Academic programs that alternate between online and in-person education are hybrid or blended degree programs. According to Educationdata.org, over 38% of college teachers reported teaching a hybrid course in 2019, with 67% receiving professional development for developing such courses.
What Are the Benefits and Drawbacks of a Hybrid Degree?
Benefits:
- If you work full-time, a hybrid program’s limited in-person requirements will be simpler to schedule than a standard on-campus program.
- Because a hybrid program needs fewer travels to campus than a standard program, you will save money on transportation.
- You may replay lectures and read class discussions at your leisure using hybrid programs.
Drawbacks:
- If you live far from school, it may be tough to make a weekly or quarterly journey to satisfy in-person requirements.
- Hybrid degree programs need self-discipline and excellent time management abilities.
- In a hybrid program, you will have less time to network and collaborate with classmates than in an on-campus program.
Hybrid vs Online Programs
While hybrid and online programs have many commonalities, they also have significant distinctions. An online curriculum is delivered entirely online, with no in-person prerequisites such as on-campus laboratories or residencies. Students in online programs connect to their school’s learning management system to access course materials, engage in online discussions, and complete assessments.
A hybrid program, like an online program, employs online learning as its primary teaching medium but also requires students to engage in in-person learning. This is often used for practical courses such as laboratories or in-person sessions with the teacher. These in-person requirements are less convenient, but they allow for more incredible networking with peers and teachers.
What Types of Hybrid Programs Exist?
Hybrid learning is often used in business, legal, and nursing certifications and degree programs. Presentations, laboratories, and internships are all crucial parts of the education process in these programs, and they are frequently conducted in person. Meanwhile, students may complete other academic obligations online, typically asynchronously, including readings, weekly conversations, and individual assignments.
Certification Programs That Provide Hybrid
Many certification programs use hybrid learning approaches, particularly those undertaken by working learners with limited schedule flexibility. Common hybrid study certification programs include:
- Accounting certifications
- Business certifications
- Career advising certifications
- Certified Financial Planning (CFP) certifications
- Computer programming certifications
- Finance certifications
- Medical office administration certifications
- Paralegal certifications
What Is a Typical Hybrid Program Schedule?
In-person learning components are often organized during weekly campus visits or quarterly week-long residences in hybrid programs. In the former, students study online from Monday through Thursday and attend in-person components on the weekends. Students in the latter arrangement spend ten weeks looking online before finishing the quarter with a week-long on-campus stay.
Why is it hybrid and not entirely online?
Because an online workaround is not viable for specific areas in the curriculum, many flexible certification or degree programs are offered in a hybrid rather than an online format. Many science-based disciplines, for example, biology and organic chemistry, include lab work that students must accomplish to grasp certain course content.
Other programs adopt the hybrid learning approach because the in-person component of the experience better corresponds with their learning philosophies. Meeting your teacher or classmates in person might make your learning experience less lonely and lead to networking possibilities.
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