Although blended learning is, by definition, a joining of two well-established and well-understood instructional modalities, the combination appears to be particularly challenging for some institutions. Lured by the promise that blended learning can benefit the majority of the institution’s students and faculty while achieving efficiencies in resource utilization, we confront the question of what constitutes effective practices. What works and why? What is required to make blended learning truly the “best of both worlds?

This presentation will summarize the potential of blended learning to successfully achieve all five of the Sloan-C pillars (the promise), and review the lessons learned over 13 years of experience developing and delivering a large-scale blended learning initiative (the practice) at the University of Central Florida.