Editorial Overview

Abstract

In the March 2015 issue of JETS, we reviewed the book “Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools.” We are now facing a different type of disruption (Covid-19 crisis) that is challenging us to invent new learning systems. We need to design our new educational programs to blend in-school instruction with online learning experiences. The book “Blended” can be used as a practical guide for implementing blended learning techniques in K-12 schools. The new blended systems should combine the best of both worlds: in-class instruction with online learning activities. The lead article in this issue of JETS provides an excellent example of how a blended learning program was implemented in an elementary school in India. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of blended learning on students’ achievement, to monitor teachers’ perceptions, and finally to determine its potential in underprivileged classrooms. Important findings were that blended learning had a positive impact on student achievement and also students had positive attitudes toward blended learning. The second paper explores the question: do school levels impact the use of educational technology? One of the keys to the successful implementation of blended learning is the positive perceptions and use of educational technologies at different grade levels. An interesting finding of the Technology Use Perceptions Survey was that elementary school teachers made more frequent use of instructional technology than highschool teachers. To optimize blended learning environments, an important consideration is the type of classroom instruction that is being blended with online systems. In the next paper, a comparison is made between the traditional classroom and a smart classroom. An important difference between the two types of classroom environments is the role of teachers and students. For example, there is a significant difference between how cooperative learning strategies are implemented. The next two papers focus on some of the problems of the use of two modern digital communication systems: smartphones and Instagram systems. The fourth paper deals with a research project that seeks to understand students’ unstructured cell phone usage, faculty responses, and concrete interventions to off-task usage. The next paper investigates the adolescent’s perceptions toward Instagram via their mind maps to understand this social media phenomenon. The goal of both projects is to explore ways of minimizing the disruptions caused by these two popular social media systems. Editorial