How does blended learning happen in practice?

It is a fact that not all students learn in the same way — while some are more visual and auditory, others are much more practical, that is, they need to interact with the discipline to assimilate its content.

 

Thus, blended learning stands out precisely for transforming a method of rhetorical didactics and with a single transmission path (student-teacher) into a truly interactive mode. In practice, this blended learning solution presents itself as an effective alternative for groups of students with different levels of ability and ability.

 

In an increasingly dynamic and competitive scenario, educational institutions must achieve high performance and apply technology to advance education, just as it already occurs in the corporate environment.

 

B-learning brought a new perspective to learning methods, after all, it can be digital, individualized, adaptive, combined or personalized. How to guarantee this associated experience? Most of the time, courses based on hybrid teaching follow two paths: either they adopt more distance methodology practices or they use more resources from the traditional method.

 

face-to-face focus

This modality has as its main concern the involvement and interaction of students with each other and with their respective teachers. In this type of approach, the contents are usually released in advance on a virtual platform, where participants meet to discuss them in groups.

 

Furthermore, in face-to-face b-learning, despite the fact that most activities and assignments are carried out in the classroom, deliveries are made online.

 

Focus at a distance

In the second mode, online platforms work not only as the address where works are received and materials are made available, but as an important place for exchanging information, content tips and discussion forums.

 

In distance-focused b-learning, it is also common for students to do all research, assignments and exercises at home and use face-to-face meetings only for work presentations or assessments.

 

By the way, learning assessments may vary depending on the blended learning course approach the student chooses. Despite this, it can combine the two modes, being online or face-to-face exams, work presentation, grading for participation in discussions, among others.

 

What are the advantages of blended learning?

Hybrid learning can bring transformative change for organizations, businesses and educational institutions. Due to the ease of access, flexible schedules, constant updating of content and personalization of broadcast resources, b-learning offers participants numerous benefits. Among them, we can highlight the following.

 

Promotes student autonomy

As the learning pace can be set by the users themselves, students have much more autonomy to manage their learning and fulfill their commitments, ensuring that their goals are reached and deadlines are met.

 

In addition, students have the opportunity to explore the tools that help them the most — whether they are in the virtual environment or in face-to-face meetings. Thus, each person's learning can be individually shaped.

 

Optimizes the learning process

The b-learning modality optimizes the learning process and the achievement of better  results  within the pre-established deadlines, but with more diversified resources and a much more intense collaboration among the students themselves.

 

Another benefit of the system is that it favors fieldwork, technical visits and other face-to-face activities to places of interest, promoting greater integration between participants and resulting in incredible and important exchanges of experiences.

 

Improves the relationship between teacher and student

As hybrid teaching offers the possibility of face-to-face and remote interaction between participants, the relationship between  teachers  and students and among the students themselves is greatly enriched.

 

In addition to humanizing relationships, b-learning offers more possibilities for developing group dynamics and activities, as well as better student assessment skills.

 

It is adjustable to the needs of each one.

One of the main characteristics of blended learning is respect for student availability. In this context, face-to-face meetings can be negotiated in order to meet the urgencies and needs of each course participant.

 

In addition,  curriculum matrices  can be organized according to the objectives and areas of interest of each one.

 

Features cost savings

When compared to totally on-site courses and training, this system presents a noticeable reduction in costs, after all, the methodology requires less physical space and full-time teachers in the classrooms.

 

Improves doubt resolution

One of the main difficulties of distance education students is the issue of communication with their teacher and/or instructor, in addition to the delay in the process of resolving doubts.

 

With b-learning, participants will always have a face-to-face meeting scheduled to exchange information, solve problems and clarify doubts.

 

Where can blended learning be applied?

It is important to emphasize that, although this concept is widely spread in the educational field, the term has also been applied in the corporate world. This is an interesting solution for companies with a large number of employees or with employees dispersed in different cities, but who do not want to give up face-to-face meetings.

 

In this context, blended learning can be used both in ongoing organizational development actions and in more specific specializations and corporate training.

 

A common problem among companies is the difficulty of reconciling employees' schedules with their training programs. In addition to assisting in the implementation of practices, b-learning also promotes important moments of collective socialization of learning by providing and mixing online experiences with on-site teaching.

 

Many workouts work best through physical interaction with a particular tool. In this way, the resource can be much more effective in terms of reaching more participants and applying different types of training.

 

By allowing employees to define the best times for practices, companies help them make better use of their time, optimize their learning and better assimilate the content offered.

 

Thus, in addition to verifying more  productivity , dedication and interest on the part of employees, organizations are still able to reduce their costs with travel, hiring instructors, renting physical spaces, etc. As a result, training becomes much more efficient, profitable and beneficial to both sides.