Blended Is Better: Choosing Educational Delivery Methods

As educators we are constantly revising our teaching delivery methods to accommodate the ever diversifying demographic catchments of students. In the last 10 to 15 years, teaching has evolved from teacher centred chalk and talk to student centred online learning. Technology has driven further changes in pedagogical strategies. Delivery methods have evolved to reflect these pedagogical strategies often resulting in a blended solution. This paper examines the benefits and disadvantages of various delivery methods and suggests recipes for blending the different approaches. The ingredients for the blending include lectures, group discussion in various environments, apprenticeship, film, Computer Assisted Learning (CAL), e-learning and experiential learning. Our discussion examines the reasons for the failure of a single strategy delivery in today’s climate and discusses the benefits of blending delivery methods. We construct a simple framework for the selection of delivery methods applicable to computing courses, and provide examples in the use of this framework.