Argumentative Essay: The richness of blended courses

Times are changing for education. Many schools, colleges and universities are now working with technology. Computers have become more and more frequent in our daily life, so it is natural that the process of education follows the same tread.  We are witnessing a transformation of education. The birth of blended courses raises the possibility of thinking less about delivering instruction and more about producing, that´s why technology should be used in education.

According to Barr and Tagg (1995), education centers are moving away from a faculty-centered and lecture-based paradigm to a model where learners are the focus, where faculty members become learning environment designers, and where students are taught critical thinking skills. But still the need for classroom is required in blended courses, thus students can exchange their experiences and discuss the online process with teacher guidance, which enriches the learning process.

With blended approach learners benefit from multiple learning channels and media formats getting in touch with all learning styles. A great number of resources such as videos, pictures, websites, voice recorders, might help students learn better and not to get bored with just one technique.  Furthermore, apprentices don´t get dependent on one source of information, if face-to-face sessions are missed they can find that information elsewhere. This process encourages self-paced learning and increases knowledge retention. 

Though blended courses offer a great deal of advantages, some may argue that the time pressure students have to deal with is something to be worried about. One may not be able to organize him/herself about the time required to execute the online activities and exercises and not to accomplish the course goals. It is easy to think that if you don’t have to be in the classes you have nothing to worry about. But in fact, this is an illusion. Clearly, online classes require as much as presential ones do. To solve this kind of inconvenient it is essential students be strict about organizing themselves and reserving a substantial amount of time to accomplish the online activities.

Given the numerous reasons for taking a blended course, one should consider trying it. It broadens the students production and it makes the person have contact with all types of technologies of modern world. The teacher is less needed and the student becomes the knowledge center.