Distance Education Innovations and New Learning Environments: Com ...

1989), and it defines blend as “to mix, mingle; esp. to unite intimately, so as to form a uniform or harmonious mixture” (“blend,” 1989). Fundamentally, the term hybrid suggests a melding of two disparate, wholly distinct and unlike entities. But that is not truly the case when one combines traditional educational practices and distance education practices. It is not as though distance educators use teaching methodologies that are entirely distinctive from traditional methods.

Distance education and traditional learning environments (e.g., classroom) are not polar-opposite concepts. In fact, a review of most distance education courses would reveal that the basic methodology of presenting information to the learners, offering skill building assignments, creating interactive learning opportunities between teachers and learners and learners and content, and evaluating student progress is at the foundation of these courses. So the term hybrid learning is linguistically and philosophically a bit of a misnomer for what actually occurs when traditional learning and distance learning are brought together in practice. Though perhaps not scientifically precise for what it describes, blended learning is a more fitting term for describing the act of merging the best of distance and traditional education methodologies and technologies.

Reoccurring Terminology

This is an appropriate moment to clarify the use of reoccurring synonymous terms in this study. Blended learning and hybrid learning are synonymous terms in the literature, though blended will be the preferred term in this study. There is another cluster of terms that are synonymous with each other that refer to educational environments that are mediated by electronic means and are characterized by a separation of learners, instructors, and content, usually in physical terms. Though in some educational literature these terms have technical meanings that distinguish themselves from each other, for the purpose of keeping the writing lively and fresh, the following terms will be employed as synonyms throughout this text: online learning, distance education, distance learning, Web-based learning, Internet learning, and e-learning. There remains one final cluster of terms and phrases that will be treated as synonymous. These