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Learning Vocabulary: Differentiating distance, online, and hybrid learning

Aug 1, 2020
3 min read

by Anya Ungson

©Bacungan

COVID-19 has introduced us to a world and life foreign to where we have always been grounded, our lives compressed in homes which have become all too familiar. The school year has begun in spirits of uncertainty and anticipation, every student in a classroom completely different from one another. A new normal comes hand in hand with a new set of learning vocabulary, and what sense would the new school year make if we do not understand it?

What is the difference between distance, online, and hybrid learning?

Hybrid and online learning are both sheltered under the umbrella term “distance learning”, which refers to learning that takes place across a distance and not in a traditional classroom. The primary element of distance learning is the physical separation of the teacher and student. Under distance learning, students pursue their academic undertakings through the use of various technologies to facilitate learning and communication. Lectures or classes can be conducted by correspondence or streamed over the internet without a need for the students to attend a school or college.

Online learning or e-learning takes place primarily over the internet where instructors create “virtual classrooms” for their classes that allow them to deliver course content, enable communication, and conduct evaluations.

When online learning is used as a blended learning technique, it involves in-person interaction between teachers and students while online resources supplement this face-to-face instruction. On the other hand, under distance learning, instruction is delivered solely over the internet instead of using online resources as a variation in teaching style.

NEW APPROACH. Different alternatives to learning in the comfort of our homes are being utilized by every student this academic year. ©Solis

Colegio San Agustin has taken on a hybrid learning initiative, which is a way of combining traditional classroom experiences, experiential learning objectives, and digital course delivery which emphasizes using the best option for each learning objective. Hybrid learning holds the student and their learning experience as its primary focus, thus shaping its mediums and classrooms to fit the subject matter and students being taught. However, in the face of the pandemic, the full extent of hybrid learning will be limited and will take place primarily online.

It is often confused with blended learning, which uses online learning resources together with face-to-face instruction. Meanwhile, hybrid learning uses online resources to replace portions of students’ instruction that would otherwise be delivered face-to-face.

One of the key components of hybrid learning is a learning management system (LMS) which serves as its backbone. It provides a location-independent place for individualized student assignments, instructional resources, assessments, links to online curricula, and a hub for interaction and collaboration. Individualized learning is also valuable in hybrid learning; with more room for individualizing instruction for each student, it becomes much easier to cater to each student’s needs and learning goals. The LMS can help manage individualized learning through providing lessons and assignments that fits the students’ needs.

The CSA Hybrid Learning Plan aims for flexibility through implementing asynchronous learning and by providing online and offline packets, compassion through teachers, guidance counselors, and school personnel who will be available to students when addressing concerns, and inclusivity as they strive to make sure no student is left behind. It will be a difficult year to overcome with room for many mishaps and bumps along the way, but there is just as much room for us, students, to work together to shape a successful school year. The student body has a collective voice to raise, and what would a school year be without the relentless Augustinian spirit?