SESSION 4D

Lauren O’Hern
Designing a blended learning solution

Abstract
ELT centres with the appropriate resources have been exploring blended learning for quite some time. You may feel that you don’t have the budget or the infrastructure to engage with blended learning, but blended learning does not necessarily involve investing in expensive technology. There are a range of low cost options for working with what is already available in most ELT centres, and what students bring with them.

A commonly heard term in discussion of blended learning is the flipped classroom, which draws on new technologies to breathe life into familiar methodologies. Blended learning solutions can be designed for varying contexts, to enable teachers to integrate in-class and out-of-class activities and accelerate language learning.

Bio
Lauren O’Hern has worked in ESL, international and higher education since 1998 and currently works with NEAS, the Australian ELT quality assurance organisation, as a quality assessor and conference coordinator. She has taught English in Australia, Vietnam, Singapore and Turkey and held coordination and management roles for 11 years in Vietnam and Australia. In her work with NEAS Lauren has conducted quality review visits across Australia as well as in Cambodia and Vietnam. She holds a Master of Applied Linguistics, BA in English and Trinity College TESOL certificate.