology environments as the teachers, especially as it relates to using technology for instructional pur- 

  poses. Strategies for onboarding students effectively are covered in Chapter 8. 

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