Abstract:

Technology has impacted all fields of society: sciences, media, and social interactions, and above all education. The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies has brought both opportunities and challenges for teachers and educational institutions at all levels. In the field of foreign language education, the influence of cutting-edge technology appears to be more crucial; a myriad of models, trends and applications seem to provide opportunities to enhance the quality and accessibility of language learning for everyone. One of those models is blended learning (BL). Graham (2003) claims that BL encourages: access to knowledge; social interaction; personal agency; cost effectiveness and ease of revision; pedagogy; increased access and flexibility; an increased cost and effectiveness. Another trend is the Flipped Classroom (FL). Tucker (2012) defines it as an instructional approach in which instruction occurs in advance and classroom time is maximized.

Grounded in our praxis as tutors in a Blended program that uses flipped classroom in a higher institution in Colombia, here we report a case study on the challenges and strategies that teachers and learners recognized during two academic semesters. The program has faced challenges such as: technology, resources for design and implementation, attitudes of students, English teachers, and administrators towards the program, teachers’ development, oral performance, interaction, and feedback.

A review of the literature, and data collected from institutional evaluations, interviews and surveys illustrate how the program has created strategies and methodologies to achieve effective EFL learning regardless the setbacks. With regard to strategies, the findings reveal that the teachers and learners developed resourcefulness, adaptation to new environments and tools, optimization of available materials, a humanistic pedagogical approach and diverse learning styles to succeed in the learning process. Finally, the main factors for students’ success dealt with: self-regulation, self-efficacy, personalized tutoring and constant interaction with the tutor and classmates. There are still many challenges and heated debates on the effectiveness of blended learning programs but their usefulness and emergence is clear.

Keywords:

Blended Learning, Flipped Classroom, English as a Foreign Language, Higher Education, Material Design, Self-regulation, Self-efficacy, Interaction, Feedback.