ABSTRACT
The general idea is that in order for there to be blended learning, there has to be some real-time communication and some technology to deliver content. The learner whose course involves a series of online quizzes and, perhaps, a couple of videos is not experiencing blended learning. Technological advances haven’t just created a world where simple knowledge exchange has limited value, they also open the door to more interactive and enabling small group teaching methods (SGTs). Today’s distance education inevitably involves the use of technology, and in fact one of the defining characteristics of distance education is its use of technology to remove the distance between the provider and recipient of instruction. One advantage of blended learning is that it has the potential to respond to the perennial problem of why the learners tend not to participate in SGT or lectures.
