As part of the ninth annual Education Next poll, researchers Paul E. Peterson and Michael B. Horn asked the general public, teachers and experts about how much time should be dedicated to students "receiving instruction independently through or on a computer."

The results revealed a slight difference between the groups- with the researchers admitting that each will inherently have their own bias- but in general indicated that significantly less than half of instructional time should be spent receiving independent instruction on a computer, according to Education Next.

First, the poll asked a cross-section of the American public to answer the following question:

"About what share of instructional time in high school do you think students should spend receiving instruction independently through or on a computer?"

Respondents were allowed to rank the percentage from none at all to increments of ten leading to 100 percent.

The average time that the American public agreed on was 30 percent of instructional time.

Teachers, on the other hand, thought 20 percent of instructional time was better suited whereas experts thought 40 percent.

"So the public’s opinion stands at 30 percent, halfway between the blended-learning experts, who suggest 40 percent (but may have a computer bias), and teachers, who say 20 percent (but may have a teacher bias)," the researchers said.

Blended learning is a somewhat controversial topic as many are unsure how to determine its tangible effect on improving learning. And while some argue it's the learning style of the future that offers the most personalized learning experience possible, opponents argue that too much screen time is bad for young learners and reduces human interaction between student and teacher. 

With only differences of ten percentage points between all groups, it's clear that most agree that less than half but more than 20 percent of instructional time spent applying blended learning is the happy medium.

Read the full article here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

09/25/2015