Blending refers to the extent to which learning technologies are used in conjunction with face to face teaching.

The SKG Project found that you cannot talk about affordances without the role of the teacher – technology is to be used to enhance the learning process, to enable teachers to use more student centred approaches to pedagogy.

Interviews

Grainne Conole from the UK’s Open University spoke to the SKG Reference Group meeting about the role of the teacher and  the intersection between technology, good pedagogy, and the use of space.

Grainne also reinforced the idea that use of high technology does not guarantee higher student outcomes - the teacher  is still essential to the learning process.

Robert Smith from Stanford also emphasized that the teacher is the irreplaceable element in the classroom.

Rich Holeton and Beth McCullough from Stanford argued that the technology in the classroom is there to enable better teaching, not replace it.

John Belcher from MIT talked to the SKG project team about how the TEAL Center enables a student centred approach to teaching.