Blended Learning for Early Education

Between birth and age seven, children learn vital skills needed to make sense of the world around them and develop their memory and symbolic understanding of ideas. This period is known as the sensorimotor and preoperational cognitive stages of childhood development. These key developmental changes prepare children to be able to learn higher-order skills and formal operational skills needed later on in life. What do we do when children need support in these areas or are not progressing as fast as we hoped? In this course, we will unpack strategies for remediation to help early learners build cognitive skills in support of sensorimotor and preoperational cognitive development.

Blended literacy instruction can be challenging for educators of early learners. The increased use of technology introduces a new skill set for both facilitators of instruction and young learners. In this course, we will examine how to engage learners in effective in-class and at-home activities that can support the development of critical literacy skills. Leave this course with an action plan to support your learners’ specific literacy needs in the blended classroom.

When planning blended math instruction for early learners, you might be wondering about best practices for engaging students in developmentally appropriate activities at home, requiring minimal use of technology, and the ease at which parents can support the learning experience. In this course, we will explore different activities that engage, inspire, and support student agency. We will analyze how to plan math instruction in a blended learning environment specifically for early learners. When you have completed this course, you will feel ready to engage your early learners in real-world math experiences.

In this course, we will explore resources that support building assessments for early learners. We will consider diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments, and how technology-based assessment methods can benefit learner outcomes and progress. We will unpack digital tools to inform the backward design process, and ultimately, support inclusive communication and student voice in the virtual classroom. Participants will create a plan to incorporate technology-based assessments in their hybrid or virtual classrooms.