Education is one of the worst affected sectors during the pandemic. It has thrown a new challenge in every student's life. According to a UNESCO report, the learning process of around 32 crores students including 3.5 crore university students in India has been badly affected. Negative economic impact of learning losses is already being studied by many researchers.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has made every teacher and student resilient and forced them to get adapted to the new challenges. They opted for technological platforms to continue their teaching-learning process. Indian educational institutes have adjusted to the new normal despite the initial hiccups of adhering to the usage of technology. They tried their best to provide seamless support in providing continuous education in the times of the pandemic and transformed themselves to join the new era of online learning. However, even now, many teachers and students feel that online classes are only a poor replacement of physical classes.
Often they also do not provide an ideal connection between a student, peers, and their teachers. Reopening of university campuses is essential for restoring the academic engagement of students. Now, physical classes are being considered to be safe with appropriate following of COVID SOPs. After a significant decay of COVID-19 and an excellent growth in vaccination, Indian university campuses are gradually reopening up across the country with many students turning up for physical classes.
With the reopening of university campuses, the learning gap due to the pandemic can be narrowed and more students are expected to enroll themselves enthusiastically. However, the pandemic is not yet over. Hence, blended and hybrid learning are the plausible options for uninterrupted education under the current circumstances.
Hybrid teaching is different from blended teaching. In hybrid teaching, different groups of students simultaneously attend the classes physically and virtually. Teachers have to simultaneously address the learning needs of in-person as well as online learners. Hence, designing effective hybrid classes also requires a re-imagination of the learning spaces and a redesign of the classroom. On the other hand, in blended teaching, full group of students alternates between physical and online engagements.
In blended teaching, online learning complements the physical classroom learning through online learning resources as well as online communication and collaboration platforms to create an enriching learning experience. Properly designed blended teaching can take advantage of the best features of both physical and online learning.
Online, hybrid, as well as blended models of teaching are here. Effective usage of these teaching methods will require developing and adopting new instructional and assessment strategies. Also, it cannot be done properly without investing in infrastructure and technology upgradation. Last, it requires a mindset change among the education leadership including the promoters, policy makers, regulators and accreditation agencies.
The writer is Professor Sanjay Goel, Director (Institute of Engineering & Technology) JKLU, Jaipur