In this information society, there is tremendous change in the working style all over the globe. We are moving from a paper filled world to a paperless world. Almost every industry works with computers and laptops and be it for good or bad, education has moved to e-learning over-powering the traditional environment.

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Virtual learning seems to be transitory, everyone awaits face to face sessions, but undoubtedly, Hybrid Learning is in the cards. The education industry is undergoing a massive transformation and the schools need to prepare and equip well for the change.

To make an effectively transition, firstly, the facilitators must have answers for the “what, how, why, when” questions. Hands-on training of the team teaches them that hybrid learning doesn’t mean remote students passively watching an online lecture, instead classrooms can incorporate interactive components and replicate real-world environment. This enhanced interactivity makes the lessons more personal, engaging and effective. The way of combining traditional classroom experiences, experiential learning objectives and digital course delivery will emphasize the best option for each learning objective.

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Effective planning takes the next highest priority. The analysis of the curriculum, setting appropriate aims and objectives, scheduling interactions like learner-instructor interactions and learner-learner interactions should be finalized keeping hybrid learning in mind. The interactions have to support each other and not be disjointed. The planning has to maintain one-on-one interactions between instructors and students to increase the likelihood of the user involvement and hands-on experiences through virtual simulations. Learner content like activities, reading, videos and other resources need to be organized class wise. These stand foremost in the planning.

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Physical, social, and emotional activities must be woven in the schedule to help kids set and strive, empathise, collaborate and become independent thinkers. Developing lessons with critical opportunities to learn fundamental life lesson will help them acquire 21st century transferrable skills even in the hybrid environment.

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As teaching fraternity, we have to consider which types of activities are best suitable for online and in-person learning in a hybrid environment. Content delivery has to be planed and the focus on skills needs to happen in class as it’s difficult to focus on an individual during a synchronous lesson with all the kids during an online sessions. Planning for discussions in class on the topics discussed online will facilitate critical-thinking activities and lead to healthy and productive learning.

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As hybrid learning is mostly learner-driven, learners have to be encouraged by helping to identify their success criteria, checking their progress, going back on their content and reflecting on their learning.

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Following the three focus themes- welling-being, engagement and feedback, informing the parents-learners, laying the academics objectives well ahead and planning hybrid lessons having Maslow’s hierarchy in mind that is physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual growth, the effectiveness of hybrid Learning can be carried out successfully.