Hybrid Classrooms Versus Traditional Classrooms

Volume 2, Issue 2

Spring 2005

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What Classroom is more beneficial ?

Hybrid Classrooms Versus Traditional Classrooms

By: Tobore Okolo and Tamara Naidoo

Hybrid Classroom
OR

Traditional Classroom

Background

As a result of technological advances in society, the options for learning in and outside the classroom have broadened tremendously. There have been a lot of arguments about the advantages and disadvantages of the use of such technologies in the classroom. One major argument seems to be focused on the results from hybrid classrooms compared to the traditional setting. Hybrid classrooms incorporate characteristics of both the traditional and online classroom settings. Traditional classroom teaching consists mostly of face-to-face lectures given by teachers. Both sides have made valid points in the past, but this argument is ongoing. From our experience, hybrid classrooms seem to have the most beneficial results. In an article titled "Wiring the Classroom," Stannie Holt of InfoWorld claims, "Along the way, computers are changing the typical classroom from a traditional factory-like model into something more open, flexible, and self-guided, with multiple sources of information and autority." With the combination of World Wide Web access and face-to-face interaction, hybrid classrooms give the student the best of both worlds.

Project

In traditional classrooms, lecture is the main form of learning. One characteristic of traditional learning is: The student is forced to be in the same time day in and day out (Silver 50). However, students have the advantage of having face-to-face interaction with the teacher which enhances their classroom experience. "Good learning...is collobarative and social, not competitive and isolated" (Black 1). Teachers feel that they can assess their students better through weekly interaction in the classroom.

The hybrid classroom incorporates characteristics from both the tradtional and the online classroom: "In the ideal, hybrid courses offer educators the best of both worlds" (Black 2). Hybrid Classrooms are able to have access to the Interned in order to enhance the learning process. Students have the benefit of having both face-to-face interactions along with having assignments available to them online at anytime. For example, students may meet in class only one day a week along with meeting in an online chat room for the other two days of class. The hybrid classroom is a new approach to teaching. According to Dr. Genie Black, "Students receive the benefit of face-to-face interaction with faculty and students while at the same time being exposed to web-based learning paradigms such as virtual real-time information maps, pictures, streaming video and audio clips."

Many teachers see the faults in both traditional and hybrid classrooms. Yet, more advantages seem to emerge from the hybrid types of classrooms as opposed to the traditional type.
"In a lot of repects, hybrids are simply necessary. In language departments, it can be quite succesful to combine face-to-face with online delivery, to practice conversation in a more authentic way" (LeBlanc).

#	Name	Age	Classification	Hometown	Comments
1.	Kim Scott	19	Sophmore	Blackshear, GA	"I think that Web Ct Classes are more beneficial because I can access my assignments even if I miss class."
2.	Clifton Smith	21	Senior	Atlanta, GA	"I don't think that either one is more beneficial."
3.	Aisha Haynes	22	Senior	Atlanta, GA	"I like going to the traditional classroom because I feel more connected to my teacher."
4.	Laura Hood	20	Junior	Laurens , GA	"I like the traditional classroom because I take better notes that way."
5.	Gregory Duperon	20	Junior	Atlanta, GA	"I enjoy classes that are online because I know that the material is always available to me."
6.	Keenan Gills	21	Junior	Atlanta, GA	"I don't like to use computers much because I am not computer savvy. So if I had to choose, I prefer tradtional settings.
7.	Yulonda Tremble	24	Senior	Savannah, GA	"I think that it depends on what kind of class it is. If it was an English class then going to a traditional classroom is better. If it is a technology related class then the hybrid classroom would help me learn so much more."
8.	Micah Hightower	21	Junior	Rincon, GA	"I like going to the tradtional classroom because I like the idea of sharing views and ideas in the classroom itself."
9.	Chris Brown	22	Senior	Americus,GA	"I like the hybrid classroom because it gives me the leisure to get my work done at my convenience."
10.	Tiffany Ford	21	Junior	Savannah, GA	I prefer hybrid classrooms because I work in order to pay rent. Sometimes I have to miss classes from time to time. Online classes would be great too!"
11.	Ashley James	22	Senior	Augusta, GA	"Traditional classrooms are my favorite because I know if I had to learn Spanish only over a computer I wouldn't be able to comprehend some of the rules and skillds used to learn the language."
12.	Megan Ray	20	Junior	Greenville,SC	"I don't have a preference."
13.	Lee Brown	20	Junior	Macon, GA	"I think that hybrid classrooms are the way to go because it is so much more convenient."

Analysis Of Survey:
Seven women and six men were suveyed. Five people preferred traditional classrooms. Two of them were men and three were women. Five people preferred the hybrid classrooms. Three were women and two were men. Three people had no preference. Two women and one man.
Results
The environments of the students did not seem to alter their perspecitives of the hybrid and the traditional classroom. After analyzing the results, three students from larger cities preferred the hybrid classroom as opposed to two students from larger cities preferred the hybrid classroom as opposed to two students from the city preferring the traditional settings. Where as, three srudents from the more rural areas preferred the traditional classroom compared to two individuals from other rural areas preferring the hybrid methods. The accessibility of computers did not greatly affect the influence of technology in the life of the students.

Conclusion

The epic question about this article is to show whether students prefer the hybrid setting of learning compared to the traditional classroom. As you can see in our survey, it is proven that the choices falls on individual basis and it does not really matter what background or enviroment you come from. Speaking from experience, we believe the hybrid classroom carries more advantages as opposed to the traditional classroom. However, we cannot say that the hybrid method will always lead to stronger learning, but it seems inevitable that the hybrid method will takeover in the future.
We found out during our research that learning through listservs, information-sharing software packages, interactive videos, or desktop video conference does not guarantee excellence in student learning , but it gives the individual options on when and how they want to learn. Whereas traditional setting restricts the type of learning and environment a student experiences."There are great differences in the ways in which people construct knowledge, and there are equally large differences in the ways in which knowledge is constructed in different domains"(Chi & Ceci, 1987). Research has showed that the preference between hybrid and traditional classrooms falls upon the choice of the individual. Hybrid classrooms are the future and eventually it will prove to more effective than traditional setting of learning. However, if hybrid classroom is found to be an hinderer learning method in the future, then we must take another look at our choice and conduct a more thorough investigation in what we are advocating.