This week’s videos focus on what blended learning looks like at the whole-school level and some of the steps schools are taking in the process of going blended. This week’s homework asks you to fill out a template for a classroom-level budget (it is attached as a resource to week 4, video 7, “The Blended Learning Budget”). Once you’ve filled out the template, then complete the week 4 quiz. Also, a reminder that your peer graded assignment from week 3 is due by the end of day Monday, November 4th. Don’t forget to peer grade the three assignments that you are assigned.

We continue to be impressed by the quality of conversation on the discussion board. A couple topics emerged this week for which we thought it might be helpful to provide brief context. Some class participants have asked whether blended learning is an "all or nothing" exercise -- in other words should all schools look like the protagonist schools. We chose the three protagonist schools as examples of blended learning schools getting excellent academic results and because we thought they represented three different versions of the most common models we are seeing. That said, we think each educational context is different, and teams need to figure out what will work in their own context. So this is not a one-size fits all approach, and every aspect of each school may not appeal to you -- we would be surprised if this was the case. Rather, we are hoping that the protagonist schools provide some inspiration and examples of different models so that you can figure out what high quality blended learning looks like in your setting.

We look forward to continuing to hear your thoughts on the discussion board and on Twitter. Have a great week.

Best,
Michael, Brian, and Rob

Sun 3 Nov 2013 11:59 PM PST