Blended courses: the best of online and traditional formats.

With the wide availability of educational technologies and the Internet, clinical laboratory educators are replacing some traditional face-to-face classes with online methods in their courses. This article summarizes current literature and practice for partly online "blended" courses. Blended courses can take advantage of the best of both online and traditional face-to-face instruction. The many advantages for educators and students include flexibility, convenience, and improved participation, however designing blended courses is challenging and time consuming. For optimal learning, educators should design a blended course by matching the appropriate methods with the objectives of the course. The pedagogy of blended learning is discussed and best practices are identified.