“For us it was a learning experience”: Design, development and implementation of blended learning

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to share reflections of the three authors on the process of instructional design and implementation of blended learning for teachers ' professional development (PD) in rural western Kenya. It proposes reforms in provision of teachers ' professional development to enable professional development providers to access specialized skills in instructional design (ID) and blended learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper resulted from a design-based research including 12 entry and 12 exit interviews, observations of three face-to-face meetings of blended learning sessions and ten classroom observations of teachers implementing new teaching approaches learned through blended learning.

Findings

The paper provides insights into the authors ' experiences in this research. They shared the following reflections: engagement in ID empowered them and they are confident that they can engage in systematic instructional design on a larger scale; they gained technical knowledge and skills in authoring content in HTML on eXe open source platform; uploading the content and processing audio and video content was equally enthralling to them.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to consider incorporating the design-based research, instructional design and blended learning approaches used in this study while conducting related research in their dissimilar contexts.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the design, development and implementation of teachers ' professional development for challenging contexts as a contribution towards achievement of both Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA).

Originality/value

This paper fulfils an identified need to study provision of professional development for teachers who lack opportunities for professional development.

Citation

Onguko, B., Jepchumba, L. and Gaceri, P. (2013), "“For us it was a learning experience”: Design, development and implementation of blended learning", European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 37 No. 7, pp. 615-634. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-10-2012-0052