Many faculties are already creating courses that use some elements of blended learning without even realizing it. As online tools become more ubiquitous, integrating technology into curricula seems like a natural course of action for many instructors. Before determining if teaching with technology is right for you, it’s important to understand the difference between the different types of learning environments.

Face-to-Face

Face-to-face courses are what are thought of as the “traditional” learning experience on most college campuses. These take place with all members of the class—instructor(s) and students—meeting in the same physical location at the same time.

Blended

Blended courses are ones that “integrate online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned pedagogically valuable manner, where a portion of face-to-face time is replaced by online activity.”*

Online

Online courses are courses that are taught primarily in an online environment. In some cases, these courses will require that all participants meet in a face-to-face environment one or two times, but nearly all of the instructional and learning activities occur online.

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*Picciano, A. G. (2009) Blending with Purpose: The Multimodal Model. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 13(1), 7–17.