There are many reasons to use a blended learning approach in course design. Before starting a course design process, it is useful to stop and reflect on the reasons and desired goals for such approach. The following are benefits of blended learning by audience:

BENEFITS FOR...

Students

Improves the ability to personalize learning.
Increases flexibility in course scheduling.
Improves student engagement and motivation.
Creates learning communities across time and geolocation.

Faculty

Improves pedagogy used in course by increasing the level of active learning strategies, peer-to-peer learning strategies, and learner-centered strategies used.
It provides flexible scheduling and delivery of information by “offering a mix of traditional and technology mediated channels to provide more options for non-traditional students (Graham, 2005).”

Campus

Increases cost effectiveness and efficiency by finding solutions that are more cost-efficient than the current, traditional teaching methods.
Extends time and stretches resources.
Has the potential to expand the reach of effective teachers.
Reduces “seat time.”

BLENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Wisconsin Experience and the Essential Learning Outcomes initiative encourages instructors to facilitate the following practices in their course:

substantial research experiences that generate knowledge and analytical skills;
global and cultural competencies and engagement;
leadership and activism opportunities; and
application of knowledge in the “real world”

This initiative strives to help students develop the following skills before they graduate:

Knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world	Intellectual and practical skills	Personal and social responsibility	Integrative Learning
Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts	Inquiry and analysis Critical and creative thinking Written and oral communication Quantitative literacy Information, media, and technology literacy	Civic knowledge and engagement – local and global Intercultural knowledge and competence Foundations and skills for lifelong learning	Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies
Focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring	Practiced entensively across the curriculum the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance	Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges	Demonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems

In the book, The Handbook of Blended Learning, Curtis Bonk, Kyong-Jee Kim, and Tintin Zeng contribute chapter called “Future Directions of Blended Learning in Higher Education and Workplace Learning Setting.”

Future predictions for most-widely used pedagogical techniques for e-learning in higher education settings
Response Options	Number of Respondents	Response Ratio (%)
Group problem-solving and collaboration tasks Problem-based learning Discussion Case-based strategies Simulation and role play Student-generated content Coaching or mentoring Guided learning Exploration or discovery Lecturing or teacher-directed activities Modeling solution process Socratic questioning	356 316 237 228 198 190 162 155 147 60 49 47	65.4 58.1 43.6 41.2 36.4 34.9 29.8 28.5 27.0 11.0 9.0 8.6

Future predictions for most-widely used pedagogical techniques for e-learning in workplace learning settings
Response Options	Number of Respondents	Response Ratio (%)
Authentic case scenarios Simulations or gaming Virtual team collaborations Problem-based learning Coaching or mentoring Guided learning Self-Paced learning Exploration or discovery Modeling solution processes Discussion Debates and role play Lecturing Socratic Questioning	145 115 107 97 90 86 79 45 44 41 36 3 5	63 50 46.5 42.2 39.1 37.4 34.3 19.6 19.1 17.8 15.7 13.5 2.2