The advancement of technology has brought about tremendous changes to the learning sector in all levels. This technological standpoint has brought about web-based learning in institutions of higher learning, a factor that has demystified the previous traditional classroom learning system. Institutions of higher learning are quickly adapting this new teaching paradigm despite the fact that the main objectives of education are the same regardless of the content delivery method. Arguably, any institution of higher learning that sticks to the traditional teaching paradigm risks obliteration in the sector. At lower educational levels though, most systems stick to traditional teaching mode and online based education is gradually introduced and eventually the two are blended together into a hybrid paradigm. As a student advances through the stages of education, educators ask themselves how best they can deliver to meet their set objectives, given the availability of new technologies.
Keywords: Traditional, hybrid, learning
Traditional learning method emphasizes on such elements as lectures, team projects, case studies and classroom discussions. The advantage of learning in such synchronous environment is the face to face interaction between the students and the educators. Students are in the same place, and learning is more interactive, social and collaborative. Many proponents of this paradigm that are skeptical on the effectiveness of online learning emphasize on the human contact factor the mode has on conveying the right content as intended. Hybrid learning incorporates both the characteristics of online and traditional modes. The delivery method that best conveys the elements of the course are chosen for presentation of that course, thus offering both the educators and the students the best of both paradigms. In this hybrid system, one method of learning becomes an extension of the other. Students are exposed to both asynchronous virtual web-based learning that includes virtual official hours, virtual team members, pictures, maps, graphs, streaming audio and video clips. This platform provides students with a platform to carry out extensive research. The success of the hybrid style concentrates on the analysis of subject material in the traditional classroom setting and determining how well available material translates online to meet the overall course objectives.
In summary, the advancement of technology has seen the emergence of online based learning that has enabled independent learning by students at any time from any place. In order to properly meet learning objectives, both the traditional and online paradigms have been fused together to provide, arguably the best learning paradigm, the hybrid learning system.