Blended learning research is at a very interesting crossroads when it comes to interests of the public school system, nonprofit organizations, corporate entities, private research firms, and traditional academic institutions. There are several ongoing initiatives dedicated to disseminating research to practitioners with the goal of applying evidence in the implementation of blended learning. Such a focus on translating and disseminating research may suggest two things: that the evidence base is robust, and/or that academic publication is now an exercise in futility. Neither of these is true, and in fact the need to both uncover and document evidence, as well as publish them in peer-reviewed spaces, has perhaps never been greater for the sector.

First, think about the graduate students of the future who are looking for high-quality research. Two typical databases that students use to find education research include the Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), and Google Scholar. There is a dearth of research focused on K-12 blended (or personalized) learning in these databases. It’s not because research isn’t happening in this area, but because most research being conducted in the field is usually not making its way to academic publication outlets (from which these databases draw).

This “democratization” of publication is almost certainly happening broadly across fields, but blended and personalized learning, perhaps unsurprisingly, seems to be out ahead of this trend. It is precisely because blended learning is a newer field that we need to take the time to build a vetted, robust evidence base.

Read the full article about the need for more peer-reviewed publications for blended learning by Emily Pulham and Saro Mohammed, Ph.D. at Brookings.