CHAPTER ELEVEN
SOCIAL STUDIES AND BLENDED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Introduction
Nigerian education nowadays is practical and progressive. This is one of the reasons adjustments are occasionally made to its structure continuously. Education serves a dynamic society that is itself dynamic. Education must therefore keep up with societal changes in order to be relevant to the needs and ambitions of the society. This dynamism is reflected in the modern Nigerian society, where the country’s political atmosphere has led to extremely erratic educational policy. Since education is intended to address societal issues, it must adapt as necessary to remain relevant in a world where problems are always emerging. The problem of relevance in education is what occasionally causes the formation and growth of new disciplines and curricula in the field of education. Soon after World War II, Social Studies was added to the school curriculum as a discipline as a result of the educational dynamism.
For a very long time, classroom teachers have been integrating various learning activities and resources into classroom, laboratory, practicum, and studio contexts, among others, in order to improve the transaction and communication between teacher and students. With the development of information and communication technology (ICT), a new definition of blended teaching and learning has emerged, which now refers to the blending of face-to- face instruction in the classroom and online learning.
Around the world, information technologies have influenced social, political, and economic transformation. People’s perspectives on themselves and their surroundings have changed as a result of information technology advancements, making a comparable shift and development in the field of social studies education necessary. Numerous elements influence the creation and evolution of the social studies curriculum. Teachers are unquestionably one of the most crucial among these aspects, and information technologies are probably second. In managing information technology and creating a connection between pupils and information technologies, a teacher plays a significant role (Oral, 2004). The main motivations behind such innovations in education are the goal to improve quality, the want to improve the learning experience, and the aim to act as a motivator to increase student retention and academic achievement. In order to increase students’ desire for learning, retention, and academic achievement in their courses, lecturers are constantly under pressure to come up with new strategies to engage and excite their audience. In the past, these inventions have been chosen haphazardly, frequently on the basis of hearsay, custom, or even best estimate (Danielson, 2008).
Only teaching methods that cater to different learning styles will result in students learning social studies. Many benefits of various technology-based instructional methodologies have been demonstrated in numerous studies for efficient teaching and learning. As a result, many educational institutions use blended learning as a complementary strategy for increasing motivation and retention, knowledge development, and academic achievement. Blended learning, which includes the use of both conventional and Information and Communication Technology, tends to offer better possibilities due to the shortcomings inherent in information and communication technology and traditional methods of imparting knowledge. Because this approach mixes traditional classroom education with ICT and computer-assisted learning. Here, the pupils are exposed to traditional teaching techniques along with electronic learning. Worldwide, social studies teachers now place a high importance on the utilization of blended learning strategies in their classrooms. Using web-based resources to teach social studies is not entirely a new trend. Marsh (2012) said that in order to give our students the most rich learning environment possible, we have always used a “blend” of teaching strategies. The demand that our students use technology both inside and outside of the classroom as a component of the learning process is something new. Regarding individual differences and classroom instruction, Lightbown and Spada (2013) also hold that teachers can support students in expanding their toolkit of learning strategies and, as a result, developing a more adaptable learning style. Students are given opportunity to explore facts, concepts, and generalizations pertinent to Social Studies as a result of their exposure to a variety of learning materials, including varied instructional materials like videos, blogs, online forums, and other digital tools.
According to Khaled (2013), the development of e-learning as a model for learning has been forced by advances in science and technology. As a result, the conventional approach cannot keep up with this innovation. It is necessary to have a new model that combines some characteristics of both traditional learning and E-learning in order to overcome the drawbacks of both types of learning because, despite the tremendous benefits of E-learning, it has some limits due to the lack of face-to-face connection. As a result, the more cutting- edge method of blended learning has emerged. As it is built on face-to-face learning as a type of learning and introduces information technology and telecommunications as an asynchronous model, it combines virtual learning environments with traditional learning environments (Graham,2006). Additionally, it combines an online and traditional face-to-face learning environment in a way that maximizes the use of both of them in the educational process (Littlejoin&Pegler, 2006).
In light of the aforementioned, Sandina (2015) divided blended learning into six categories, including Face to face driver, where the instructor is in charge of the curriculum and adds digital resources as needed. Students enrolled in rotation classes alternate between periods of independent online study and inperson instruction. A digital platform is used to deliver a flexible curriculum, and teachers are on hand for in-person guidance and support. Students typically take traditional classes in this model as well. Labs-all content is offered via digital platform, but in a regular physical place. Students who selfblender typically supplement their traditional education with online course work. Online Driver: All curriculum and instruction are delivered via a digital platform, and face-to-face meetings are made possible. Here, there are plenty of opportunities for teachers to select whichever model they would like to use to inspire students, facilitate retention, and improve academic performance. Because blended learning is learner-centered, many scholars concur that it is the greatest technique for modern educational practice. More specifically, it improves upon the shortcomings of both e-learning and traditional methods, giving the teacher a strong and complex means of carrying out his duties with ease.
Information technology and the Internet are now essential for everybody who wants to keep up with the rapid change in our contemporary environment in the age of globalization. However, social studies instruction and learning are not simple tasks for either teachers or students. The use of computers and digital technology has improved the quality of contemporary teaching and learning processes. There has been a change in education toward blended learning, which allows for the incorporation of the internet and information and communications technologies in teaching and learning. By providing a varied, adaptable, and user-friendly method of delivering education, blended learning improves the learning processes.
Most lecturers find it difficult to use ICT to offer educational materials to students at Nigerian colleges of education. The use of electronic instructional materials might encounter issues due to a variety of circumstances, including teachers’ attitudes toward their jobs, school administrations’ stances on the use of instructional media, and a host of other things. A sizable portion of the lecturers and professors at colleges of education are not up to date on the latest advancements and trends in the specialisation of education. As a result, the majority of them lack the necessary understanding of the characteristics of ICT and the circumstances in which they produce the best learning outcomes. This may be explained by the dearth of literature on the subject and the lack of workshops or refresher courses for teachers. Another area of concern is the lack of adequate graphic design abilities among teachers. The issue of fundamental illustration techniques arises after a teacher has decided to deliver a learning material in a visual format. Many teachers are forced to take the path of least resistance due to a lack of understanding of the concepts and components of ICT, a tense hand, and a dripping pen. Except for the select few who benefit from training in ICT, one of the most difficult issues in teaching.
Concept of Learning
There are numerous definitions of learning, the majority of which dissatisfy readers and teachers. If you look up the word “learn” in a dictionary, you’ll probably find the following definitions: to gain knowledge of a topic or skill through education or experience; to learn about someone or something; or to memorize something, such as facts, a poem, a piece of music, or a dance.
Although it serves as a reminder that the term can be used to represent the acquisition of both information and ability, this definition is not especially insightful. This acquisition can occur through a multitude of channels, including schooling, experience, or memory. According to Encyclopedia Britannica (online) learning is described as the a change in behavior brought on by personal encounters. This implies that once An organism is said to learn when it is able to perceive its behaviour and alter it. This definition is more akin to common textbook definitions which, are no longer attractive to the academic community, arising particularly from the emphasis on the outcome of learning (i.e., behavioural change) predicted by “experience”. In a synthesis of a few textbook definitions by Lachman (1997), the study concluded the majority of textbooks state that learning is “…a rather lasting transformation” in behaviour as a result of practice or experience”. Fairly recent academic writeups have faulted the textbook definitions for rendering vague, the meaning of learning. It is often held that the acquisition of knowledge does not essentially warrant a transformation in behaviour. Rather a change in stimulus-response relations arising from a previously ineffective stimulus that eventually becomes effective due to exposure to learning. One of the examples cited to justify that change in behaviour is not a necessary outcome of learning as the case of “classical conditioning”. In “classical conditioning”, the original effective stimulus for salivation is food on the tongue. However, through exposure to learning, the same salivation could be elicited by a “new conditioning” via a mere “tone”. It is apparent that the behavior in context (salivating) remains virtually unchanged but the stimulus-response relations is observed to have changed.
Another noticeable parameter based on which the common textbook definition is contested is the use of the term “experience”. Although, there exist some profound connections between experience and behavioural outcomes (Rossum & Hamer, 2010), the term is conceived to have broad connotations, including not only environmental encounters (which is contextual to the definition of learning) but also “consciousness” (which is objectively non observable) and hence outside the realm of the objective science of behaviour. As a helpful reminder for teachers, the Oxford English Dictionary also offers a definition that recognizes the value of instruction as a means of learning. The major components that have consequences for teachers and schools on a personal and social level are highlighted in the definitions that follow. Learning can be thought of as a reflective activity that allows the learner to use past knowledge to comprehend and assess the present in order to guide future action and create new information (National School Improvement Network Bulletin, 2002). This means that learning is an active process in which the learner accepts and assimilates new concepts while connecting fresh experience to previously understood meaning. This shows that learning connects the past, present and future, though linear connection is not assumed.
Furthermore, learning implies unlearning and relearning. It is also a process that is influenced by the way learning is to be expressed and the manner learning influences future actions is very important. This is to say that, this definition contrasts the widely held belief that learning is a passive process of knowledge acquisition with measurable and predictable results. In a nutshell, this implies that learning increases one’s knowledge, enhances memorization and reproduction, application and understanding and of course, the learner learning something new and evolving the learner personally. Interaction produces learning. In accordance with the epistemology guiding the learning design, students may interact with teachers and tutors, with materials, and/or with others (Tanya,2011). Many instructors put in a tremendous lot of work to create their lessons in a way that makes the most of such interactions. Learning is built on a relationship between a sense perception and an urge to act, which can be defined as mental connections that are developed through positive responses to specific stimuli (Kim et al., 2001). Making connections between what is already known or understood and new knowledge is the process of learning. In other words, previous knowledge is very vital as students connect the dots and draw conclusions from their experience to the learning process. According to Kim et al. (2001), learning involves encoding and storing information in the brain, processing, categorizing, and clustering information, and then recovering it to use in the right circumstances. This means that in order for learning to occur, facts, concepts, and ideas must be retained, connected to one another, and built upon. A learner can make sense of material, remember it, and apply it in a variety of ways with the advanced knowledge of what the key ideas are and how they relate to one another conceptually.
Learning is a transformation in a person’s capacity to act in particular ways. This change could be attributed to practice and prior knowledge of the topic (in the field) (e.g. training in the classroom). The individual’s curiosity, contemplation, and adaptation can also produce learning (Stewart, 2003).
Concept of Blended Learning
In a formal educational setting, blended learning is employed to provide students some control over their learning environment—at least in part—by delivering content and teaching through digital and online media. Due to the lack of agreement on a definition for blended learning, similar to Social Studies, research into its efficacy in the classroom has run into problems. The term “blend of text based on synchronizing internet technology with face-to-face learning” refers to this type of learning (Garrison &Kanuke, 2004). The fundamental value of blended learning, according to McGee and Reins (2012), is the integration of verbal interactions that take place in person and those that take place online that are matched to the right learning tasks. Majority of these meanings are implying that variety of online media are made use of in using blended learning. These lists are captured in Mortera-Gutierrez (2012) to include Threaded discussions, online exams, audio and video conferencing, and virtual classrooms are all examples of collaboration software. E-learning takes a more comprehensive view of both the online and face-to-face components, while blended learning refers to the use of a variety of learning resources, assessment modes, and in-class activities.
To Verkroost, Meijerinrile, Linksen and veen (2008), blended learning can be seen as the totality of instructional procedures that do not always include online components, such as pedagogical methods. The conceptual integrity of blended learning is questioned by Blui, Dzuiban, and Hartman (2007) who claim that its emphasis is on teaching rather than learning. They suggested the names “blended learning” or “blended pedagogies” as alternatives. In contrast, Gerbic (2011) describes campus-based programs as ones that introduce some kind of e-learning while doing so in a face-to-face context. Glogowska (2011), on the other hand, views blended learning in part in terms of how it utilizes many learning environments, noting that students may participate in learning on a university or college campus, at work, at home, or while traveling with the aid of appropriate technology.
Mortera-Guitierrez (2006) sees blended learning to connote diverse items to varying individuals. This depicts that, the potential of blended learning is yet to be exhausted. Thus, individual institutions have tried to make Their distinctive institutional qualities, such as values, mission, student acceptance, and instructor response, should be considered while designing blended learning strategies (Moskal, Dzuiban& Hartman; 2013).
Furthermore, Donneell (2010) sees blended learning as a type of studying that gives the chance to offer educational opportunities that combine face-to-face interaction with technology-mediated learning environmental learning while deviating from their weakness. Blended learning in tertiary institution is such that offered flexibility to reach a larger, more diverse student body and meet students’ expectations for using technology in their education (Chen Lambart& Guidry, 2010).
Benson (2011) is of the view that A student-centered environment can be supported by blended learning. It will boost academic accomplishment in a setting when the benefits of a mixed learning environment include encouraging higher-order thinking, critical reflection, and motivation. This will enhance and enrich interaction and help students regulate their learning (Montero &Merrison, 2014) which is the essence of using blended learning in the teaching of Social Studies.
According to Brew (2008), To improve learning outcomes, blended learning combines face-to-face and online learning methods. Simply defined, blended learning gives teachers the chance to incorporate online materials into their regular classroom activities to engage students, encourage greater participation from them, and improve learning outcomes. Blended learning is most frequently experienced by students as a combination of conventional didactic face-to-face lectures with the availability of supplemental internet resources (Torrisi-Steele & Drew, 2013). To put it another way, blended learning refers to a formal educational program in which students learn at least through the delivery of content and teaching via digital and online media with a little amount of student autonomy over time, location, path, or speed. Chen, Lambert and Guidry (2010) made a discover that, wide spread usage of the internet as well as other technologies of the internet has exploded in the past fifteen years. This is an A growing trend in blended learning is which uptake blended learning to be called new standard for instruction in higher education (Norberg, Dzuiban&Moskal, 2011). Higher educational institutions view the use of blended learning environments, which combine physical and virtual components, as a vital strategy (Cobcroft, Towers, Smith, &Bruns, 2006). This trend has become more pronounced since the publication of a meta-analysis of 50 studies that found that students taking blended courses that included both online and face-to-face instruction performed significantly better than students taking only online courses, with an effect size of +0.35, p. 001. (Means, 2010). Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been found to increase students’ learning attitudes and enable simultaneous independent and collaborative learning. Students with interests or talents that go outside the scope of the curriculum can use instructional technology to enhance their skills and break through significant barriers. According to Bielawaski and Metcalf (2003), blended learning focuses on maximizing the accomplishment of learning objectives by utilizing the appropriate learning technologies and matching them with appropriate learning styles in order to transfer the appropriate skills to the appropriate people at the appropriate time. By ensuring a suitable fit between the demands of the learners and the educational program being given, blended learning simultaneously improves the effectiveness of learning. Consequently, achieving higher levels of learning outcomes in comparison to the conventional manner of learning inside the classroom (Ibrahim, 2007).
In the same vein, blended learning offers flexibility, socio-learning, selflearning reaction, and motivation (Siew-Eng, 2010). Online learning and traditional To attain the finest learning results that enable students to manage their time effectively, classroom learning must be used, and any drawbacks that come with it must be overcome (Riffell& Sibley, 2003). However, blended learning encourages students to study and guarantees that students receive immediate feedback. It is also versatile as it permits students access information from varying sources of information in diverse manners. For example, face-to-face learning could be delivered and the same data or information could be made available in diverse way on the internet.
Another actual loss of identity or individuality is a challenge for students in an online or mixed classroom. Individuals’ learning capacities and motivations may become strained by the requirement to work together to attain collective goals and successes. The insistence on equitable collaboration in some groups may make this problem worse. With this emphasis on equitable contribution, collaborative group outcomes may lack coherence. The faculty person should make an effort to recognize these emotional difficulties when they interfere with the group process and bring them back to the group for resolution (Smith, 2008).
A significant issue now confronting Colleges of Education that wishes It is possible to boost collaboration by coordinating the two different delivery methods by using a blended learning approach. Determining whether the online method should replace or supplement the conventional method of information transmission is tough. Online delivery typically fails to successfully replicate face-to-face interactions, according to Suthers (2006).
As a result, a mixed strategy must emphasize how the two systems may work together to provide the best of both worlds. The benefits of this component of the mixed approach were most frequently cited as flexibility and time efficiency in relation to online learning. 2010 (So & Bonk). When evaluating the old approach, teachers’ control over their classrooms and capacity for individual expression were frequently mentioned (Smith, 2008). Carman (2002) in Bracio (n.d.) makes the recommendation that crucial components should be delivered through synchronous multimedia tools. When creating a blended learning environment, Carman lists five success factors as well: self-paced learning modules, student collaboration, “real time” conversations or chat room situations, support materials like links, and some sort of assessment. The classroom model is superior in terms of feedback, incentives systems, or instructional support, even though this works best when restricting the technology “mix” to quantitative problem solving (Yoon & Lim, 2007).
When compared to pupils in a face-to-face learning environment, Mustafa’s (2015) research showed that a blended learning environment had a considerable boost in the average academic attainment. The argument for blended learning’s efficacy comes from the observation that these programs give students access to a wider range of affordances than either online or face- to-face modes alone do. Support is provided by Ramsden, 2003, who made the case that mixed learning settings give students more options, which can enhance their learning. Additionally, according to Oliver and Trigwell (2005), a blended environment may provide opportunities for learning that are not present in non-blended situations due to the nature of the various experiences accessible.
While there is evidence that blended learning has potential, there is also a lot of evidence that most blended learning courses fall short of that potential (Driscoll, 2002; Hofman, 2006). This failure can be partially attributed to teachers’ well-documented resistance to online learning, which has been a recurring theme in the literature for at least 15 years (see, for instance, Heirdsfield, Walker, Tambyah, &Beutel, 2011), as well as to a lack of sufficient professional development (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008). Because senior administrators believe that online learning is more effective than instructors do, there are now a lot of online and blended learning courses available in the educational sector (Allen, Seaman, Lederman &Jaschik, 2012). It’s not unexpected that the outcomes are sometimes disappointing considering the limited options frequently given to professors about the incorporation of online learning components into their programs.
Justification for Blended Learning in Social Studies Instruction
Blended learning has turned out to be a popular form of teaching and learning process. It “requires combining the online and in-person learning modalities to produce a more productive learning environment” (Brew, 2008). With blended learning, teachers can incorporate internet materials into their regular lesson plans to engage students and encourage greater activity and productivity.
The Graham and Robinson (2007) study established a dividing line between blends that enable, enhance, and alter. While upgrading blends boosts student and instructor productivity, enabling blends just gives students more access and convenience. However, a transformative blend switched from constructivist active learning approaches to methodologies for information transmission. It is clear that our traditional educational approaches are inadequate in the modern world of the digital age to meet the expanding educational needs of people. Literally, In the traditional educational setting of formal education, where teachers and students engage in the same activities at the same time and place, learning does not cross boundaries. One significant development in technology-enhanced tertiary education is the shift toward blended learning (Bliuc, Goodyear, & Ellis, 2007). The results of a meta-analysis from the US Department of Education (Means, Toyama, Bakia, & Jones, 2009), which found that a blended learning strategy produced the best results for students, are likely to provide as the best support for this trend. The ability to learn at any time and anyplace was made possible through blended learning strategies. Particularly in trials comparing extremely similar learning environments, the sort of media made available to students appears to have little bearing on effectiveness (Clark, 2001). The fundamental component of effective learning is the use of strategies to include students in the situation (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008). The significance of learning time was also noted in the US meta-analysis by Means et al. in 2009. The results are better when learning is given more time. Blended learning, according to Kanuka, Brooks, and Saranchuck (2009), enables teachers and students to have high-quality interactions while also removing time, place, and situational obstacles. They claimed that it is influenced by the well-established methods of distance educators who support flexibility in the timing, location, and pace of student learning. They also claimed that over the past ten years, both the quantity and caliber of research in online and blended business education has grown significantly. The pace of development varies a little between fields, though.
The extensive use of the Web and other Internet technologies in postsecondary education has increased over the past 15 years, according to Chen, Lambert, and Guidry’s (2010) research. The impact of Web-based learning technology on student engagement and self-reported learning outcomes in face-to-face and online learning environments was examined by the researchers using a set of items created by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the hierarchical linear model (HLM) and multiple regressions. The findings indicate a favorable correlation between student involvement and learning outcomes and the applications of learning technologies. According to Cobcroft et al. (2009), higher education institutions view blended learning environments that include physical and virtual components as crucial techniques. According to Arbaugh et al. (2009) and Abrami (2007), studies comparing the outcomes of online versus classroom-based learning and those looking into potential course outcome predictors were the most prevalent research streams across disciplines. While there are discrepancies in the findings of comparisons of various course characteristics, the results of the comparative studies generally imply that online courses are at least similar to classroom-based courses in achieving desired learning outcomes. However, one interesting discovery was that, in contrast to classroom-based environments, online courses enabled and even demanded reflection as a necessary component of the learning process.
According to Mayes and Morrison (2008), providing a well-managed program and ensuring that faculty members are both qualified and motivated in teaching in the online learning environment are also essential. According to Swenson and Redmond (2009), both teachers and students need to adapt when moving from traditional classroom instruction to online learning. Technology has widened, expanded, and, in some ways, deepened access to education beyond what face-to-face instruction can do. This is significant in and of itself since the western educational paradigm has long held that the location of teachers, students, and resources in relation to time and space is essential to education. The quick adoption of new technology in education shows that innovative teaching and learning methods are possible. Large mental shifts are needed from academic staff and administrators in education, especially in tertiary education, where the lecture/seminar paradigm still predominates in academic teaching practice, for changes of this size. The educational sector uses information technology (e-learning) more frequently as a teaching and learning medium.
The idea of e-learning adds extra complexity to the traditional teacher-centred educational model. E-learning, according to Clark and Mayer (…), is a type of instruction that is delivered using a computer. The letter “e” in “e-learning” designates digital content that can be saved on an electronic wireless device. Elearning serves as an example of how the availability of information and communication technology, particularly the internet, has opened up and flexible learning opportunities for everyone. According to Castle and McGuire, e-learning can enhance the learning experience because it allows students to learn anywhere and under any circumstance—as long as they have access to the internet—without having to participate in in-person instruction. A flexible approach to program planning that allows for learning at any time and location is known as blended learning. According to Rovai and Jordan, a blended learning paradigm is essentially a combination of high-quality instruction that is delivered both in person and online (e-learning). Online instruction and learning, often known as e-learning or blended learning, is a logical progression from conventional classroom instruction and learning, which employs a face- to-face learning style. The teaching and learning processes will be more efficient with the blended learning model since the e-learning model of teaching and learning will aid in the conventional teaching and learning processes. It is dependent on the information technology infrastructure and can be carried out whenever and whenever. In addition, Jusoff and Khodabandelous (…) claimed that blended learning not only enhances contact between students and teachers, but also reduces the distance between them.
Review Questions
Attempt the following questions:
Define the concepts of learning and blended learning?
Differentiate between face-to-face as well as blended learning approach to instruction