High School Students Transitioning to Blended Learning: Creating a Flexible, Safe, and Personalized Learning Environment

• In Event: Advances in Learning Environments Research Across Various Contexts

Abstract

This phenomenology-based, qualitative study explored experiences of students who transitioned from traditional, brick and mortar schools to a school of their choosing that blended virtual and in-person learning. Transcripts of three unstructured interviews with each of 16 high school student participants were entered into MAXQDA for coding cycles. Categorizing and connecting strategies were used to create narrative profiles. Participants emphasized the significance and consequences of schools ensuring safety, allowing freedom, demanding student decision-making, creating an atmosphere to foster increased responsibility, providing on-time access to teachers, and demonstrating an ethic of caring that lets students know they are important. Their voices inform educators, parents, and students of things to consider about alternative learning environments while taking responsibility to educate all students.

Authors

• James Long, Paulding County School System

• Lorraine C. Schmertzing, Valdosta State University

• Richard W. Schmertzing, Valdosta State University

• Barbara Radcliffe, Valdosta State University