Exploring South Texas Teachers’ Perceptions of Challenges Implementing Blended Learning into their Classrooms

Blended learning (BL), also known as hybrid or flipped classroom learning, is a method that involves both traditional face-to-face teaching and online media instruction. The problem experienced in South Texas school districts (STSD), despite research showing evidence of the BL model’s benefits, is that some teachers are struggling to implement BL into their classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore STSD teachers’ perceptions of the challenges and support needed to incorporate BL into their classrooms. The conceptual frameworks that supported this study were Davis’s technology acceptance model and Bloom’s digital taxonomy. For this basic qualitative design, six STSD teachers were interviewed. The data were coded a priori with the following three themes emerging: lack of time- to train, plan, prepare, or implement BL models; issues with adopting technology trends- when learning newly adopted school programs, or upgraded technologies; and support needed- to ensure teachers effectively integrate programs into their lessons and follow-ups to ensure continued support. Even though data saturation could not be achieved, a position paper recommending ongoing professional development/training and hiring teacher technology coaches to support teachers with BL challenges was proposed, hence allowing STSD an opportunity to develop a smoother integration of BL. This study promotes social change by enabling STSD teachers to enhance their BL knowledge and skills which will ultimately benefit student technological success and prepare them for the digital future.