Blended Learning - FAQs

How is blended learning different from remote learning?

Blended learning refers to an approach that combines remote learning with traditional on-campus learning. It is sometimes referred to as hybrid learning/hybrid school. Technology is used to deliver learning both in the classroom and for eLearning. The main benefit of blended learning is that it supports and complements different learning styles so that students can excel at their own pace.

What is remote learning?

Remote learning is digitally supported learning using the flipped classroom model. Instruction is either recorded and available for download, or live streamed using video conferencing software. Learning is more personalized and interactive. Remember to allow for longer response times from your students – they may be experiencing connectivity issues or not have devices available to send in their work. Also – keep to regular school routines. Start the remote learning school day by sending a greeting to your students. You can use Announcements in itslearning to embed a video greeting, or send a message to your class.

I’m experiencing performance issues. Why is this?

When using home Internet services, you can experience some disruption when too many people are logged in at home at the same time. This can cause itslearning to be slower than normal and for pages to take a longer time to load. You can always check the itslearning performance status by clicking our status page for regular updates.

Does itslearning support live conferencing?

Yes. You can either use the live conferencing tool in itslearning or other software such as MS Teams, Google Hangouts or ZOOM. All users with a MS Office 365 account can add a MS Teams meeting into any section in itslearning or Fronter 19 with a rich text editor – for instance Calendar or Plans. To use ZOOM – you will need an educational package with ZOOM to currently use it with itslearning. More information is available on our Support page.

Which features in itslearning are most useful for blended or remote learning?

There’s a variety of tools because our platform is designed for teaching and is adaptable for the way a teacher wants to teach. But teachers who have been teaching remotely tell us that these are their go-to features:

Plans: Create a central hub for your lessons. Link up activities, resources, assignments and even learning objectives/standards. You can create detailed plans for any specific period of time and have it appear in the Calendar so students have a structure for their online learning days. You can also copy your plans to your other courses, share it with fellow teachers and print your planner as a PDF if you need a hard copy. More on our Tips for Teachers page.

Learning Paths: This is a great way to deliver content and it has an adaptive release that is based on how the student performs. This ensures a student fully understands what they are learning before moving on to the next step.

Discussion tool: Keep your students engaged and in touch with their classmates and teachers. It is important that your students don’t feel isolated during this period of homeschooling and know that they can reach out to their friends and teachers. The conferencing tool also supports text conferencing so the class can collaborate and communicate easily.

Assignments: The flexible Assignments tool supports both individual and group assignments. Even better, it takes just one click to create a copy of the assignment for all your students. It also provides peer and self-assessment, which encourages interaction, independent learning and growth.

360° Reports: Keep track of how your students are performing. These in-depth, real-time, visual infographics show how well each student is progressing and their engagement with the resources and lessons. It can help you refine and restructure courses to help students stay on track during extended periods of remote learning.

Is there an alternative to Plans?

Certainly. Although Plans is the most powerful tool for creating a good structure and lesson sequence for the students, there’re other alternative ways to deliver your lessons.

Learning Path: Use this tool to put together resources and order activities in the way that you want your students to complete. By creating assessments you can make sure students understand what they are learning before moving to the next step. Learn more about Learning Paths.

Calendar: You can also add resources directly to the calendar. This is useful when you want to make it clear to students when they need to do different activities.

Does itslearning support after-school programs?

Absolutely. itslearning supports virtual spaces for after-school activities. You can either use Courses or through the community group tool.

How to get started with itslearning quickly if my school does not have itslearning?

We have been creating a series of virtual training sessions for teachers and schools who want to get itslearning. Get in touch with us using the contact us button below.

Will itslearning work in China?

Yes, we have clients in China who successfully implemented itslearning following the coronavirus outbreak in China in January 2020. Here’s a video of a teacher in China explaining how her school used itslearning to deliver remote learning to students after the school was closed to contain the outbreak.

In short, itslearning will work anywhere and on any device with an Internet connection.