Making the pedagogical case for blended learning

By Cynthia Villanti 

Last month, my colleague Tom Kriger wrote in this space about how the corporate training world is retreating from the fully online distance education (DE) model in favor of a hybrid, or blended, model that combines face-to-face teaching and Web-based instruction. In academic circles, this kind of hybrid course has been quietly gaining acceptance as researchers note its structural advantages and pedagogical effectiveness.

Researchers have presented five primary pedagogical arguments for hybrid courses, as outlined below.  These points are more completely developed in a resource being released by AFT this month, the AFT Higher Education Technology Review: Key Trends, Bargaining Strategies and Educational Issues.

1) While DE enthusiasts have criticized traditional on-campus courses as too faculty-centered and traditional faculty have criticized DE courses as too student-centered (i.e., “without teacher” for instructors who simply post their lecture notes and do little else), the structure of hybrid courses is seen as enabling a balance between faculty-centered and student-centered models. Further, the multiple modalities of hybrids enable faculty to utilize a greater variety of educational approaches, to better address a diversity of student learning styles, and provide students a wider range of ways in which to participate.

2) Hybrid courses counter the virtual versus real debate. One criticism of fully online courses has been whether students are capable of benefiting from a “disembodied” educational experience, based on the philosophy that learning cannot happen in the absence of the whole person. Hybrids, however, allow for the kinds of phenomenological experience that balance the fully online components, enabling faculty and students to speak their ideas, to hear concepts explained, and to interpret eye contact, facial expressions, and body language. Further, in hybrid courses, faculty and students can develop a strong sense of classroom community both online and in person.

3) Fully online courses have been noted for the ways in which they develop students’ written communication skills; however, students taking many online courses may suffer lack of practice in speaking and listening skills. The multiplicity of modalities in hybrid courses encourages students to improve speaking and listening as well as reading and writing skills. Hybrids allow for both the reflectiveness of asynchronous communication and the immediacy of spoken communication. In addition, hybrids can help relieve communication apprehensions that inhibit learning, e.g., shy students who participate more in online components and students unconfident in their writing abilities who participate more in the on-campus components all have opportunities to grow more comfortable with other modalities.

4) Hybrid courses can improve access and student retention. Fully online courses were initially hailed as an answer for those students who, due to location, economic status, or family, work, or other responsibilities, were otherwise prohibited from a college education. It soon became clear, however, that local students were more often enrolling in DE courses than distant students. Further, while fully online courses have been successful in reaching certain student populations, their track record in retaining them hasn’t proven as successful. Hybrids, on the other hand, can reach new student populations and help mitigate high dropout rates. They accommodate students who cannot commute multiple times to campus each week because, typically, at least half of the coursework is completed online. Yet hybrids also mitigate dropout rates because students still have regular access to campus with brings various socialization opportunities, the diversity of the college community, and technical support from peers and professionals.

5) Hybrid courses balance “consumer perks” such as convenience and flexibility with student accountability, assessment, and academic integrity. Hybrids help alleviate faculty concerns about academic dishonesty and plagiarism because on-campus assessment or proctored exams are more readily accommodated. Also, as faculty get to know individual students’ “voices” better, they can better address issues of cheating. 

To ensure the pedagogical benefits of hybrid courses, faculty must be granted the time and resources to research the modalities involved and experiment with the most appropriate and innovative blends. Faculty unions play an important role in this, as they need to consider which areas of contract and policy language should be revisited if current language for fully on-campus or fully online courses isn’t sufficient to account for the hybrid model, especially in the areas of definitions, compensation, class size, and training and technical support.

An assistant professor of humanities, Cynthia Villanti teaches online and hybrid courses at Mohawk Valley Community College in New York. She is chair of the NYSUT Community College Distance Education Committee.