In different parts of the world, blended learning has been implemented in various formats in schools and higher education institutions. To obtain an overview of current practices in blended learning, a number of sample cases are discussed below.
Sample Case in South Africa
At the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, two undergraduate psychology modules adopted a blended learning approach (Thatcher, 2007). In the first initiative, a course website entitled ‘Cognitive Ergonomics’ was developed. The earlier versions of the site contained only “background construct definitions, links to related websites, course outlines, assignment details, a notice-board, and a questions and answers section” (Thatcher, 2007, p.349). Later versions refined the notice-board to lecture-by-lecture notes and also introduced example questions and model answers to tests and assignments, and posted student assignment marks (Thatcher, 2007). As for the second initiative, both a website entitled ‘Cognition’ and a blog were used. The reason for using the blog was that blogging was becoming a popular means for people to post ideas, thoughts, or articles on the Web and to receive feedback on these postings. As Thatcher (2007, p.350) puts it, “a blog is a cross between a website and a discussion forum (if the feedback facility is activated).”
A formal website evaluation undertaken in 2006 revealed that students found the question and answer section, the notice board, and the past test and examination papers to be most useful. They also appreciated that they were able to communicate with the lecturer outside scheduled consultation times. The lecturers gave the impression that they were available 24 hours a day to deal with students’ queries, and the students valued the fact that vital course information could be communicated immediately to a geographically dispersed class. They found that the online medium was particularly useful in conveying unambiguous content (Thatcher, 2007).