Of all the blended learning models, whole-group rotation might be the easiest place to start. In fact, many teachers have probably used some version of whole-group rotation without even knowing it.
In whole-group rotation, the entire class rotates at the same time between learning activities that are face-to-face and online. For instance, students might listen to a mini-lesson lecture and then work on an application task in small groups; this is the face-to-face component. Then, when directed by the teacher, the entire class simultaneously takes out their digital devices, logs in to an eLearning website, and completes a self-paced learning module online to practice the skill that was taught in the face-to-face lesson. The students are rotating as a whole group between online and face-to-face learning activities that are connected to each other and support common learning targets.
During the face-to-face portion, the teacher is often directly facilitating the learning activities. When the class moves to online learning, the teacher will typically provide students with directions about what to accomplish online, and then circulate around the classroom offering individual help while students work through their online tasks.
Whole-group rotation can happen within a single class period or be divided over several days. For instance, a mini-lesson followed by group work and then computer time could happen in one class period, or if one of the activities takes too long, the learning sequence could be spread over a couple of days.
Sometimes, teachers dedicate a specific day of the week for online learning. For example, if Tuesdays are vocabulary development days, teachers might dedicate time on that day for student use of a vocabulary building computer program. Because it happens consistently, students get used to this routine, and it can make classroom operations more efficient, saving time that can be reallocated to address other needs.
At other times, teachers might adapt in the moment. Perhaps a student raises a question during a class discussion that aligns with the learning and piques student interest. The teacher might take advantage of that learning moment and have students take out their computers to do some research that can enhance the discussion and help answer the student’s question.
Regardless of how the rotation happens, the online work must still be intentionally connected to the offline learning. If the two learning experiences are not connected, it is not blended learning.
Choosing Online or Offline
Deciding when to use whole-group rotation should be a natural part of lesson planning. As the teacher in the classroom, you are the content expert and also know your students’ interests, abilities, and needs. You have probably also discovered that some activities work better online while others are better offline. And sometimes, this varies depending on the particular group of students you are working with or the specific unit of study. Part of the art of teaching is choosing which option is best for each learning opportunity.
The following list offers specific examples of offline and online activities that you might choose to use in your classroom, and oftentimes, you can offer students similar learning experiences in either environment:
- Discussion: A typical offline activity is a small-group discussion. Students get in pairs, a small group, or even a full class circle and discuss a topic. Perhaps they engage in a Socratic seminar. If you wanted to move this online, you could engage students in discussion boards. You pose the initial question, and then students respond to that prompt as well as peer posts. You could also create a custom AI space using a tool like SchoolAI that allows students to have a virtual conversation with a chatbot. You could even use both online and offline approaches during the same lesson. Students could begin online, so they have independent think time to prepare for a face-to-face discussion that follows.
- Experiments: Hands-on labs and experiments are powerful learning experiences for students and should be implemented. A science lab, for instance, is a rich environment for student engagement, inquiry, collaboration, and critical thinking. At the same time, there are engaging online labs like those provided by PhET (Tips), which focus on math and science content. For example, students in a physical science course could conduct buoyancy experiments or interact with magnets, physics students may launch virtual projectiles, or chemistry students might build a virtual nucleus. These virtual options have the advantage of being more cost-effective, time-efficient, and repeatable. Students can interact virtually, adjust variables, and reflect on the impacts of changes made. Perhaps the online lab is used after the physical, hands-on lab to try out additional variables that build on the one chosen during the physical lab, or the virtual lab might be completed initially as practice or as a way to activate students’ curiosity.
- Presenting a Speech: When students present a speech, they practice many high-level thinking skills. They must brainstorm, plan, research, write, organize, practice, and then present their thoughts coherently and effectively to a live audience. A virtual alternative to this is to have students write and record a screencast of that same content. These screencasts can then be shared with classmates for review. Sometimes, the screencast version can be used as a practice opportunity before presenting to the class in person.
- Practice: At times, students need drill and practice. Traditionally, this has been done offline with worksheets, face-to-face quizzing, or perhaps a live-game format. Digital programs often excel in this area, providing students with immediate feedback and differentiated learning paths. Both approaches have their place, and in fact, both can be used with the same lesson to provide a variety of options for student practice.
- Getting Feedback: Sometimes, feedback needs to be more nuanced than simply asking if a question is right or wrong. This is especially true when students are working on complex projects or writing assignments. Peer and teacher conferences are powerful ways to provide students with this deeper feedback in an offline, face-to-face setting. However, this approach takes a lot of time. As an alternative, custom chatbots can be created to move some of this feedback cycle to an online environment. By creating a custom chatbot for your students to engage with, you can define how much and which type of feedback students receive. The benefit of the chatbot approach is that the feedback is immediate, and the student can interact with it in a conversational manner, much like a face-to-face conference. Of course, it’s important that human-to-human feedback occurs somewhere in the loop. You should not offload all of this to AI without checking in and making sure that students are on the right track and that the feedback remains appropriate.
- Lecture: Content can be directly presented live or via a recording, typically in a video format. Both achieve similar objectives and have advantages and disadvantages. Live lectures allow for student questions and discussion. Recordings allow students to rewind and pause, and they may offer more dynamic visuals to accompany the audio.
- Visual Aids: On one hand, you could supply poster board, scissors, glue, and markers, and then let students create a physical poster explaining a new concept. On the other hand, you could allow students to use a program like Canva to create a digital visual aid that includes many types of multimedia, like images, video, text, and audio.
- Brainstorming: Students could get in a group and generate a list of ideas together, or students can engage with an AI chatbot, entering thoughtful prompts and generating a list of ideas to bring back to the full class or a small group.
- Reading: This can be done with printed texts or online resources.
- Gallery Tours: Students can peruse physical posters in the classroom or navigate virtually through student-created slideshows or digital artifacts.
- Research: Students can reference physical books or go online to access virtual materials.
- Newscasts: Students can perform a live newscast for the class, or they can submit a recorded version via audio or video.
Guiding Considerations
Regardless of the interplay between offline and online interactivity that you decide on, there are a few key principles that will help make your final determination more successful:
- Connections: Make sure that the online and offline experiences are connected. Each activity should build upon the other and help students achieve the targeted learning objectives.
- Time: Consider your timeline. You have a finite number of minutes with your students. What activities do you have time for? There are times where online will be more efficient, and other times, the inverse will be true.
- Choice: When possible, give students options. Choice can be empowering and help students follow a personalized path to learning. That said, it’s perfectly fine to limit choice at times. Too many choices can be overwhelming, and always offering choice can enable students to too easily elect an option that is easiest or most familiar. It’s okay to stretch students to discover new learning paths as well.
- Strengths: Consider the strengths of each approach. Offline activities help students learn to engage with each other, communicate, and collaborate. Conversely, online activities provide powerful opportunities to research, discover, and create, with immediate feedback readily available.
AVID Connections
This resource connects with the following components of the AVID College and Career Readiness Framework:
- Instruction
- Rigorous Academic Preparedness
- Student Agency
- Insist on Rigor
- Break Down Barriers
- Align the Work
Extend Your Learning
- Are Computer Labs a Thing of the Past? Not So Fast. (Jenny White via Blended Learning Universe)
- Whole Group Rotation – Blended Learning with Catlin Tucker (McGraw Hill PreK-12 via YouTube)