This is something that we’ve joked around with a bit in the office. What really are we talking about when we say blended learning or hybrid learning? With all those freaking letters after our names, why are we collectively using synonyms to describe two very different learning environment? If we truly want each other to know what we mean, then we should at the very least wordify things up a little bit. Like really, let’s be academics here!
To my mind, hybrid courses are those that have a simultaneous use of online and offline modes of access – so using Elluminate to bring students into a face to face conversation or using video conferencing to do the same thing. Blended courses are those that allow a student to access course material in a synchronous or asynchronous manner as they choose to complete their course requirements. Of course, there are others that think this is the opposite of the way that it should be and then when a non EDIT person comes along and hears the argument, they look and quite rightly shake their head saying that the two words mean the same thing!
My solution? Well I’m going to try to wordify the terms to hopefully clear the air about the two modes of instruction/learning environments. Starting with hybrid, I’m thinking that a better terms for this would be a parallel learning environment as the two streams are moving through their material at the same rate and in the same direction. But before the question comes up… everyone uses L/CMS tools these days, regardless of their campus status so that isn’t a defining feature anymore (and if there are face to face classes that aren’t, why not?). Next is blended, to my mind what defines this mode/environment is that the student has choice in how the course is completed. And while trying not to borrow terms from any other part of the educational theory lexicon, I would describe this as mode agnostic – multimodal (thanks Amy).
So I’m going to try to use “Parallel Delivery” and “Multimodal Delivery” in the future… but that is just me.
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