For a long time, most of history, the most popular type of formal education was one in which a teacher sat down with students in a brick and mortar building and taught material with the use of textbooks and other teaching aids. Then, along came the internet, which introduced a new possibility, teaching students through computers over long distances. No longer was a common physical meeting place necessary. It was replaced by a virtual one. The hybrid classroom also emerged, combining the traditional and online classrooms in various degrees. Each of these three education scenarios has its advantages. For example, there are many teaching strategies listed on the MERLOT Pedagogy site (link below), and each one might be most suitable in one of three learning environments.
The face-to-face (F2F) learning environment is the one usually associated with traditional formal education. One advantage of this setup is that communication is made easier, as it could be considered more personal than communicating digitally. Teachers and students can read the expressions on each other’s faces, allowing for more information to be passed along than just mere words allow. This allows people to pick up subtleties in language, such as a teacher’s sense of humor, or perhaps a student’s hesitation and lack of understanding. In many cases, students can also get more immediate feedback than they would be able to in an asynchronous online learning environment. All the student has to do is raise their hand or stop by the teacher’s office to get help. The teaching strategy of Problem-Based Learning would probably work best in a F2F situation. In this strategy students are faced with problems that they must solve by working in groups. It makes sense that students should meet in “real life” to solve these real life problems. And group work is also easier to do in person, until the day virtual reality becomes sufficiently realistic and commonplace.
Online learning might lack the aforementioned communication advantage, but it has its own benefits. Of course, online education covers a very wide variety of methods, so it is hard to make blanket statements covering them all. For instance, my online class, an asynchronous discussion-based class, is only one form that online learning can take. This type allows students to create their own study schedule around the other responsibilities in their lives. Online learning can also be synchronous, in which class members log in at the same time and communicate via text, audio, or video. The most obvious advantage that both of these forms have is that students don’t have to be living in the same place. For instance, I am able to study for my master’s degree while living internationally. Other advantages, depending on type of online education, include more access to online resources and possibly less fear of participating and sharing opinions. I think the Writing Assignment teaching strategy described on the MERLOT site would be perfect for an online learning environment. The teacher’s job is to assign a writing assignment which involves critical thinking and then evaluate the student’s work. Because this can all be done through the written word, online education often uses this teaching strategy.
Combining F2F and online learning creates hybrid (or blended) learning, which can also take many different forms. Perhaps the class is mainly taught in a classroom and the online component is used as a supplement to the F2F learning. Or perhaps the class is predominantly online, but meets occasionally in person for activities not possible in cyberspace. Perhaps lectures are in person, but homework is submitted online. The possible permutations of hybrid education are limitless. One advantage of hybrid classrooms is that they can assist students who have trouble staying motivated in a purely online class. However, hybrid classes take a lot preparation time for teachers. For more information about hybrid setups in K-12 schools, including 6 different hybrid models, read this paper, The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning. A teaching strategy from the MERLOT site that might work well in a hybrid situation is Team-Based Learning. This is group work in which student teams retain constant members from week to week. Students are responsible to make their own contribution to the group in each class, based on what they have learned outside of class. By making this a hybrid activity, group members could collaborate both in and outside of class, keeping in contact through discussion boards or team-authored wikis.
Soon I will be carrying out a learning activity of my own design. Its goal is to improve the English of ESL students, namely their grammar and vocabulary usage. Rather than focus on all grammar and vocabulary, my learning activity will address the most common mistakes made by my students. The activity will take the form of a game on a website, meaning it could be incorporated into either an online or hybrid class. Teachers in a hybrid class could choose to either supervise students doing the activity in class, or assign it for homework. Either way, teachers could use the activity to concentrate on the weaknesses they have identified in each student.
Have you ever studied online before? Do you think there will always be a place for face-to-face education?
Horn, Michael B.; Heather Staker. (January 2011). The rise of K-12 Blended Learning. Retrieved from http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Rise-of-K-12-Blended-Learning.pdf
Merlot Pedagogy. (2012). Retrieved from http://pedagogy.merlot.org/TeachingStrategies.html.
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