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Hybrid learning has the potential to make higher education more flexible, accessible and efficient — but not without concerted effort, a new Educause report says. The 2022 Educause Horizon Action Plan: Hybrid Learning, published Monday, includes exercises for institutional leaders looking to maximize the potential of hybrid learning on and off campus.
The document is based on a July meeting of higher education experts who discussed their vision for hybrid learning. The panel envisioned that over the next 10 years, students will have greater access to college courses and credentials on-demand. These courses, they wrote, could be started at one college and completed at another, with the credit transfer process streamlined so students can choose where and when they study.
“A foundational aspect of this research is panelists’ vision of a future in which we’ve made significant progress breaking down access and equity barriers,” Jenay Robert, an Educause researcher and co-author of the report, told EdScoop in an email. “We want to see all students served with intentionality, from pedagogical design and assessment to larger cross-institutional collaborations….Story continues…
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Source: Take these steps to boost hybrid learning at your college, says Educause | EdScoop
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Critics:
Blended learning or hybrid learning, also known as technology-mediated instruction, web-enhanced instruction, or mixed-mode instruction, is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online with physical place-based classroom methods.
Blended learning requires the physical presence of both teacher and student, with some elements of student control over time, place, path, or pace. While students still attend brick-and-mortar schools with a teacher present, face-to-face classroom practices are combined with computer-mediated activities regarding content and delivery. It is also used in professional development and training settings.
Since blended learning is highly context-dependent, a universal conception of it is difficult. Some reports have claimed that a lack of consensus on a hard definition of blended learning has led to difficulties in research on its effectiveness. A well-cited 2013 study broadly defined blended learning as a mixture of online and in-person delivery where the online portion effectively replaces some of the face-to-face contact time rather than supplementing it.
Additionally, a 2015 meta-analysis that historically looked back at a comprehensive review of evidence-based research studies around blended learning, found commonalities in defining that blended learning was “considered a combination of physical f2f [face to face] modes of instruction with online modes of learning, drawing on technology-mediated instruction, where all participants in the learning process are separated by distance some of the time.”
This report also found that all of these evidence-based studies concluded that student achievement was higher in blended learning experiences when compared to either fully online or fully face-to-face learning experiences. Whereas, “Hybrid learning is an educational model where some students attend class in-person, while others join the class virtually from home.” Many Universities turned to remote learning during and hybrid formats returning from the pandemic.
The terms “blended learning”, “hybrid learning”, “technology-mediated instruction”,“web-enhanced instruction”, and “mixed-mode instruction” are often used interchangeably in research literature. Although the concepts behind blended learning first developed in the 1960s, the formal terminology to describe it did not take its current form until the late 1990s.
One of the earliest uses of the term appears in a 1999 press release, in which the Interactive Learning Centers, an Atlanta-based education business, announced a change of name to EPIC Learning. The release mentions that “The Company currently operates 220 on-line courses, but will begin offering its Internet courseware using the company’s Blended Learning methodology.”
The term “blended learning” was initially vague, encompassing a wide variety of technologies and pedagogical methods in varying combinations (some making no use of technology whatsoever). In 2006, the term became more concrete with the publication of the first Handbook of Blended Learning by Bonk and Graham. Graham challenged the breadth and ambiguity of the term’s definition, and defined “blended learning systems” as learning systems that “combine face-to-face instruction with computer mediated instruction”.
In a report titled “Defining Blended Learning”, researcher Norm Friesen suggests that, in its current form, blended learning “designates the range of possibilities presented by combining Internet and digital media with established classroom forms that require the physical co‐presence of teacher and students”.
There is little consensus on the definition of blended learning. Some academic studies have suggested it is a redundant term. However, there are distinct blended learning models suggested by some researchers and educational think-tanks. These models include:
- Face-to-face driver – where the teacher drives the instruction and augments with digital tools.
- Rotation – students cycle through a schedule of independent online study and face-to-face classroom time.
- Flex – Most of the curriculum is delivered via a digital platform and teachers are available for face-to-face consultation and support.
- Labs – All of the curriculum is delivered via a digital platform but in a consistent physical location. Students usually take physical classes in this model as well.
- Self-blend – Students choose to augment their physical learning with online course work.
- Online driver – Students complete an entire course through an online platform with possible teacher check-ins. All curriculum and teaching is delivered via a digital platform and face-to-face meetings are scheduled or made available if necessary.
It is important to note that even blended learning models can be blended together and many implementations use some, many, or even all of these as dimensions of larger blended learning strategy. These models, for the most part, are not mutually exclusive.
There are many components that can comprise a blended learning model, including “instructor-delivered content, e-learning, webinars, conference calls, live or online sessions with instructors, and other media and events, for example, Facebook, e-mail, chat rooms, blogs, podcasting, Twitter, YouTube, Skype and web boards”
Unless successfully planned and executed, blended learning could have disadvantages in technical aspects since it has a strong dependence on the technical resources or tools with which the blended learning experience is delivered. These tools need to be reliable, easy to use, and up to date, for them to have a meaningful impact on the learning experience.
There are several disadvantages to blended learning. While this type of learning does offer students the ability to go online when necessary, or learn from anywhere, there is no guarantee that each student will have access to the tools that they need to learn on the computer. Another problem that may arise is unreliable internet. Many times, the internet may be down. If the whole class does not have access to the same tools, then the teacher will not be able to keep the class on the same page.
This creates a learning gap within classrooms. Unless the education system can offer reliable internet and computers to all students, it is not possible to ensure that this is an effective alternative to mainstream education. IT literacy can serve as a significant barrier for students attempting to get access to the course materials, making the availability of high-quality technical support paramount.
Other aspects of blended learning that can be challenging is group work because of difficulties with management in an online setting. Reportedly the use of lecture recording technologies can result in students falling behind on the materials. In a study performed across four different universities, it was found that only half of the students watched the lecture videos on a regular basis, and nearly 40% of students watched several weeks’ worth of videos in one sitting.
This has further implications for the educator and in how much online resources need to be revealed to the student but also ensure it is at the right level for the intended student. From an educator’s perspective, most recently, it has been noted that providing effective feedback is more time-consuming (and therefore more expensive) when electronic media are used, in comparison to traditional (e.g. paper-based) assessments.
Using e-learning platforms can be more time-consuming than traditional methods and can also come with new costs as e-learning platforms and service providers may charge user fees to educators. Another critical issue is access to network infrastructure. Although the digital divide is narrowing as the Internet becomes more pervasive, many students do not have pervasive and ubiquitous access to the Internet – even in their classrooms.
Any attempt to incorporate blended learning strategies into an organization’s pedagogical strategy needs to account for this.This is why learning centers are built with good wi-fi connections to make sure this issue is addressed. Finally, in educational fields where interprofessional simulation and clinical based placement are key components (i.e. medicine, obstetrics & gynaecology), in-person teaching remains a cornerstone of clinical skills education, and teaching via online discourse alone is not sufficient to completely replace and provide comparable learning outcomes.
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