Blended Learning is the key in diversified education

Blended learning is a concept used in education to describe?a program of learning that combines face to face time with computer technology with activities that are both online & offline leading to multidisciplinary and multiple learning experiences... This can enhance the learning experience and improve learning outcomes. You can picture blended learning a little like making a smoothie! Blend everything together and make an awesome tasteful experience.

Opportunities like blended learning in the education sector have emerged to ensure a much more practical and convenient learning experience. Education is much more than just learning how to read and write. This is a well-known fact that the need for education has been adequately recognized in the modern world. So has NEP (New Education Policy) brings this modernized learning. The progression in digital methods for education was imminent even before the unpredictable onset of COVID-19. However, this pandemic consequently redesigned the scenario of education rapidly and made us realize the importance and need for technology in education.

As Covid-19 forced the requirement for social distancing, this outcome hit every sector significantly, mainly educationwhere students and teachers faced diverse challenges in these difficult times of Covid, giving rise to methods that can help avoid social interaction and at the same time, ensure the continuation of quality education. Learning became a challenge as bringing needs of all kinds of a students in a classroom keeping them not only engaged but also dealing with life skills brought a different need to be taken care.

It is justified to deduce that the integration of information technology in education has been accelerated by the pandemic. This crisis opened gates for opportunities in the education sector for the incorporation of digital methods.

Blended learning is a combination of offline and online education which enables students to interact with the instructor, study material, and other students both through physical classroom and online platforms. The idea of blended education makes learning easy and more productive which is why this interpretation of digital learning is promising in the long run and will become the new normal.

According to a Financial Advisor, “Majority Indians prefer a mix of online and in-person training or course. 81% of people in India believe that students can have a good university experience combining in-person and online, hence giving way to blended learning.” It further adds, “Whereas, 88% of learners globally say online learning will be a permanent part of primary, secondary and higher education moving forward. 87% of Indian students think online learning will be a part of the education experience moving forward. Thus, the blended learning approach will be the norm in the new normal adopted by educators."

Advantages of blended learning

Blended learning consolidates the best of both traditional and digital methods of education. While classroom learning is important to incorporate overall discipline, online learning helps students to customize their education.

Some of the advantages of blended learning are as follows:

• Blended learning methods enable students to explore information or guidance online, which can be accessed any time they need and classroom learning helps to build better relations between the learner and the teacher.
• Education is not just about academics but also learning time management, discipline, and blending learning helps both students and teachers to learn according to their own pace and schedule.
• Extra-curricular and various other hands-on activities help students to build their social-persona effectively and online learning offers a wider selection of content and information they need for the overall physical and psychological development of their personality.
• Blended learning makes it easy for learners to communicate about their assignments, announcements, test results or anything else they might need to know from their teachers and makes assessment and evaluation more personalized and effective.
• Education becomes less expensive and more accessible to a wide range of learners.
• Blending learning helps students to explore technology and use different tools or techniques for learning, for example, PowerPoint, Virtual classrooms, Video lectures, etc.
• Blended learning improves the quality of education and information assimilation while making teaching more efficient and productive.

Undoubtedly, NEP 2020 is a learner centric doctrine re-affirming that the student is the main stakeholder and it is the bounden duty of teachers to create an ecosystem that responds to the dreams and aspirations of the learners. Academic Bank of Credit, Graduate Attributes/Learning Outcome Based Curriculum, evaluation reforms to assess learning outcomes and Multiple Entry and Exit options further consolidate the idea of learners centripetally of NEP. These coupled with on-demand, open book and group examinations complete the wish-list of learner centric trajectory of NEP. Upon implementation, these will ensure enhanced access, flexibility, quality, interests and needs of learners in real worlds of learning. These will also ensure freedom for learners to choose courses and institutions, pedagogical pathways, mentors, timings, learning through any mode and learning on demand and thus will help democratize learning system of the nation to a great extent.

Successful implementation of these imperatives can become reality only through multiple learning pathways with the use and integration of technology in education.

Various effective blended learning models can be identified suiting to the needs of different disciplines. The flipped classroom is a similar technique that utilises technology in order to remodel the learning experiences and maximise the effectiveness of traditional face-to-face time in the classroom. Learning resources such as video lectures, podcasts, recordings and articles are provided to the learners in order to create free time for teachers to support students in activities, lead discussions and facilitate engagement for transforming passive class-rooms into active learning spaces. BL and flipped classroom in combination thus eventually help student community to learn the art of learning alongside content learning.

In essence, BL combines the best aspects of online learning with those of direct instruction, helping teachers to easily manage to do much more to meet student needs without adding to the existing workload. BL environment in fact provides diverse learning opportunities for learners to learn the way they are most comfortable with, and greater scope for debates and disputations. Thus, the fear of teachers loosing relevance in the teaching-learning process is untrue. Rather, it can prove to be a win-win situation for both as it will provide greater degree of satisfaction to both equally, the teachers and the taught. Teachers will still remain the master of the class-room albeit with greater sense of responsibility. Moreover, BL in no way will adversely impact the research carried out by the teachers for creation of knowledge.

Different approaches need to be included or practised in institutions to be ahead of time. It has become vital now to give technology the importance it deserves and include measures like blended learning as a definitive part of learning and teaching in the current education system.

BL should be carefully implemented and should not be used as a pretext to forego classroom teaching. Moreover, every higher education institution should prepare itself to implement all new imperatives stipulated in NEP including BL for transforming and democratizing the learning system of the nation and to train the youth to become socially and economically relevant to Reconstruct Bharat.

By

Rajni Julka

Educationist/Pedagogist/Advisor- STEAM Curriculum/Ex L& D Head- Academic Innovation/ThoughtsArchitect