ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND DEFINITION OF BLENDED LEARNING Discussion of blending learning (BL) is appearing with increased frequency in both the scholarly literature and the popular press. A 2011 literature search by the author found close to 200 dissertations and hundreds of journal articles on the topic (Halverson, Graham, Spring, & Drysdale, 2012). It has also been identifi ed by the American Society for Training and Development as a top trend in the knowledge delivery industry (Rooney, 2003). Historically, blended learning was predominantly found in corporate and higher education contexts, but its use is now increasingly found in K-12 education (Picciano, Seaman, Shea, & Shaw 2012; Staker et al., 2011). Its use in higher education has grown rapidly and is predicted to become the “new traditional model” (Ross & Gage, 2006, p. 167) or the “new normal” in course delivery (Norberg, Dziuban, & Moskal, 2011, p. 207). A 2008 report sponsored by the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) stated, “Blended learning is likely to emerge as the predominant model of the future” (Watson, 2008, p. 3).
