Educator Insights: What it Takes to Support Blended Learning and Teaching

Challenging times in education require a team approach. From technology directors and instructional leaders to administrators and support staff, everyone has to align to make blended learning work.

The need for educational flexibility to make sure students keep learning through any challenge is more relevant today than ever before. But how do schools and districts ensure learning continuity with so many uncertainties: will students be in classrooms, will they learn from home, do we need to be able to quickly pivot between options, and how do we choose and implement tools to meet every situational need?

We reached out to 10 educators from multiple K-12 roles to find out how they’re working through disruptions and planning for a more flexible future. While every district has different plans, visions, and goals, one thing is clear: to deliver effective blended learning, it’s essential to have collaboration between tech directors, instructional leaders, administrators, and other stakeholders. From decision-making and edtech implementation to training and instructing students in the classroom and online, everyone has to be on the same page.

Here’s what educators told us, offering insights into which tools they’re using and how they’re using them, relatable for schools and districts of all types and sizes:

How are you collaborating with other department leaders to increase the benefits of blended learning?

Barbara Nesbitt, Ph.D., Assistant Superintendent for Technology Services, School District of Pickens County—“The most important component of a solid digital learning program is a shared vision for what that should look like, starting with the school board, the superintendent of technology, the instructional department, principals, and the teachers. For us, it started with a vision of wanting an interoperable digital ecosystem.”

Jennifer Noll, Special Education Teacher/Technology Integration Specialist, Mill Creek Intermediate School-Berkeley County Schools—“Our instructional leaders created PowerSchool Schoology PD for our district. They have three courses: basic, intermediate, and advanced. It builds on all the ins and outs of Schoology. The courses have over 350 staff participating. Through the courses, we can communicate with our district leaders for assistance.”

Learn more about blended learning capabilities with PowerSchool Schoology Learning here >

Kirsten Ryerson, Technology Coordinator and Teacher, Thunder Ridge Middle School—“Our instructional leaders have prepared on-demand courses in Schoology for all teachers in the district. They are two credits each, and teachers are required to complete eight credits before the school year starts. They are engaging and beneficial. I am using what they have produced to help guide teachers towards well-organized Schoology courses for this school year.”

Grace McKay, Librarian/Instructional Technology Liaison, Culver Academies—“I am Zooming and emailing with instructors, helping them set up their classes on Schoology. We have increased our requirements for teachers; formerly, they only had to post assignments in Schoology, whereas now we are asking them to build more robust courses this year, in anticipation of hybrid classes.”

Stephanie Ryon, Digital Learning Coordinator, College Station ISD—“I am leading two elementary campuses as they begin a blended learning cohort on each campus. We are starting slow but beginning with fundamental ‘What is Blended Learning’ professional learning, including Schoology’s PD on how to best use Schoology to support blended learning.”

Dave Tchozewski, Director of Information Technology, Kenowa Hills Public Schools—“During the March-May closure, our educational leaders—consisting of teachers at all levels, principals, district curriculum leaders, and technology leaders—met weekly to brainstorm ways to continue to deliver effective lessons to our students. If your district does not include the technology leader of your district in curricular meetings, it is a mistake. With technology being such a critical component of teaching and learning, the tech lead must be part of the conversation. That person can offer insight that others may not have.”

Philip Pulley, Teacher, Fieldcrest High School CUSD 6—“We have created a ‘Return to Learning’ task force which is looking at these issues along with safety concerns.”

How are you promoting interoperability of edtech tools used to operate remotely?

Dan Bolingbroke, PowerSchool Administrator, Cassia County Joint School District—“The more vendors we work with, the more time it takes to ensure interoperability. Working with one vendor to provide multiple solutions saves time and ensures smoother operation.”

Danielle O’Haren, 6th Grade Math Teacher, Bear Creek School, Elizabethtown Area School District—“We are housing everything inside of Schoology. We’re trying to integrate as much into that platform as possible, providing resources for teachers on how to do that as needed.”

Grace McKay—“One of the specifications for any tool we provide to our teachers is that it needs to ‘play well with others.’ Even free tools. If they don’t integrate easily, I don’t recommend them. Luckily, lots of tools work well in Schoology.”

Barbara Nesbitt—“Whenever you’re trying to build a digital ecosystem and move to stronger use of digital curriculum and content, the source of truth for students is always the student information system. For their enrollment in special education programs, or gifted and talented programs, or their teacher in their classroom, the source of truth is the SIS. It’s important that all your content, including your LMS, be connected to the SIS, so that rostering and everything is accurate. For us, it’s important to connect the day-to-day work that teachers are doing with their kids with digital resources, and then to be able to send that information back to PowerSchool SIS for grading and assessment purposes. And then, being able to get information from PowerSchool at a district level to run analytics to see how different student sets are functioning and performing.”

Get more insights into the importance of interoperability in this panel discussion >

In addition to what was discussed on collaboration, how are you providing teacher training for distance learning?

Barbara Nesbitt—“Once you choose and implement a system, the next step is investing in professional development around the tools that you have. It’s not only how to use the tools on a technical level, but what does it mean to personalize or to use them in a small group instruction setting. We’ve hired four instructional coaches in our district who help teachers in knowing how to build, teach, and use digital resources. For us, it’s been primarily in the classroom and live instruction with either whole group or small group or individual, but now it’s shifted to more distance learning.”

Kirsten Ryerson—“We may be going completely online, so I want to model strong online learning strategies in our online professional development.”

Grace McKay—“We have created a Schoology course for faculty to work through as they build out next year’s courses. It incorporates discussion about designing, building, and reflecting on the process. I also have made (and continue to add to) a library of short video tutorials explaining various aspects of Schoology and other instructional technology. I am also available for one-on-one help, either via Zoom or email.”

Learn how you can prepare teachers for blended learning >

How are you vetting software purchases for blended learning needs?

Stephanie Ryon—“This is a combined effort between C&I and our technology departments. Most of our purchases are web-based programs that can support a station-rotation blended learning model. C&I does the first round of vetting, answering things like, ‘does it meet our learning goals/vision, does it support our curricular goals, where does it fall in supporting movement along with the SAMR model?’ Then, technology staff does their vetting with interoperability and systems compatibility. They also look through cybersecurity guidelines to make sure it is a secure resource to use in our classrooms.”

Grace McKay—“The biggest consideration is the ease of integration with our current tools.”

Dan Bolingbroke—“We take a team approach for vetting software. No one person should be making the decisions that are going to affect large numbers of users.”

Cheryl Vogler—“Software purchases are solely a decision made by building administration and district administration, but they take advice and suggestions from building content teacher leaders.”

Aaron Lentner, 3rd Grade Teacher, Falcon District 49—“We have a system in place where educators can submit software that they need vetted. A team of trained technology leaders goes through the vetting process to approve or deny.”

A team approach to keeping the learning going

In times of uncertainty, educational disruptions impact everyone. Students, teachers, administrators, and parents all face daily challenges to keep the learning going in any situation. But strong collaboration and the right set of edtech tools can maintain continuity in a student’s educational experience.

“We’re going to have some level of disruption for a while longer,” says Barbara Nesbitt. “You need to be flexible when thinking about moving from distance learning to blended learning, and you can’t do that without technology. I think what’s critical is making sure teachers have the right manageable tools and train them to use them.”