Blended-learning
Blended learning is a term often used to describe the provision or use of resources which combine e-learning with other educational resources.
A key blended-learning arrangement involves e-mentoring or e-tutoring.
These arrangements tend to combine e-learning with some form of human intervention in the learning process, although the involvement of an e-mentor or e-tutor (whose role is performed online) does not necessarily need to be only in the context of e-learning.
E-mentoring or e-tutoring can also be provided performed as part of a 'stand alone' ('un-blended') e-tutoring or e-mentoring provision.
Alternatively, they can be provided as part of an arrangement where 'conventional' offline non-elearning based provision happens to include online tutoring or mentoring services.
This combination of e-tutoring plus conventional non-elearning, although it is a perfectly valid example of blended learning, is the 'opposite way round' to most current blended learning provisions.
The non-e-learnining element of blended learning tends to be the availability of an individual with whom the learner establishes contact online, either as an integral part of an e-learning course, or as a 'support facility' who can be 'summoned' to contribute to the learning process on an on-demand, ad-hoc basis.
Blended learning is typically defined as being a combination of chat systems or online message boards or email.
However, telephone contact with a tutor or trainer may be just as effective and potentially far more reassuring to the learner.
Sometimes, especially in IT training, learners may be in fact using computers as a training resource in a conventional classroom setting and the computers may or may not be used to deliver e-learning based lessons, but the setting and the presence of a class tutor often tends to prevent the training delivered in this way from being labelled as being either e-learning or blended learning.
