Students Lives Are Too Busy for on-Campus Study - Assignment Example

Students’ lives are too busy for on-campus study: use hybrid or blended modes of teaching Amidst all kinds of responsibilities and student’s life sometimes turns up to be full of scheduled stuff. In such phases they could not turn up to be in the on-campus study session. The solution of this has been provided by hybrid or blended modes of learning and teaching. The purpose of hybrid or blended, learning is to establish pedagogies in online and face-to-face instruction for better learning facilities. It is the most convenient way of sharing knowledge between students and faculty. Its usefulness has come up with all kinds of advantages in the process of distance educational system. The educators have realized that through the process of hybrid teaching brings the independence of teaching in the general education curriculum. There are some ideas that hold it to be a kind of diminished learning experience, while others consider it as time-consuming and devastating. In some cases the faculties were not resistant to the idea that technology might be helpful in some way, but that is thoroughly negated by this form of hybrid learning and teaching formulations. It is also getting popular as it provides ongoing discussion opportunities among the students on international basis. Problems Faced The basic reason that the students face in making on-campus study is the hurdle of simultaneous need to earn. The common problems are enlisted below i. Unable to earn in on-campus study ii. Fees are very high, limitation to affordability iii. Expenses get curled in dual settlements iv. Need to make compromises with the selected career. v. Lack of independence vi. Unable to get the right age group vii. On-campus also has got the marginalisation of age Through hybrid teaching there is a transformation in the transitioning traditional faculty from classroom to online learning environments (Scardamelia, M. 2002). The students can have their degree and affiliated knowledge from the renowned Universities through hybrid teaching. Application of Hybrid teaching Hybrid course are also known as "blended," for the requirement that the students need to meet for face to face classes. The purpose of it lies in providing the course content and interaction through internet and online facilities. Software and instructional tools is he medium of its persuasion. Hybrid programs ha got the provision of giving courses fully over online interactions and some in class, or through hybrid. Hybrid course instructional are designed in order to have the blending of classroom and online methodology of teaching and learning. They are all structured on the basis of student-directed instruction and are very much effective, according the schedule of teacher intervention, and peer to peer interaction. There is also the provision for multiple input resources. The absolute dependence lays on student and teacher participation and on the pre-structured instructional design. The best part about it is that it is very much supported internationally for learning outcomes and flexible teaching. Benefits and Solution There is a sense of logical progression in this form of learning and the initiative from the student’s side is highly appreciated. The popularity is so much that there are many higher educations opting for hybrid programming hybrid course delivery. The purpose is to provide more flexibility for on ground students along with the increase in its marketability. The main benefit to hybrid kind of teaching and learning is its provision for an opportunity for the whole structure of learning process and get engaged to the drive of learning process more directly. The effectiveness also lies in students' learning autonomy (Reynard, presentation at Middle Tennessee instructional technology conference, 2006). There is the development of the sense of responsibility in response to the zeal to learn. With the help of all the facilities provided by the Internet the communication becomes easier in both the ends. The task of delivering matters and receiving of the same through internet becomes very easy. Since there are also the provision for face to face contact with others students the scope grows much bigger than what it was earlier. The scope is also to be with the instructor online just like a day to day classroom brings in the provision for better scope and understanding. Scaffolding To make hybrid educational mode more interactive there is the process of building dynamic learning environments for the students. This gives them the ultimate scope to make the best possible utilisation of new technology. Technology is meant to be very effectively in the process of supporting the requirements of such courses. According to the elaborative understanding of Dwight and Garrison (2003) the facilities can be manifold by the absolute use of the hypertext. As it has got the capacity and the potentiality to cope up with the changing teaching and learning scenario, through it the students can gain the ability to explore and retrieve texts according to their customized choices. Scaffolding refers to all kinds of learning supports, with immediate and relevant intervention made by the instructor. Other supports could be additional links, synchronous chat sessions, and things like self-reflection opportunities and dynamic asynchronous discussion. There can be systematic participation of collaborative knowledge building opportunities. In other words, a course of study progressing in an ongoing dynamic process of learning relies upon a variety of inputs, learning supports (scaffolds), and interaction. In case of all kinds of relevant learning scaffolds the effects over the online or distance learning shows consistency among the students. The process is more worth and is sorted for direct online environment, rather than face to face learning process (Moore, 1993; Reynard, 2003). Learning thus turns up better in the mode of self-directed proceedings. In this phenomenal structure the students know exactly about their needs. The students also take the initiative for the purpose of acquiring relevant learning supports. The participation is full-fledged and every piece of enquiry is worth the response. There is also the provision for the hyperlink technology in order to provide online support and resources to the students more instantly (Ruth Reynard, 2007). However none can deny the fact that the intervention led by the teacher always has to done in an accurate and timely manner. The approach has to be directly dealing with the process of addressing the questions. All kinds of projects or assignments for the purpose of promoting students work must be affiliated together on the construction of new ideas. This is done for the enhancement of the acquisition of knowledge building. This also laid path for the learning and a continual connection the University peers throughout the course of submission. Scaffolding can be well categorised as a. Heightened interaction and b. Transformative learning outcomes a. Heightened interaction Through the process of heightened interaction the provision has been made for the comprehensiveness of the self, instructor, other students, and most effectively with the provided content. The functionality lies over the effective and dynamic learning environment with heightened interaction among the learners. Along with the adequate flexibility there is also the provision to lead for an open connection to the learning system 24x7. This is very much immediate kind of connection promoting the sense of being an integral part of community. Every aspect of comprehensive understanding gets windowed through the synchronous chat session. This is one of the most popular and dynamic interaction. Within a span of an hour or half this session are very effective in making the communication better and effective in every aspect. The learning medium just gets shifted from on-campus periphery to a more comfortable and independent zone. b. Transformative learning outcomes A transformative learning outcome is for the direct communication for the purpose of solving relevant practice and problems. With the medium of weblogs (blogs) every student can very independently declare his or her thought here and can make an access to further discussion on the same view point. Application of softwares like Motion's WebKF are utilised for the support group project work. As all the course content is made available freely the students can develop individual bibliographies from their own research and can very easily include them in their blogs. Conclusion One though cannot deny the potential for chaos in this system. A proper systematic proceeding is needed to be in the safe side and to avoid the chaotic situation. Dwight & Garrison thus suggested in order to support such freedom and termed it as "scaffolding". It is something that Rosenshine and Stevens' (1992) considered in the method for preparing learners for higher-level cognitive strategies. Though the formulation was done, yet it was in a loosely structured learning condition. The whole process of scaffolding functions on the reliability of the learners' readiness for the learning needs. At the same time there was the need of promoting students' agency by means of the "just-in-time" interventions. Eventually it is the dominance of the learning process that has been taken much further extended horizons through the process of hybrid or blended mode of teaching. The process of communication is much comfortably knitted and the demand of the right process has made it a better option of acquiring knowledge. references Dwight, J. & Garrison, J. (2003). A Manifesto for Instructional Technology: Hyperpedagogy. Teachers College Record Vol. 103, No. 3, June 2003, pp. 699-728. Teachers College, Columbia University 0161-4681 Moore, M.G. (1993). Theory of Transactional Distance, In Theoretical Principles of Distance Education, edited by Desmond Keegan, 22-38. New York: Routledge. Reynard, R. (2003). Internet-based ESL for Distance Adult Students – A Framework for Dynamic Language Learning. Canadian Modern Language Review. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Canada . Vol. 60 No. 2, December 2003. Rosenshine, B. & Stevens, R. (1992). The use of scaffolds for teaching less structured academic tasks. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco. Scardamelia, M. (2002), Collective cognitive responsibility for the advancement of knowledge. In B. Smith (Ed.) Liberal Education in a Knowledge Society (pp.67-98). Chicago, Open Court. Ruth Reynard, 2007, Hybrid Learning: Maximizing Student Engagement, http://www.campustechnology.com/articles/48204/ [retrieved on 09 oct. 08] Read More