Assessment: the Trojan horse of blended learning

The Quartet Method, a methodology for EFL implemented by The Q Group PLC, is based on core pedagogical principles that underpin a standards-driven, blended language-learning model. The use of multiple delivery channels creates a learning environment whereby skills and competencies are delivered through channels that suit learners best. This blend of delivery channels creates an effective balance in learning and caters to different learning styles. Assessing the learning achieved through these different channels, however, is not a simple process. Therefore, The Q Group has developed an online grading toot which enables teachers to reflect on the blended Quartet methodology in assessment as well as in learning and teaching. Just as the different learning components that are parts of the. courses range from self-paced learning to teacher-monitored learning, and from individual to group learning, and take place in computer-based environments, face-to-face classrooms, and home or workplace environments, so the Quartet Method grading tool allows for input comprehensively reflecting these aspects of learning. This paper will present the Quartet Method and its grading tool together with their theoretical underpinnings, and provide a sample case of its use.