Successful blended instruction is intended to benefit from the combination of face-to-face and online instruction; The two environments should work in concert with one another, utilizing the strengths from each individual platform so that the combined instructional model is stronger than the sum of the parts. Administration, faculty, and students hold key roles in making the blended environment a place where the level of learning is unmatched. The problem is that blended learning has not recognized the factors that provide an integral role in designing effective instructional design. The online learning within blended instruction includes examples of communication, assessment, and research, but the methods are often narrowly adapted for the online environment and still represent instruction that originated for the classroom. A modified qualitative Delphi was used to evaluate for themes that are coded for, and become, the instructional design concerns of blended learning. These themes were generated from students that took part in at least one of the five blended courses offered at this high school. The students provided concepts that they felt positively or negatively benefited their blended experience. Despite the small participant group of eight that finished both rounds of surveys, there were three factors that the participant experts identified. Pace of learning, flexibility, and interactions between students and instructors were three areas that the participants felt were integral to their successful blended experiences. Interactions was an area that was highly discussed and held a mix review as to the effectivity of it within these blended courses. This supports the research that values interactions, their role in teaching and learning, and the need for further understanding in how these interactions impact blended instructional design. The study was rather selective and was never intended to be duplicated for many other educational settings. |