There’s little doubt that technology has transformed virtually every modern life aspect over the past century. Think of how different vehicles are today versus what they once were, or consider how automation, artificial intelligence, or IoT are changing so many industries.
Digital learning is also one of the more convenient modern innovations. Companies can more easily train their employees using it, and students can get an education without having to be physically in a classroom. During the pandemic, it has only grown more widely accepted.
Hybrid eLearning is one of the teaching methods that’s gaining steam in 2024. If you haven’t heard of it yet, we’ll break it down in the following article, and we’ll also give some of the main reasons why so many students, instructors, and companies love it.
What Exactly is Hybrid eLearning?
Before we get into why eLearning is catching on so fast, let’s make sure you understand precisely what we mean when we use the term. eThink describes hybrid eLearning as a method through which you can combine the traditional classroom experience, experiential learning objectives, and also digital course delivery that emphasizes utilizing “the best option for each new learning objective.”
In other words, hybrid eLearning occurs when students or employees can learn digitally. They might have very different classroom experiences, though, depending on what exactly they are learning and what tools the professor or instructor has available to them.
This is not so much like the blended learning model. With that concept, the instructor tries to balance the online and face-to-face course aspects. With hybrid eLearning, that’s not a priority.
Now, let’s get into why this model works so well for so many companies and schools.
The Instructor Has Assessment Tools to Determine How Well the Students Are Learning
Assessment tools are one of the reasons why hybrid eLearning is catching on. Any time that an instructor sets up one of these courses, they can also access a whole suite of advanced assessment tools.
The instructor might set up a course depending on several factors. They could have an experiential form or something more like a seminar.
The teacher can then use these assessment tools to monitor the students’ learning and retention skills. These tools utilize both machine learning and AI to identify trends and gather data. The tools can then suggest course modifications so that each time the professor or instructor teaches the course, the students will get more from it.
The Course Will Not Move on Till the Students Grasp the Fundamental Concepts
The teacher can also use assessment analytics to shape the objectives and content on the fly. As students complete lessons, the coursework might change depending on time constraints, and what the instructor determines matters most.
As students complete lessons and modules, the AI-infused interface can dictate what the class should learn next, based on what the professor indicates should be their primary objectives. This virtually guarantees that each student gets the most out of the course.
Analytics Can Indicate Problem Areas
The analytics can also show the teacher the areas in which the students are struggling. This is not so much to identify any individual student who doesn’t seem to grasp the material, but more to track overall teaching techniques that are less effective than others.
The analytics can reinforce positive behaviors, such as particular lesson plans, and steer the teacher away from ones that don’t work as well. Because of this, the teacher is learning how to instruct more effectively, even as the students are learning the course material.
Delivery Flexibility
This model also demonstrates remarkable delivery flexibility. Students can get the face time they need to master the more difficult concepts. They can also get lab time for more hands-on experiences if that’s a part of the curriculum.
They can get remote interaction if they need help with more basic questions. They can still have independent learning time when they need to work through lessons on their own.
Overall, there are tremendous lesson plan refinement possibilities. Instructors can find ways to be most effective while not being too traditional course-dependent. They can do more hands-on learning when they need to, introduce more seminar time, or whatever else they think will benefit the students or employees most.
Geographic Issues and Other Problems Are Not as Limiting
With the hybrid eLearning model, students from all over the country can also participate. If you’re teaching a collegiate-level class, for instance, and you go to this model, you might have students from several different states or even other countries in some cases. The same is true for instructors trying to teach professionals new concepts.
If there are any disabled individuals, they can take part in the class from their own homes, making things much easier for them. This model is also a way to get around many different scheduling issues. There is probably a time or a weekday that works well for everyone.
The more companies and universities learn about this model, the more of them implement it. The technology is such that teachers can get better at their jobs at the same time that students can learn either fundamental concepts or more refined ones.
You might have a hybrid eLearning class that is 90% seminar and only 10% lab time, or one that’s the reverse of that. You might have one that’s 50-50. It depends on what the students need to know and the resources the teacher has.
Classrooms are probably going to look rather different after the pandemic, and this model is one of the reasons why. Many students will want to avoid having to move to a new city or state to get top-of-the-line instruction, and this concept is easier on the professors too.
Companies can teach their employees new techniques this way. By doing so, they can comply with regulations or make employee retention more likely, since workers appreciate it when you introduce new ideas to them.
