Combining three ways to deliver more flexible HE learning

The global picture of higher education is a complex one and students in different parts of the world have had very different experiences of starting or returning to study at university this year.

In some regions, campuses have opened their doors and welcomed all students back to face-to-face learning, with little or no restriction on movement. In other countries, a mix of in-person and remote learning continues as institutions attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Few education professionals would want to imagine a scenario where bringing students together in one teaching space is simply not an option. Group activities give students the chance to work collaboratively and share their views on the subjects they are learning about.

However, it is possible to take steps to ensure that the students who are unable to physically attend in person, for whatever reason, don’t miss out.

The answer is an effective blended learning strategy. Supported with the right technology, this approach can help universities to ensure exciting and engaging learning can continue, wherever their students happen to be.

Blended learning for the global student

Since I’ve been a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Kentucky, I have developed and refined what I call the three-in-one hybrid teaching methodology to give students more flexible learning options.

With the three-in-one approach, students attend in person if possible and if not, they can join a livestream of the session remotely at the same time as their on-campus peers.

The third critical strand in the three-in-one model is the video and other recorded content all students have access to 24/7, which they use to build on what they’ve learned in class, regardless of how they choose to participate.

This approach could change the way universities deliver teaching and learning, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for reaching students beyond their shores. I’ve been teaching this way for years and my students love it. There are some major advantages to my subject specialism of marketing too.

Making learning more visual

You might think that allowing my students to make the choice to come to campus in person or not would result in falling numbers and less engagement. But I’ve found the opposite to be true.

I have seen the positive impact of using technology to provide my students with more flexible learning options and I wouldn’t go back to the traditional in-person only model.

Using the quizzing and polling tools in our Echo360 hybrid teaching and learning platform, I can incorporate the essential visual elements I need to create a great lesson on the principles of marketing, then deliver it to students on site and those watching the live stream simultaneously.

So, I might start with an image-based quiz on corporate branding, for example, then run a poll to gather students’ opinions on which of four controversial ad campaigns they think are most likely to encourage a consumer to buy.

A classroom discussion on the behavioural science behind digital marketing could follow and then I might drop a Likert scale questionnaire in at the end to capture students’ own experiences as consumers.

The reality is that there’s been far more engagement from students in my three-in-one hybrid classroom than I could ever achieve with 400 plus students sitting side by side in the auditorium listening to me talk.

Creating a learning community online

It’s been wonderful to see the peer-to-peer support between on-campus students and those studying remotely, which lights up our online chat channel.

Those students who might not feel confident enough to contribute to group discussions or ask questions tend to be much more comfortable doing this on a digital messaging thread and they can get answers immediately from either myself or one of their peers, without anyone having to shout out from the back of a room. It brings a greater diversity of opinions for a much richer learning experience.

The learning can continue long after the scheduled class is over too. Students will revisit lecture recordings and slide decks either in their entirety or to dip into specific topics again and refresh their knowledge.

If a student didn’t get the answer to a question on digital marketing strategy right first time around, they can re-watch the relevant section of the recorded lecture and respond to a new set of questions on the topic asynchronously. This really helps to clarify areas of confusion and gives students another chance to succeed.

Everyone gets full transcriptions of recorded content too, which are valuable study aids for all students, particularly those who speak additional languages or have special needs.

Reaching more students

With the three-in-one hybrid model, I can double the size of my student cohort and keep participation levels up without having to find extra physical space to accommodate a larger group on-campus.

It’s easy to see at a glance who is participating in the polls, how they are responding and whether they are accessing the lecture recordings and other resources available to them through a data dashboard on the system. So, whether students are physically there or watching the live stream remotely becomes almost irrelevant.

The technology already exists for universities to deliver live, online and asynchronous teaching, so why not give more students the choice to learn in a way that best suits them?

Providing more flexible learning options has added to my students’ experience of learning and with the three-in-one hybrid model, I have been able to take the traditional blended learning approach to the next level.

Holly Hapke is senior marketing lecturer at the University of Kentucky in the United States. Read her recently published research into the impact of the three-in-one hybrid teaching model to find out how it supports students learning in person and remotely.