The entire education system of India has witnessed a massive transformation in the last year. Amid the COVID19 pandemic, many students and teachers could not attend classes during the lockdown in India. Be it schools, colleges, universities, or stand-alone institutes – all were forced to stop offline activities because of the unprecedented situation and lockdown.



While there was a huge gap created in the education ecosystem, it was the need of the hour to revamp the education scenario. Transition from offline to online classes was imperative to mitigate the learning gaps became a necessity. Thus, the Indian education system leaped faith, and with the assistance of high-end technology, Indian classrooms moved from offline platforms to online platforms.



Though the entire 2020, students had only access to online classes, during early 2021, the COVID situation was gradually becoming better. With the discovery of vaccines, people from all sectors were slowly planning to return to their workstations. Educational institutions, too, were planning to get back to their offline mode of learning. But it was understood clearly that the pandemic had disrupted the education landscape forever. Thereby academic stakeholders preferred to opt for a new model of learning, i.e., hybrid learning.



What is Hybrid Learning?



Hybrid learning is an educational learning model where some students attend classes in person while others join the class virtually. In such cases, educators teach the students of both online and offline platforms at the same time using devices like video conferencing, etc.



Hybrid classes include asynchronous learning elements, like online exercises and interactive activities, pre-recorded video instructions, face-to-face classroom sessions, and so on.







Benefits of Hybrid Learning



Both offline and online learning have their own benefits and weaknesses. The objective of deploying hybrid learning is to combine the two formats to create a singular learning ecosystem without glitches. The benefits of hybrid learning include



Flexible learning experience



Hybrid learning ensures flexibility. Be it scheduling the classes, teaching modes, or methods of engaging students in both online and offline learning activities – all can be covered flexibly with this learning method.



Efficient use of resources



Managing learning resources and optimizing methods of communication is an important requirement of the 21-st century. These processes get simplified and streamlined with hybrid learning, thereby ensuring efficient management of time and resources.



Hone independent academic exploration



Hybrid learning hones independent academic exploration for both learners and facilitators. This learning method includes online learning, which helps academic stakeholders with ample scopes to research, observe and learn independently. Learners can learn in an environment they are comfortable with, they can revisit documents as many times as they want, and they can have discussions with their peers regarding the same when they meet face-to-face. Hybrid learning gives all these opportunities to students and their independent learning skills.

How to create a successful hybrid learning environment?



Facilitators have to create a structure to make hybrid learning successful mindfully. While designing the structure, they can look into these points:



Plan the short-term and long-term goals and determine the objectives

Map the plan thoroughly, so the objective remains clear

Determine which courses require online classes and which require face-to-face interactions and activities

Keep creating and sourcing content, and make sure to have a repository to track them all. While opting for a hybrid learning plan – start with small steps and help learners to get accustomed to it.



WHO has confirmed long back that COVID-19 is here to stay. Scientists across the globe are stating the same as well. Today, no one can promise to get back to all offline schools anytime soon. Moreover, social distancing is imperative to fight COVID. Given this situation, hybrid learning is the only way to keep the learning going uninterruptedly.