The Sloan Foundation is supporting a project to investigate uses of technology to improve access and quality in college instruction. The grant provides resources to support the development of blended learning courses and programs in the School of Education and other units within the University.

Blended learning reduces barriers to access for many non-traditional college students by moving some instruction into an asynchronous online format, allowing for greater flexibility of scheduling and participation on the part of the instructors and learners. Blended learning models can also provide opportunities for the development of technology-mediated pedagogical innovation and more efficient uses of institutional resources. The grant follows and builds upon the School of Education’s successful technology and learning compact initiative, which is designed to help educators understand and improve 21st century teaching and learning methods.