Blended: A Book Review

Title: Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools
Authors: Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker
Review:

I could be wrong, but I think most schools and districts jump into a blended learning model (or what they would call blended learning) without a lot of planning about how it will work.  They buy the hardware, ramp up the wifi capabilities, and figure that teachers will work out the rest of the details.  While it's true there are teachers who will make it happen, the harsh reality is that most teachers are too busy to use the technology effectively.

Blended is a book that can help solve that problem.  Horn and Staker think through all the ramifications of what administrators and teachers should consider before launching a blended learning program.  And, believe it or not, they spend very little time talking about technology itself.

The true focus of this book -- and consequently, blended learning itself -- is in the subtitle: disruptive innovation.  If we continue to teach like we've always taught we will never truly see blended learning work effectively.  If we make our blended learning about technology, we will never truly see blended learning work effectively. Instead, we need to put our attention on the way teaching and learning happen in our schools.  (Spoiler Alert: It no longer looks anything like the way we were taught as kids and probably not how we were taught in college.)

While the text of the book was helpful, the best part of the book for me was the video links weaved into the book.  This gave me a look into what other schools are doing so I could see it in action.

Perhaps my biggest takeaway came from Chapter 3: "Start with the Rallying Cry." "The most successful blended-learning programs are much more deliberate and generally share a common starting point: they begin by identifying the problem to solve or the goal to achieve. They start with a clear rallying cry." (page 98) I think the number one important idea is to ask your principal why are we attempting a blended learning program, then run with that goal in mind.

While Blended is a book meant to be read and absorbed by administrators and lead teachers before blended learning is implemented, I also think it would be a great book to be read in those schools where computers or tablets were dumped in teachers' laps with little training or planning.  It's time to put some serious effort into a sustainable blended learning model in our schools.