CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, 2010, 1(3), 196-207 196 Blending Makes the Difference: Comparison of Blended and TraditioŶal IŶstructioŶ oŶ StudeŶts’ PerforŵaŶce aŶd Attitudes in Computer Literacy Adem Uzun Aysan Senturk Uludag University, Turkey Abstract Puƌpose of this studLJ is to Đoŵpaƌe studeŶts’ Đouƌ se achievement and attitudes towards computers in computer literacy course between two course delivery methods: Blended and face-to-face (FTF). Using a pretest-posttest control group experimental design model, participants were assigned to experimental and control groups purposefully in order to achieve group equivalency. The study was conducted during the fall of the 2006-2007 academic year. Participants were 179 students from the Faculty of Education at Uludag University in Turkey. 86 students were taught with the blended mode of delivery, which involved using both FTF and online modes of instruction; 93 students were taught with FTF mode alone. At the beginning of the study, prior knowledge about computer literacy and attitudes towards computers were measured in both groups. At the end of the study, studeŶts’ fiŶal Đouƌse scores and attitude scores towards computers were evaluated. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests. A statistically significant difference was found between the FTF and blended group (p<0.05). The analysis showed that the blended group was more successful than the traditional group in terms of both course achievement and attitudes towards computers. Keywords: Blended learning; Face-to-face instruction; Computer literacy; Attitudes toward computers Introduction Background As the most popular form of distance education today, online learning is a rapidly growing trend in instructional technology. According to the United States Distance Learning Association and the Hale Group’s ƌepoƌt oŶ distaŶĐe leaƌŶiŶg, ŵoƌe thaŶ 9ϲ% of U“ Đolleges aŶd universities now offer some form of online learning (US Report on Distance Learning, 2009). Online learning has become popular because of its strategic advantages, such as cost effectiveness and flexible learning environments. Different forms of online education have been examined in the literature. Therefore, it is possible to identify numerous varieties of online education, such as online, web-based, web- enhanced, blended, hybrid and mixed mode online learning. Since the concept of online learning is relatively new and there is no consortium that decides and defines all of these