Understanding Hybrid Studying And How To Use It
Best Practices for Developing Hybrid Learning
If you’ve attended college or business school in the past twelve years, chances are you’ve come across a course design called “hybrid learning.” To say that a course follows a hybrid learning model generally means that some students attend in person while others attend remotely. HyFlex [1] is a well-defined example of a hybrid learning model that many institutions follow.
Some use the term hybrid learning interchangeably with blended learning, but there are interesting differences [2] in definitions that can be made by separating the two terms.
The most common definition of blended learning describes a course that combines both face-to-face teaching and online teaching. Each student participates and is exposed to these modalities in the same way, as they are “fused” together. This is in contrast to hybrid learning, where a single learner can attend in person one day and online the next and hopefully achieve the same result regardless.
Hybrid learning mixes these modes in a similar way to how different propulsion methods are expressed in a hybrid car: the driver can choose to run on fuel or the battery, or even a combination of the two, but the result is always forward movement.
Of course, the most common situation is with local students attending in person and others attending remotely. It is therefore imperative that a hybrid course provides the same quality of education for both groups. This can be an interesting challenge. Basically, hybrid learning requires the instructors to effectively deliver the material in two different ways at the same time.
They need to relate to students both inside and outside the physical classroom at the same time. Additionally, if you have a choice [3]Students don’t always choose the mode in which their learning is prioritized. For example, it is not difficult to imagine a student who chooses to sleep late knowing that the lecture is being recorded. The goal should then be to make both the in-class and remote experiences as high-quality as possible.
Design a hybrid learning course
The foundation of any course design should be a clear set of learning objectives. If you need effective training in your company, it makes sense to derive your learning goals from the business goals. What should your employees achieve? What do they have to learn before they can achieve it? What behaviors should they develop in order to be successful in their roles? In which areas does your performance not measure?
AllenComm uses an approach called performance mapping to determine the learning goals, performance gaps, and behavioral changes that education can address. We offer performance advice [4] This can provide you with an essential foundation for a well-designed hybrid learning course.
Tips for Conducting Hybrid Learning Courses Effectively
Once you have solid basic goals, you can begin addressing the challenges associated with hybrid learning. The difficulty of engaging both in-class and remote learners in lectures and keeping quality constant between these modes can be addressed using the techniques described below. The steps are best practices for educators navigating a hybrid or remote learning environment.
Intentional communication
Speaking clearly is an essential part of the lecture, but it’s even more important when cameras and microphones are involved. For example, suppose a student asks a question in class but speaks too softly for distant learners to hear. An instructor can help distant learners stay in the course of the lecture by repeating the question clearly before answering it. Clear narration helps students stay current and focused, including those attending remotely.
Survey
Questions encourage reflection and engagement, and interactive survey tools that collect feedback from students during class time can encourage each student to participate. Not only does this help learners to be attentive, but it should also help the instructor get clear feedback on when to adjust the course if certain materials need clarification.
Small group discussions
The widespread adoption of reliable video conferencing has greatly improved the effectiveness of hybrid learning. Many conference platforms support breakout rooms, where discussions can take place in small groups that are equal to those of their colleagues in the class. You can even ensure that each distant group has at least one student in the class, if both numbers allow, to bring both groups of students together.
You can find many more tips here. Harvard also has some good suggestions for distance learning techniques [5]that are more specific to the use of widely used communication technology.
Conclusion
do you need any more information? AllenComm offers solutions for effective eLearning, including course design and learning management systems [6]and our award-winning in-house course design software DesignLab. These tools and services can be used to create and deliver engaging and effective training materials for your team. The gap between the experiences of both face-to-face and remote study groups becomes smaller than ever when they have easy access to the same course material and activities that complement your training.
References:
[1] Hybrid flexible course design
[2] Hybrid vs. Blended Learning: The Difference And Why It Matters
[3] Our HyFlex experiment: what worked and what didn’t
[4] WHY DO YOU NEED A PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE?
[5] Best Practices: Online Education
[6] TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR TRAINING DELIVERY WITH LEARNING PORTAL
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