Blended Learning: Promising Strategic Alternative in Higher Education

AbstractProblem StatementContemporary higher education faces numerous improvements worthwhile challenges, such as unfavorable demography, problematic quality management, lack of skilled resources, aging population or unconsolidated delivery of related study programs.Purpose of the StudySystem of higher education is under permanent development. Although it has succeeded in implementations of local or partial changes, perspective global solutions are still missing. To improve this situation, we want to propose a viable strategy for educational managers and decision makers, capable to motivate people, minimize internal tensions and stabilize this sector.Research MethodsInitially we summarized the most evident bottlenecks of contemporary higher education and formulated the desired target arrangements. Findings from literature review were categorized, summarized and represented with mind map. Knowledge and data from previous experiments was used for design of system diagram, characterizing external and internal factors of proposed model, as well as single subsystems and their relations.FindingsWe believe that innovative educational platform, based on practices of blended learning, can shift the traditionally rigid educational system towards more flexible networking structures. According to our experience, properly trained and institutionally supported teachers, equipped with heterogeneous teaching artefacts can address more students with lower expenses and higher quality. Moreover, such courses can be easily sheared, combined or reused.ConclusionsSystematic, domain wide introduction of semi virtually delivered blended courses to higher education can solve many problems, existing in this sector. This approach is based on mobility and extensive exchange of teachers, their specialization and individual work with group of students. Due to structural flexibility, blended courses can be tailored for any audience. Explicitly existing educational processes can be straightforwardly quantified, managed and improved