Teacher Motivation and Constructivist Teaching Activities in Blended Learning Environments: The Engagement Perspective

Introduction

Teachers' motives to engage in blended learning environments (BLEs) embody notable strategic aspects for knowledge construction based on one’s teaching experiences, continuous professional development and on whether one has gone through teacher education program relating to hybrid pedagogy. In addition, teacher’s educational processes in classes which are based on teaching professionalism have both positive and negative impacts on students’ learning. With the increase in investment, adoption, deployment and implementation of innovative educational technologies in higher education, teachers’ motivational factors to apply blended learning and engaging constructivist teaching activities in the blended learning environment has received considerable attention in higher education institutions (Prince, Snowden & Matthews, 2010). In this regard, this chapter presents blended learning teaching processes (instruction) in the context of Tanzania. The chapter uses some data from ten higher education institutions. The concept of blending instruction is associated with attempts to conjoin educational media and technological tools in an e-learning environment. This is to say, the traditional learning environment is enhanced with web-based learning (Derbel, 2017; Lalima, & Dangwal, 2017).

It is an innovative teaching and learning approach that embraces the advantages of both traditional teaching and learning and the ICT mediated instruction including offline and online learning (Machumu & Zhu, 2017). Application of blended learning in Tanzania commenced in the 2000s because of a number of factors, namely; economy, technological changes, pedagogical approaches, working environments. It should be noted that the current development and increasing use of blended learning environments in Tanzania education systems are because of influence of innovative digital instructional technologies and the failure of traditional learning to meet students’ expectations (Mtebe & Raphael, 2017). In such learning environments, two instructional approaches are conjoined in order that learning theory, teaching methods, learning assessments, instructional design, and practices yield the best academic outcomes. In the context of Tanzania, most of e-learning solutions and services are perceived as transformative learning. Transformative learning is a philosophy of teaching and learning which intend to challenge students' thinking and teachers' ability to employ innovative solutions like blended learning, e-learning and mobile learning for their daily undertakings.

Students are then encouraged to use critical thinking skills and deep questioning skills to understand whether or not their underlying concepts, ideas, assumptions and beliefs about the world are accurate and change their conceptions accordingly (Christie, Carey, Robertson, & Grainger, 2015). This kind of learning allows flexibility by exploiting students' experiences in learning which lead to change. Transformative learning is about developing leadership attributes; its purpose is to produce enlightened change agents who capitalise on available and accessible learning facilities to produce desired outcomes (Umemoto & Tanaka, 2017; Fleming, 2018).

Blended learning environments are similar to transformative learning in challenging student thinking. It involves conjoining learning modes, online and traditional face-to-face learning. In the online mode, learners experience personalised learning by engaging on free dialogue, critical debate, negotiation and agreement while in the conventional face-to-face learning mode learners experience how to react in real-time and be assertive (Bele & Rugelj, 2007). In the context of Tanzania higher education institutions, a number of institutions deployed blended learning courses which offered the possibility of having access to the teacher via online coaching and learning management platforms. As such, well-formulated, planned, organised and supported blended learning environments not only encourage the conduct of meaningful learning but also motivate both teachers and students' engagement through different learning strategies. Engaging constructivist teaching activities encourage and reinforce collaboration, guided discovery and interactive inquiry, as opposed to rote learning, passive learning or some traditional face-to-face learning.