Blended learning needs blended evaluation

Abstract

There are many evaluation frameworks for blended teaching; however, there are few suitable frameworks for Blended Learning (BL). This chapter presents an evaluation framework that was designed to span school and university BL, including Initial Teacher Eduction (ITE). An appropriate evaluation framework must show how effective each BL design and implementation is, at the level of a term or semester of study, and at the larger scale, such as across primary,middle, or secondary school, or programmes of study such as an ITE bachelor or master’s. This chapter first identifies eight features from the literature that are necessary for a BL evaluation framework, and shows that existing models do not satisfy these requirements. Next, the chapter introduces the Blended and Engaged Learning Zones (BELZ), designed specifically for BL across schooling and university studies, and that satisfies these eight features. An example follows of a version of BELZ used to evaluate BL in the years prior to a substantial three-term long inquiry task. BELZ addresses the imbalance in the literature, as well as the needs in teaching practice, for an evaluation framework for BL across schooling and university study.