A hybrid mode of learning

The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it several 'new normals' across various sectors including education.

Traditionally, we have followed teaching and learning that was primarily dependent on face-to-face classroom instruction. However, with the development in digital technologies and the outbreak of the pandemic, novel learning models are evolving. These will have three main forms depending on the location of the students:

Online or offline: Completely online or completely offline pedagogy is mostly the case wherein all the students would either attend physical classes on the campus or completely opt for online education.

Blended learning: This learning model will be a mix of online and offline teaching pedagogies. The methodology adopted in such a learning process will be based on students' learning ability and teaching effectiveness.

Hybrid learning: The pandemic across the world made things uncertain. So, many educational institutions even adopted a hybrid learning pedagogy. As the name suggests, this model gives students the freedom to attend classes in both online and offline modes.

In 2021, students in India were looking forward to the long-awaited return to the physical classroom. However, the outbreak of the second wave and the impending subsequent waves disrupted the education landscape in the country, thereby accelerating the adoption of hybrid learning. The UGC (University Grants Commission) had earlier in the year proposed a hybrid/blended learning module for higher education with a mix of 40:60 for online and offline teaching mode.

This is a welcome step as the present era of education calls for collaborative teaching-learning experiences that are expected to renovate the traditional education system.

Challenges

However, hybrid learning has its own set of challenges for both teachers and students.

Since educators have a mix of online and offline students to address, various novel methods or tools for teaching are being adopted. Monitoring and grading group projects are tougher and a 'standard' solution is still in the pipeline.

Not only in India, but even in many other parts of the world, high-speed broadband is a major that even educators are facing.

From students' point of view, the experience of attending a class will be significantly different when they are offline vis-à-vis when they are online.

The experience of higher education is mostly defined by interacting with people from all walks of life and making the best of it, which is limited in a hybrid model.

Availability of high-speed broadband and a good configuration laptop will be a limitation for students from economically challenged backgrounds. Peer interaction for group projects which is essential in higher education would also be severely impacted.

The pandemic disrupted the life we knew, but agility has assisted many businesses as well as industries to bounce back. Similarly, for the education system in India, the New Education Policy, mixed with the advent and adoption of new technologies, will play a key role in effective implementation of the hybrid model, especially in higher education.

The bottom line remains that leading a successful hybrid learning experience requires a different set of strategies than working strictly remotely or strictly face-to-face.

(The author is the chief business officer of an online education consultancy platform)