Blended learning

In recent years, the training initiatives in blended learning increased enormously as a result of the different demands to integrate the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in educational systems. In Higher Education, the blend approach is highly pursued because of its unique flexibility that allows the teacher to propose, in every situation, more advantageous train- ing solutions for their students, contrary to mandatory classroom in Basic and Secondary schools. It seems that the blended learning approach, a concept often bordering others such as e-learning, distance education, online learning or open learning, allows you to get the best of both worlds, the face-to-face and the virtual, and be an alternative to the traditional classroom teaching models and to enhance the new forms of electronic learning environments that use only the virtual and the distance. The blended learning approach seems to have the advantages of some of the concepts described, as the flexibility to determine their own pace of learning, and removes the greater disadvantage which is the lack of human contact with colleagues and teacher.CIEC – Research Centre on Child Studies, IE, UMinho (FCT R&D unit 317), Portuga