Blended learning and the convergence of face-to-face and distance education

The convergence, the confluence, between the methodologies and resources of the face-to-face and distance education systems is now a reality. One of the variants of dual or mixed institutions is to offer a particular program, subject or course with a combination of face-to-face moments in the classroom, and other work activities outside the academic institution with the support of technologies. It is the "blended-learning". We clarify that this blend and combination of methods and resources was already being carried out by the first distance universities with the support of face-to-face tutorials long before the arrival of digital technologies. In this work, rather than consider it a blend or combination of educational modalities, we are inclined to consider it as an integration of means, resources, technologies, methodologies, activities, strategies and, both face-to-face and distance learning, techniques to satisfy each specific learning need. As a further variant of this integration there appears the "flipped classroom" in which there are times planned to be spent in the classroom and times to be at home with the emphasis placed on reorganizing the work of the students in the classroom (more interaction) and at home (more autonomous work), as opposed to what used to be, as well as the new role of the teacher.