DEFINED

Hybrid courses (also known as blended or mixed mode courses) are courses in which a significant portion (30% or more) of the learning activities have been moved online and time traditionally spent in the classroom is reduced but not eliminated.

The goal of hybrid courses is to pair the best features of face-to-face teaching with the best options of online learning to promote active and independent learning and reduce class seat time.

Using instructional technologies, the hybrid model forces the redesign of some lecture or lab content into new online learning activities, such as case studies, tutorials, self-testing exercises, simulations, and online group collaborations.

In higher education, there are benefits for the student, faculty member and the institution to use some courses in the hybrid mode.

 

TYPICAL HYBRID COURSE SCHEDULING CONFIGURATIONS

  • 50/50 - one classroom meeting per week (for graduate sessions this can mean 90 minute classes instead of 3 hours)
  • Alternating weeks - generally for undergraduate courses this would mean 2 F2F classes one week and all online the following week.
  • Some courses will begin in the classroom to establish course parameters, teach new concepts, begin assignments, create working groups and allow them to meet face-to-face and then work online for several classes or weeks to complete work. This is particularly effective for Project based courses and those using case studies.

 

RELATED CONFIGURATIONS and ONES OFTEN MISLABELED AS HYBRID COURSES

Web enhanced classes should also not be confused with hybrid courses. Web enhanced courses may have a class/instructor website or even a textbook online, but students in web enhanced courses meet in the traditional face-to-face classroom for the traditional number of hours for that course.

Low residency courses might meet for a face-to-face day or weekend and then be totally online for 5-6 weeks. This is often the case with graduate degrees such as executive MBA's, certification courses etc.  Examples are the Low Residency MFA in Writing Programs at schools such as Warren Wilson, Vermont College and FDU or the Executive MBA at NJIT.

 

HYBRID LEARNING IN CORPORATE SETTINGS

Corporate training has also been affected by the concept of hybrid learning. The term "blended learning" is used more commonly in corporate settings but the two terms are generally used interchangeably.

The five most often reported uses of blended training by corporations are: Sales force training, new product rollout, skill/software updates, new employee orientation & human resources and personal & professional development.

Corporations are generally more concerned about the cost of training than schools, and so they generally better track and document the costs of production and roll out of their training efforts. Cost savings is often the reason companies have moved so much of their training online already and blended learning offers a way to reduce the cost of training that requires at least some face-to-face contact.

For applications such as new employee training, hybrids allow some training to occur using CBT style courseware accompanied by F2F supplementation at the location.

Some companies using blended learning currently include: Siemans, Roche, WW Grainger, Kinkos, Cisco, Verizon, NCR, Peoplesoft and Novell.

The majority of corporations now use outside vendors to produce and possibly to deliver their training. Q2Learning is an example of a company which is built around offering blended learning to corporations.  

 

 

RESOURCES ON HYBRID LEARNING AT OTHER UNIVERSITIES