Blending Education was created to help educators, administrators, instructional designers and anyone else interested in teaching and learning to easily implement blended learning into their course, program, faculty or school, thus saving time, cutting costs and minimizing effort.
Simply put, we want your students to love learning what you are teaching, so we aim to reach them where they already are, which is typically on a mobile device. To do this we have created portable microlearning objects that you can easily download and use to complement your teaching. Students then access these on any device for truly anytime, anywhere learning. Our microlearning objects, resources, and ideas are professionally-designed, pedagogically-effective and will save you time and effort. You simply download them and then upload them to your LMS in just a few clicks. And the best part is, they grade themselves. We’ve also got loads of free ideas that you can use for your face-to-face teaching.
Currently Blending Education is focused on Science in Higher Education, but will be extending to other subjects and K-12 very soon. However the ideas and many of the resources can be applied to any subject or education level.
Blending Education is free and open to educators so please join us! We would love to hear about your teaching experiences you have using our ideas and resources, or yours. Join us now for free and post these in our Community.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND ON BLENDING EDUCATION
Ideas
Ideas are examples of blended learning, with instructions, that you can implement in your course. Ideas cover all subjects and all learning levels. Subject-specific ideas can be found in the Subjects section.
GO TO IDEAS
Resources
Resources are free downloads, featuring tutorials, templates, and activities for your Learning Management System (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You’ll also find digital and printable resources for using in class.
GO TO RESOURCES
Shop
In our Shop you can buy and download premium microlearning objects that are ready to use in your courses right now. All of the resources in The Shop have been professionally-designed and tested by learning technologists. Oh, and there are free ones, too!
GO TO THE SHOP
Community
Ask questions, get answers, and meet others in the Community. You can share your knowledge and experiences and help other educators just like you.
GO TO THE COMMUNITYABOUT THE RESOURCES
We offer different types of resources and it’s important to understand how they work so that you and your students can get the best learning experiences from them.
Learning Objects (Microlearning)
Resources in the Shop and most of the free downloadable resources are learning objects.
Learning objects are self-grading, portable, trackable units of online learning. We refer to these units as Microlearning. Our microlearning objects are self-contained, standalone units that can be used alone or with other microlearning objects. They are meant to supplement your teaching and can be combined, mixed and in some cases, re-mixed (H5P). You can also use our microlearning objects as part of a personalized learning program, where students can choose their own learning path.
The types of Microlearning you’ll find on this site are SCORM packages and H5P Interactions.
SCORM is a publishing standard that is used in e-learning and has been around for decades. SCORM packages are self-contained learning objects, and are easily uploaded into your LMS or Virtual Learning Environment. One of the benefits of SCORM learning objects is that they automatically grade and track your students’ progress and results. SCORM packages are published from e-learning software such as Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate and others.
We refer to 4 types of Microlearning Resources on Blending Education: “Micros”, “Mesos”, and “Activities”, which are SCORM packages and “H5P”. You can find these in the Activities section and in The Shop.
Activities
Activities are downloadable e-learning objects that you can upload to your Learning Management System.
They look great on any device, whether mobile, laptop or desktop, and are typically self-grading, trackable, and free!
LEARN MORE
Micros
A “Micro” is a short, self-contained lesson designed for easy consumption.
Micros typically have a few key points with interactions and a trackable quiz and can be part of a topic (a “Meso”). Micros reduce cognitive load, deliver timely feedback, and allow students to learn at their own pace.
LEARN MORE
Mesos
A “Meso” is a topic containing Micros, with a trackable quizzes plus an assessment at the end. You can keep the order, or mix and match the included Micros with other Micros, or even let students choose their own learning path.
LEARN MORE
H5P
H5P is a free educational tool that lets you create interactive content like videos, quizzes, games, presentations and more that look great on any device. H5P is a “plugin” that needs to be installed in your application and can be used with Moodle, WordPress and Drupal (It’s also coming soon to Blackboard!). With H5P you can edit interactive content and track your students’ progress and scores. You can find H5P interactions in Activities and also in the Shop.
LEARN MORESCORM Microlearning objects are not editable. H5P interactions are editable if you have the free H5P plugin installed.
Templates are ready to-use layouts for you to fill with your content.
Tutorials show you how to use, create or fix things.
TECHY STUFF
Microlearning objects are published as SCORM 1.2 packages and are compatible with almost all Learning Management Systems and Virtual Learning Environments.
If you are not sure whether your system can accommodate SCORM packages, contact your IT department for help. You can also download a free micro that you can test in your LMS.
H5P for Moodle – There is an H5P plugin for Moodle that must be installed in order to upload, edit and view H5P interactions. You may already have it installed; check in your Moodle Site Administration > Plugins.
H5P for WordPress – If your WordPress site is self-hosted and you can install plugins then you can use H5P interactions. You’ll just need to install the H5P plugin. If you have a hosted site at WordPress.com (and don’t host your website yourself) you won’t be able to upload H5P products, because WordPress.com won’t allow you to install third party plugins (like H5P).
Templates require you have the software specified, such as Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or Powerpoint.
If you still aren’t sure, check in the Community or just ask!
ABOUT THE DESIGNER & CURATOR
Hi there! I’m Veronica Volz and I’m the owner, lead designer and curator of Blending Education. I love creating useful things for education, like portable, reusable learning objects and online social learning communities.
I’ve worked in Higher Education as a Blended Learning Specialist and Consultant for several years in the United States and the United Kingdom. My goal with Blending Education is to share my knowledge, projects, and ideas, and collaborate with others who are passionate about Blended Learning. Follow me on Twitter @BlendingEd. See my work and pedagogical solutions at VeronicaVolz.com
This site is a collection of all of my research, ideas, products and opinions on Blended Learning for education. I have tried to give credit when possible, but if I have missed anything, please do let me know.
Do you have questions about blended learning, e-learning software, LMS/VLE issues or SCORM?
Just ask! I am happy to help if I can.