| A decade of research studies document that while blended learning has experienced rapid growth on K-12 campuses, little is known about its diverse impacts on teachers in secondary schools. Narrowing this knowledge gap was the purpose of this study, as it addressed questions relating to the extent to which high school practitioners blended subject matter in their classrooms, along with their perceptions of how blending altered their face-to-face instruction. A constructivist, phenomenological design was employed with a criterion sampling of six suburban educators who used Blackboard as their primary platform for daily instruction. Emergent themes regarding the perceived strengths and weaknesses of blending were extracted from semi structured interview data, validated via continuous member checking, and then triangulated with patterns that emerged from observations in the participants' face-to-face and cyber classrooms. Results indicated that teachers used Blackboard to store material from their live courses, rarely requiring students to interact with new content online or collaborate with peers to produce evidence of mastery. The participants reported that hybrid strategies improved their ability to differentiate assignments, communicate, and engage students, but implementation of lessons was hampered by access to technology, competing administrative agendas, lack of time, and professional apathy. The text and sample English course that resulted from this study can be used by professional development coordinators to inform training in hybrid frameworks. Implications for social change include redefining teacher-student dynamics as a whole. When educators harness the power of the Internet to create more efficient, democratic learning experiences and meet the needs of the Net Generation, they contribute to an improved classroom climate for all. |
