The New Normal: Integrating Online & Offline Learning Methods

Vivek Varshney Mar 12, 2022

Looking back 5-6 years, 2015 was the time when India crossed 20 per cent internet penetration. For any growing society, once some of these thresholds are crossed, there is a sudden acceptance towards tech-enabled services, be it in education, healthcare, e-commerce, entertainment, or travel. However, it was in the last 2 years of the pandemic that virtual mode and technology for education was so accelerated that in the process, the sector overlooked the values and significance that personalised learning brings with it.

Half a decade ago, people were sceptical about attending an online, live class, but now the entire country is hooked to the screens. The internet became a great enabler for some of the fundamental shifts and gradually the consumption behaviour also changed along. Edtech, right now, should not be avoided in any aspect of life but can only be enriched with the exclusive elements that offline learning brought along. This integration of online and offline learning methods is set to change the Future of Education.

The blended learning model is the new normal

Classes that are digitised and integrated are playing an increasingly important role, which reflects the blended teaching model we support and is rapidly becoming the new normal. Many Indian EdTech companies are developing AI-enabled intelligent instructional design and digital platforms to provide learning, testing and tutoring to students. The idea is to allow students to practice at their own pace while identifying the gaps in their learning & knowledge and addressing them.

Technology can play a huge role in your improvement in the self-study side, which is the core of learning. I personally believe that just attending online classes is an incomplete solution. Such models work only for the top 10 per cent of students, who are already motivated. But if you talk to the rest 90 per cent of the students and their parents, none of them is happy because they are not getting the complete focus on learning. Many of them just watch the class like a movie and this problem is seen across geographies, even in the metros where students are up-to-date with advanced technologies.

So the problem is not technology. The gap that has to be bridged is combining teachers’ lecture styles with online tools for enhanced reach and personalisation. The shift has to be from the one-size-fits-all methodology in education, which has been prevalent for almost a century now, to a more rich and personal experience. Combining the values of a professional educator’s experience with artificial intelligence can lead to enhanced possible solutions to improve the conceptual understanding and academic performance of each student.

The last few years have been transformational in our country, everyone is realising that the core curriculum, which was very traditional and theory-based, is not going to help in future. And that is where digital methods come into play as it offers easy access to some of this extra knowledge and exposure to newer ideas. There are plenty of free resources available online but with the intent to fix errors, there are resources on the Internet that can help you find the right path. In India right now, almost 65 per cent of people have access to the Internet. In the rural areas, education has been made possible because of the Internet and it has allowed children to continue their learning even in the remotest areas.

So using the internet as the amplifier that brings together different teachers, empowering them and connecting them to their students irrespective of the place and situations, India’s youngsters can definitely perform better in academics, increasing both their confidence and knowledge.