Hybrid Learning models are necessary to ensure that the teacher workload is reduced and supported, and learners’ study at their own pace.
There is a widespread need of combining face-to-face interaction with AI-based online platforms.
INITIATIVES TO BE TAKEN BY SCHOOLS AND TUTORS TO BOOST HYBRID LEARNING
- Online learning should be much more than the teacher talking and the students listening through another medium if it is to be effective. It should be as dynamic and authentic as possible, mixing live student-teacher engagement with interactive multimedia elements that support well-designed assignments and projects that students can do at home.
2. Synchronous and asynchronous instruction should be strategically blended. More effective than fully synchronous online courses are synchronous activities in which students meet online or in-person with their teachers and classmates, as well as asynchronous activities in which students engage meaningfully with both the subject matter and groups of peers.
3. Controlling how students interact with asynchronous online features improves learning. Students do better when they can work at their own pace and on their own time, have some control over their learning strategies, and have tools that allow them to engage fully and critically with course content.
4. Interaction that is frequent, direct, and meaningful is essential. The deeper the learning, the more intense the interaction between students, teachers, and interactive content. Students are more prone to become disenchanted and drop out in online learning environments when there is little student-student, student-instructor, and student–content interaction. Gaps in educational attainment between socioeconomic classes are also exacerbated by fully online courses with insufficient high-quality interaction.
5. The goal of interaction should be to solve issues and build ideas. Pupils must have opportunities to participate in interdependent cooperative learning. This includes group participation in shared projects and presentations, as well as numerous modes of interaction with peers and the teacher. Whole-group and small-group discussion in synchronous instruction (for example, in Zoom breakout rooms), synchronous or asynchronous chat rooms and discussion boards, and quick polls and votes followed by debate and discussion, as well as interactive materials, are all ways to improve engagement and create positive effects on learning gains.
6. The importance of interactive content cannot be overstated. The utilisation of interactive multimedia elements, generally during asynchronous learning, should be the foundation of high-quality distance learning, rather than static textbooks or worksheets.
7. Learning is greatly aided by opportunities for formative feedback, reflection, and modification. According to one study, students performed better when they used a formative online self-assessment strategy that provided feedback when they answered an item incorrectly: they were informed that their response was incorrect and given additional resources to investigate to find the correct answer.
8. Self-management techniques should be taught explicitly. Students that are taught self-regulation learning skills such as time management, goal setting and self-evaluation do better in online learning. A form on which students could record their study time and environment, highlight their learning process, anticipate their test scores, and construct a self-evaluation was found to be one tool that promoted success.
HYBRID LEARNING: LET’S TALK ABOUT IT
- Most teachers and students are unfamiliar with the hybrid format, so they should give themselves permission to slow down, accept and welcome obstacles and mistakes, and put students’ safety and engagement first.
- To provide richer, more robust learning experiences for students and instructors, a more effective hybrid approach would rely on deeper teacher collaboration. We can make improvements this school year while also laying the groundwork for next year and beyond if we take this strategy.
- Many hybrid school models make extensive use of a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. These tactics aren’t well-suited to students’ or educators’ needs. Remote learners “Zoom in” to in-person classes in simultaneous (or concurrent) training for both remote and in-person learners. These classes drive remote learners into an in-person format that isn’t meant to assist them. Teachers typically wind up focusing lessons on either in-person or remote students due to a lack of thorough assistance and planning. Students finish their work autonomously in asynchronous instruction. The asynchronous school appears to the average parent to be homework completed during the school day. While asynchronous time can be successfully organised and utilised, it is all too easy for it to become a black hole of wasted learning time.
Key Takeaways
Hybrid Learning allows for a slow introduction of tools for both teachers and students to avoid being overwhelmed with too much technology. Also, with a hybrid learning environment, the dependence on screen time and digital tools will still be heavy, but lesser than a completely online model.
Also published on Medium.