Hybrid-blended learning: The new normal

ALTHOUGH educational and training institutions have reopened, a full return to the traditional in-person classroom – such as cramming 300 students in a lecture hall – does not seem viable.

Instead, the hybrid-blended learning approach is proposed as a feasible alternative.

This approach is a merger of hybrid and blended learning, providing teachers and learners a wider scope of flexibility and choice of modality.

Hybrid-blended learning is broadly defined as the delivery of education that blends online learning with traditional in-person classroom learning in terms of time allotted, learning spaces, content design, assessment and pedagogical strategies.

As a phrase from the culinary arts goes, “The secret is in the blend” – teachers and instructors decide on the modality that is appropriate for their respective courses or subjects.

Usually, this will be determined by the learning outcomes of a course or subject pointing to the knowledge, skills and values to be acquired.

Teachers and instructors need to find the best blend that addresses what is being taught, where it is taught, by whom, to whom and how learning is assessed.

Appropriate technologies will have to be integrated for each of these blends or combinations.

Courses or subjects that require hands-on application of concepts and principles will require more in-person interaction, be it in the laboratory, workshop or clinical setting.

Given the uncertainty posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, it may be prudent not to plan for full in-person teaching-learning sessions, signalling that online learning is here to stay and will be the new normal.

Hybrid-blended learning allows for greater flexibility wherein students are able to move back and forth between in-person and online learning.

There may be students who are comfortable with virtual learning and choose to attend classes from home.

For certain courses or subjects, students may spend more time online while for others, they may spend more time interacting in-person.

In other situations, half the students in a class may be online while the other half are in school, which is followed by students rotating accordingly.

The different modalities of hybrid-blended learning will certainly help to reduce digital fatigue among students and teachers.

Currently, there is no single right way of implementing such learning. Teachers and instructors will have to experiment with different modalities.

More importantly, it necessitates a change in mindset because it is not simply transitioning traditional in-person teaching strategies, content and assessment methods to the online platform and calling it hybrid-blended learning.

Teachers and instructors have to rethink how courses or subjects are designed and which components are best for online instruction and which should remain as in-person classroom teaching.

It is not selecting one over another but rather adopting or adapting modalities that seamlessly ensure oscillation between virtual and in-person teaching towards reaping the full benefits of hybrid-blended learning.

Implementing such learning necessitates consideration of several factors:

• the effective use of time, focusing on the ideal duration for online learning and in-person teaching.

• the amount and type of content that is to be apportioned to virtual learning and in-person instruction.

• the types of pedagogical strategies and assessment methods to be employed that enables switching back and forth between online and face-to-face environment.

• the enhancement of the pedagogical skills of teachers and instructors to effectively engage students in both physical and virtual space.

• the competencies of teachers and instructors in the integration of appropriate technology and tools when teaching in the classroom and online.

• the need to equip students with the skills to learn independently, be motivated, resilient, empowered to learn in both physical and cyber settings.

Hybrid-blended learning offers teachers and students a range of pedagogical modalities.

Whatever the modalities, the focus should be on three types of interaction: student-content interaction (referred to as cognitive presence), student-student interaction (referred to as social presence), and student-teacher interaction (referred to as teacher presence).

Malaysia should plan and prepare for hybrid-blended learning to be an integral approach in the delivery of learning from kindergarten to tertiary education, including training.

PROF DR JOHN ARUL PHILLIPS

Dean

School of Education and Cognitive Science

Asia e University