Pixel International Conferences

Blended Learning in education is the future for higher education. The rapid changes in technology combined with a demand for a more agile environment is transforming the traditional classroom and challenging learning models. Higher education has been adapting by moving classroom time into purely online environments. However, the literature suggests the new wave of learning is extracting the best practices from traditional and online models and infusing them into a blended environment. The agility and use of technology allows the non-traditional student to balance a professional career and life demands while still gaining the benefits of face-to-face time in the physical classroom. Universities also benefit from these models by staying competitive in student recruitment and the ability to increase class demands by forfeiting classroom space. The definition of blended learning for this study was combination of face-to-face instruction (25-75%) with online (various technological) self-guided modalities. The purpose of this study was to analyze frameworks for blended learning adoption and implementation among United States business schools that are accredited through the AACSB and ACBSP. The goal was to understand the overall blended learning framework of US business schools and the maturity of these options.A quantitative data collection instrument was adapted from the qualitative BLAF study by Graham et al. (2013) and administered to a total of 814 AACSB or ACBSP accreditation business schools during the summer of 2016. The total response rate was 55% and after omitting incomplete responses, a sample size of 227 was analyzed. The overall results indicated that BL is available throughout various levels within business schools, however due to lack of institutionalization; the respondents lacked the knowledge to gauge the maturity of BL options within their university. Finally, results from the study demonstrate an emerging trend and confirm that before assessing BL maturity, institutions should adopt a common framework for comparison to other institutions as a way to measure success and growth.