“Blended learning has the potential to transform education by personalising learning experiences and leveraging the power of technology.” – Arne Duncan
Education plays a vital role in the life of every individual on this planet. Education has gone through different phases over a period. It all started from the Gurukul mode of education. Later education has changed its form to different means, like the naturalistic and holistic method of education by Vishwabharti. Currently, post covid, education has taken on another form, which is Blended education, a combination of online and offline education systems, has become the new normal. Graham (2006) stated that “Blended learning would have a great role in the future and it would be dominated by the distributed learning environments”.
Read More: Strategies for Creating Positive Learning Environments in the Classroom
Understanding Blended Education
Blended education is a combination of face-to-face and online education. It comprises face-to-face training, Virtual classroom, Webinars, Links, Simulations, and Assessments. Let’s dive deeper into the psychological aspects of blended education. Data shows that the face-to-face learner’s emotions are more intense than those of online learners, both positive and negative. They face the feeling of challenge, comfort, a sense of community, satisfaction, and enthusiasm. The level of interest in face-to-face learning is higher than that in online learning.
Coming to the negative emotions, stress, embarrassment, tension, and frustration of face-to-face learning are stronger than those of online learning. Boredom and disappointment are higher in online learning than in face-to-face learning. As the mode of education is blended, the emotions of the learners are also a blend of pros and cons.
Positive Outcomes Of Blended Education: A Psychological View
Blended education develops autonomy among the children, whereas the traditional model was mostly spoon-fed. Here, children develop responsibility for their studies. They take control over study methods and get exposed to engaging visuals to make the topic clearer. Gradually, children develop confidence. The neuroplasticity of the brain increases.
Negative Outcomes Of Blended Education
- Psychological studies show that interaction with peers develops sportsmanship, healthy competition, and teamwork. In the case of blended education, children get less exposure to their peers, which may affect their social capability.
- Usually, value inculcation is shared between parents and teachers, which has now become more on the parents’ side.
- Children may also feel anxiety, lack interest in studies, be easily distracted, and experience emotional fatigue in blended education.
Self-determination theory
People are more likely to feel motivated when they have the freedom to make their own decisions. Self-determination theory says that how motivated we are, how happy we are and what kind of person we are are all connected to self-determination theory and three important needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Self-determination theory is really about autonomy, competence and relatedness. How these things affect us. People need to feel things to really grow as individuals. According to the self-determination theory says people need to feel the following to achieve growth:
Read More: Self-Determination Theory
1. Autonomy
People need to feel like they’re in charge of what they do and the things they want to achieve. When people have Autonomy they feel like they can make things happen. That gives them a sense of being able to make real changes in their life. This feeling of being able to take action and make decisions that will really make a difference is a part of why Autonomy is important. It helps people feel like they are making choices and doing things that are really what they want to do, which is a big part of being self-determined and having Autonomy.
2. Competence
Competence is really important. People need to be good at things and learn skills. When people feel they are good at something, they will try to do things that help them get what they want. People are more likely to do stuff when they think they have the skills to be successful with the tasks. That is because they feel competent with these tasks.
3. Connection or relatedness
Another essential part of self-determination is the ability to experience a sense of belonging and attachment to other people. Blended education supports autonomy as the children play a major role in their education. Competence is promoted by digital resources and learning tools. Relatedness requires deliberate efforts in blended education.
Role of teachers
As a teacher, they have many teaching tools and know how to use, when use it is totally based on the environment of the teaching place and need of the students. In the present time, the role become more important. We have seen in different roles of a teacher, as an adviser, coach counselor etc.
- Teacher as an Adviser: It is an important role of a teacher since the ancient period, teachers play a role as advisers, teacher give advice to students for their better future, for their better study or provide solutions related to their personal problems. Students can ask any question at any time. Students and teachers can use an electronic platform for better communication.
- Teacher as a Coach: The relationship between a student and a teacher is important in the academic field. It is a duty of a teacher to create or build a healthy environment for students. Students should learn to think and to find their own way with a teacher. A teacher plays a role as a coach in a student’s life.
- Teacher as a Motivator: A teacher plays a role as a motivator in a student’s life. Teachers can motivate the students to take risks, to take new ideas, to think to do any new in their own way.
- Teacher as a Counsellor: This is an important role of a teacher in the present scenario. A teacher knows the mindset of his or her students. He knows the psychology of students of different ages, some time students want to talk with elders and teachers, sometimes they want to discuss the planning of educational institutions, courses, career, personal and social problems. At that time, a teacher plays a role as a counsellor.
Read More: Understanding the Vital Role of a School Counsellor
Future Directions in Blended Education
It is also found that blended learning is studied on different variety of schools and participants, from postgraduate students to middle school students; from nursing to English courses and from training programs to high-level courses. Therefore, all these examples indicate that blended learning will get increasing attention from different areas. In the near future, there should be more studies guiding teachers or administrators on how to create a successful blend. Moreover, the near future will be dominated by tablets, smartphones and touchscreen devices that will be some of the next interests to be studied in blended learning courses.
As technological innovations spread, new types of blends will occur, and education will be blended with different technologies, but the key question to be answered will remain the same: “How should we organise such learning environments to support learning effectively?” The answer is we should study to integrate construction and collaborative models into blended learning environments and aim to educate more creative and curious students who read, writes and produce for the world.
Read More: The Psychological Impact of AI in Education: Transforming Learning and Teaching
Conclusion
In the period of Blended Education, emotional well being play a major role. Educators and institutions play a critical role in creating inclusive, empathetic and engaging learning environments for the younger generation. To ensure sustainable learning outcomes, blended education must move beyond content delivery and prioritise human connection, emotional security and psychological support.
References +
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359506724_Tagore’s_Visva Bharati_An_Inclusive_Society
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.879696/full
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-determination-theory-2795387
https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/self-determination-theory
https://studyhub.org.uk/blended-learning-for-students-educators/
https://iipseries.org/assets/docupload/rsl2024614319C6C5543E6.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281401009X
