Hybrid learning is a combination of in person and online instruction, sometimes referred to as blended learning. Using both in-person class time and online resources can provide better access to curriculum for all learners. There are benefits to hybrid learning, as well as challenges.
Let’s start with the benefits. Having online class work and time with a teacher allows students to access learning from a home environment, which allows for a more flexible schedule. Students can take the time they need to complete assignments in the comfort of their own home. There are also a lot of online tools and multimedia content that is more engaging and accessible to all students: videos, podcasts, interactive games. Allowing students time to explore these tools at home will help them develop independent learning skills.
Another benefit is that learning can be more personalized, with one on one interaction built in to online days allows teachers to meet for one to one tutoring or conferences without distractions of having to monitor the whole class. It’s also easier for teachers and parents to connect through online meetings. While offering all these benefits of online learning, hybrid learning also has in-person classroom time which provides social interaction and opportunities to work on projects that are harder to facilitate at home, like messy art projects or science experiments. Online learning tasks on the other hand, help students practice using technological tools in ways that they will likely use in the future as well as teaching online literacy and norms for social media.
As opposed to strictly online or in-person learning, hybrid learning attempts to take the best of both and find a balance. One of the biggest challenges in implementing hybrid learning is technology itself. Internet connections sometimes fail, people forget to charge laptops, and there’s sometimes a struggle to get sound or video to work on a platforms. Technological literacy is also a challenge, where some students may have learned how to use a program while others have not. Teachers also may have difficulty navigating the constantly changing digital tools that are needed to teach online.
Finding a balance between online and in-person learning is important when developing a hybrid learning plan. It’s a great way to provide more one to one teacher time to students and engage students with real world technological tools while continuing to provide a supportive in-person classroom environment to foster student social and emotional growth.
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