“ It is not the strongest of species that survive, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”
– Charles Darwin
The year 2020 is a one to be remembered. It showed us where we were and showed us what resources we haven’t currently been utilizing. It was only until the pandemic came, most people became aware of free video conferencing technology such as Zoom, Google meet and so on. These technologies have made education accessible to students even thousands of kilometres away. Students now have the option of deciding if they’re going offline or online. A choice that was never present even in 2019.
Just 1 year, and an array changes to how we function. Isn’t that fascinating?
“Due to unfortunate circumstances of the pandemic, more than 35 crore students and 1.08 crore teachers across 15 lakh schools, 1,028 universities, 41,901 colleges and 10,726 standalone institutes in our country were unable to attend classes during the lockdown.”
– Ankur Goel, MD, Poly India and SAARC
THE ROLE OF HYBRID LEARNING IN PRESENT TIMES:
Hybrid learning is a combination of the classroom learning and the objectives of classroom learning with a digital course delivery that seeks to cater to both online and offline students. The underlying principle is that teaching is not restricted to local boundaries of city, state and even country, but rather it builds on the development of a learning system that goes beyond boundaries and seeks to bridge the gap that has existed in the modern education systems.
AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN HYBRID LEARNING:
As with any new technology that we implement, there have been areas of improvement that have been required and the hybrid learning technology is no stranger to this fact. The common problems that we face currently with this approach are the interruptions in audio and video signals that may lead to the participants becoming agitated or feeling left out.
“Experts predict that noise can affect complex cognitive and learning abilities, resulting in poorer motivation and higher levels of annoyance.”
– Higher Education Digest
Therefore, care must be taken to invest in latest technology that helps with achieving the goal of learning seamlessly. Audio quality of videoconferencing tools in the classroom are essential to have a problem free lecture or a class and teachers must be trained on operating this software so that maximum utilization is achieved.
As far as the students are concerned, they must be encouraged to purchase quality headsets which can help them listen more clearly and invest in proper internet services. This would reduce the network issues that sometimes disrupt the online classes.
Recent research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that,
“Online learning and teaching are effective only if students have consistent access to the internet and computers and if teachers have received targeted training and supports for online instruction.
Because these needed requirements for effectiveness have been largely absent for many, remote education during the pandemic has impeded teaching and learning”
Hence recognizing this important aspect will help the teachers aid the students better and can help the students to bridge the gap between online learning and its difficulties.
IS THE HYBRID MODEL GOING TO BE THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION?
Coming to the most important question that we are faced with, we do believe that Hybrid learning models will soon be at full swing in universities and schools. With our growth mindset, this can be accelerated by advances in technology and software that help it. However, the infrastructure for these is still under a lot of scope for development and plans haven’t been fully set up in place by schools and universities.
So, it could be a few years that it will take to be in force, but one day it is very likely to be coming and you could be a student of a hybrid learning model too!
References:
https://www.highereducationdigest.com/hybrid-learning-the-future-of-indian-education-system/