Teacher, think twice : about the importance and pedagogical value of blended learning design in VET

Makovec Radovan, Danijela (author), Radovan, Marko (author)

The integration of technology into educational institutions is transforming education and fostering innovative approaches to learning. Blended learning, an increasingly popular approach, integrates technology with traditional teaching approaches. Blended learning can overcome the limitations associated with using technology purely as a tool, facilitating its full integration into the educational process. The present study involved 106 students enrolled in a vocational education program (VET) in Slovenia. The students were subjected to a pilot implementation of blended learning, and their experiences were subsequently analyzed and evaluated. The results showed that the use of different teaching approaches led to different outcomes in terms of student workload, learning outcomes, and motivation. The different teaching approaches were found to present different levels of difficulty for students. For example, live sessions and the integration of virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) technology presented greater challenges. Conversely, collaborative group work and online courses focused on developing professional skills were found to be beneficial. The study also highlighted the importance of feedback and instructor support in online learning environments. In general, the results of our study suggest that the adoption of blended learning in education can lead to positive outcomes. However, it is important to emphasize the importance of careful planning and thoughtful consideration of optimal pedagogical strategies.

• Language: English
• Keywords: technology integration, blended learning, vocational education and training, learning design, teaching approaches, education
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: 12 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 13, iss. 9, art. 882
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-149324
• UDC: 377
• ISSN on article: 2227-7102
• DOI: 10.3390/educsci13090882
• COBISS.SI-ID: 163354115
• Publication date in RUL: 06.09.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Education sciences
• Shortened title: Educ. sci.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2227-7102
• COBISS.SI-ID: 520257817

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: učna tehnologija, kombinirano učenje, poklicno izobraževanje, strokovno izobraževanje, načrtovanje učenja, učni pristopi, izobraževalna tehnologija, pedagogika

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: EEA
• Project number: ATP213