Blended learning is a judicious mix of the traditional face-to-face instruction (classroom method) with online and digital learning modules. It is also called ‘hybrid learning’ and is outcome-focused, employing a variety of methods to aid the students in learning the required material.
By Sunil Dahiya
The Covid pandemic has thrown several challenges at almost all sectors of the economy. There is hardly any sector which has not been affected by it, whether it is manufacturing, commerce, agriculture or the education sector. As the world slowly emerges from the painful pandemic, it is heartening to see the opening of new avenues and opportunities. For example, businesses now are finding the ‘work from home’ concept to be an interesting option for employees.
As all educational institutions were shut down during the pandemic, alternate methodologies were applied to continue education delivery. E-learning and blended learning is now being used widely across the world, especially in Covid times.
Blended Learning
Blended learning is a judicious mix of the traditional face-to-face instruction (classroom method) with online and digital learning modules. It is also called ‘hybrid learning’ and is outcome-focused, employing a variety of methods to aid the students in learning the required material.
Blended learning is gaining popularity, especially after the global pandemic, and many educationists believe blended learning will be the new normal in the education sector in the future. Blended learning uses technology to promote a hybrid learning experience, with independence in learning, responsibility and self-discipline being its three important traits.
Why Blended Learning
Blended learning has become popular in recent years and now is the preferred way of learning in pandemic times. The factors leading to this popularity are:
- It provides the flexibility of time and learning environment for students where they can learn independently and helps them to be self-paced.
- It is a two-way learning experience, possible through collaboration between the students and the instructors, increased substantially via an online training platform.
- It enables flexibility for the students to learn according to their capabilities.
- It gives increased access to resources for students and teachers like online libraries and reading material, allowing students to access more information other than their regular textbooks, thus giving students wider avenues to learn and gain knowledge.
- It adapts the usage of learning that is an amalgamation of technology and digitization using the traditional classroom methods and digital learning.
- It helps the students and the teachers to customize their learning experience according to their needs and requirements.
- It has the concept of a virtual classroom where students have access to online platforms for self-study and have options for live online classes or consultation in a virtual classroom session.
- It creates better communication between learners, which in turn results in a more engaging and beneficial learning experience. Also, it enhances teacher and student interaction which helps in better, customized and successful evaluations.
- An instructor need not be present at the location, and also there is no need to rent out the training space. The courses can be expanded and updated easily as there is no need to print the courseware material, unlike in the traditional classroom.
- It prepares the learner to be adaptable to new workplace normal. The workplace is changing rapidly and now expects the employee to be adaptable and productive from different working environments. This ensures continuous learning for the individual, which in turn benefits both the individual and the industry.
However, blended learning has its limitations too. In a country like India, where there is a lack of quality internet access and bandwidth, blended learning may not be within easy reach. Hybrid learning is all about the use of technology, and unless we have excellent resources of infrastructure and technology, the advantages of hybrid learning will not benefit all. Another drawback is that students and instructors who are not tech-savvy can face a significant barrier to hassle-free interactions. The participants can face hassles in accessing the course material.
In the coming days, blended learning is expected to be an integral part of education at the school and higher education levels. The design of a blended learning curriculum will get more diversified and personalized with the integration of e-learning and in-class active learning.
Popular emerging education technologies like heutagogy use blended learning very effectively. In the heutagogy (a logical progression from Pedagogy and Andragogy) approach, the students discover their problems and then themselves seek answers for the same. In this self-directed and self-determined learning model, teachers help by providing context to the learning process and encourage students to explore subjects fully. Blended learning fits perfectly in this design.
Source: ET HRWorld