Blended learning should be expanded to more classes at LHS. Blended learning is a classroom format brought to LHS last year and has been adapted by more classes this school year. Blended learning means teachers will choose days where all of the work that needs to be done for that day will be online and students in the class will be able to do the whole assignment on their computers wherever they like. This means the students do not necessarily have to be in the classroom to get that day’s assignment completed.

Allowing students to do the assignment outside of class allows them to be in the comfort of their own home, at a coffee shop with friends to discuss ideas, in the library for a quiet workspace, or in the classroom if they choose to get assistance from the teacher. These blended days are not every day, they are just days the teacher would have already called “workdays”. For some students, If they were able to go home and have time to themselves to complete their work, they would get a lot more done than if they had friends in their class to distract them.

Brad Newitt, a teacher at LHS teaches blended physics, AP physics and AP physics II and highly appreciates the benefits it brings.
“My favorite part would be the flexibility that it offers for students and for me as a teacher,” said Newitt. “ We have about one day a week where students can get some extra help if they need it and a little bit more individualized instruction or help that they normally wouldn’t get on a normal class day.”

You might be thinking – won’t kids just mess around and not get their work done if they don’t have to be at school? – While that is very possible, it is the student’s responsibility to make sure that work given to them on blended days gets completed before the next day in class. To support this requirement, there are rules to ensure kids stay on top of their workload. Students must have an 80% or higher in the class and have no missing assignments in said class to participate in the blended learning days. If the student does not stay up to this standard, they will be required to come to class on blended days to make sure they are staying on task. The thought of students not doing their work on blended days is not really a problem because kids know they want to keep being able to leave school on those days so they will stay on top of their work.

“I think there is definitely an element of student responsibility that has to go with it for it to succeed. Right now I think it’s probably better extended to students who are juniors and seniors, maybe sophomores,” said Newitt.

Students will enjoy learning more if there are more factors they get to choose from, such as their location and the timeframe they complete their work. While blended learning is not for everyone, it has worked very well for many students. Students always have the option to come to class if they would benefit from more face-to-face time with their teacher. While Newitt points out, “We are still trying to feel out how it best works for us here at Lincoln,” it appears students and teachers have both experienced enough benefits from the program to continue extending blended learning to more classes.