Effectiveness of Hybrid Learning Environments

Hybrid learning environment (HLE) is a classroom- and computer-based environment that is an open system, allowing synchronous and asynchronous interactions and encounters with other participants. This paper assesses the learning effectiveness of students in HLE for two core MSIS courses at DSU. In conclusion, the results attest to the viability of HLE. In-class and video conferencing students get to benefit from the virtual classroom setting (supporting web-site, asynchronous communication via electronic discussion board and email, and the opportunity to review the recorded class), while Internet students get to benefit by reducing the anxiety and feeling of isolation through the opportunity to feel and experience the classroom setting. HLE affords alternative delivery mechanisms, thereby accommodating various learning models

Collaborative peer-feedback practices in hybrid learning environments

The article describes a technology-mediated collaborative peer-feedback experience. 125 students took part into the activity during the delivery of a 3- months teaching in “Methodology of Action Research”, within a 3-year Degree Course in Psychological, Social and Occupational Sciences. The activity was based on a 4-phases cycle of collaborative output production, structured peer- feedback, collaborative output improvement, individual reflection. The aim of the exploratory case-study here presented is to observe if and how the peer- feedback activity supported the development of collaborative, meta-cognitive and digital skills, other than knowledge acquisition. To answer our research questions, we used a mixed system, able to provide both objective data with respect to the activity carried out and the skills put in place, and subjective data related to the students' personal experience and the perceived impact on their learning. Results show a good appropriation of metacognitive skills and offer numerous hints on the design aspects which have been found to be effective in supporting students’ learning

Perceptions of knowledge sharing within hybrid learning environments: as iron sharpens iron among graduate students

Knowledge sharing is an important mechanism for strengthening student learning (Petrides & Nodine, 2003), which pertains to the activities or behaviors involving the spread of knowledge between individuals (Jalal, Toulson, & Tweed, 2010) and the willingness of those individuals to share their knowledge with each other (Gibbert & Krause, 2002). Scholars have previously studied knowledge sharing behaviors in corporate environments (Hendriks, 1999; Nelson & Cooprider, 1996; Wasko & Faraj, 2005); however, few studies have focused on hybrid learning environments in higher education. This qualitative research study explored the perceptions of knowledge sharing among graduate students within hybrid learning environments. Eleven doctoral and master’s degree students participated in this phenomenological investigation providing authentic descriptions of their lived experiences. The study results included eight themes that emerged from the key findings: (a) Knowledge is Shared Learning; (b) Preferred Conditions Best Facilitate Knowledge Sharing; (c) The Concept of Reciprocal Learning Motivates Knowledge Sharing; (d) Perceptions of Others Is a Barrier to Knowledge Sharing; (e) Knowledge Sharing Occurs Both Virtually and Face-to-Face; (f) Knowledge Sharing Allows for Learning from Others’ Experiences; (g) Knowledge Sharing Benefits Overall Student Learning Experiences; and (h) Hybrid Learning Environments Support Knowledge Sharing. The potential implications for policy and practice are discussed along with possible recommendations for future research

Architecture for Collaborative Learning Activities in Hybrid Learning Environments

3D virtual worlds are recognized as collaborative learning environments. However, the underlying technology is not sufficiently mature and the virtual worlds look cartoonish, unlinked to reality. Thus, it is important to enrich them with elements from the real world to enhance student engagement in learning activities. Our approach is to build learning environments where participants can either be in the real world or in its mirror world while sharing the same hybrid space in a collaborative learning experience. This paper focuses on the system architecture and a usability study of a proof-of-concept for these hybrid learning environments. The architecture allows the integration of the real world and its 3D virtual mirror; the exchange and geolocalization of multimodal information, and also the orchestration of learning activities. The results of the usability evaluation show positive engagement effects on participants in the mirror world and, to a lesser extent, on those in the real world.This research has been partially supported by the following projects: “España Virtual” within the Ingenio 2010 program, subcontracted by Elecnor Deimos, "EEE" (TIN2011-28308-C03-01) funded by the Spanish National Plan of Research, Development and Innovation, and "eMadrid", S2009/TIC-1650 “Investigación y Desarrollo de tecnologías para el e-learning en la Comunidad de Madrid” funded by the Region of Madrid.Publicad

Hybrid learning environments in universities : how to manage the co-creation process from design to use

An identified need to promote hybrid practices in education puts pressure on transforming university learning environments. Current teaching and learning models and approaches include e.g. hybrid and blended learning, flexible scheduling, and attendance, and the learning environments are changing accordingly. To manage these requirements and processes, siloed practices must be overcome, and this requires the engagement of stakeholders such as faculty and facilities management as well as end-users. The goal of this paper is to understand the transformation processes of hybrid learning environments in universities. The method is crosscase analysis. 6 learning environment transformation-to-hybrid cases are analysed. The case studies are conducted in three Finnish universities in 2018-2020. The results indicate that there are three critical factors in the successful transformations towards technology enriched learning environments: 1. The participatory design process which is integrating the digital and physical architecture to serve user needs 2. The training of users to new learning environments 3. Management of support in the use phase. The research provides practical examples and process descriptions of transformation towards hybrid learning environments for the user-centric design experts, facilities managers, and education designers. The research contributes to user-centric design theories as well as learning environment research. Future studies can be conducted by gathering user experiences of hybrid learning processes in new hybrid learning environments and the challenges residing in them.Peer reviewe

Semi-Supervised Active Learning for Sound Classification in Hybrid Learning Environments

Coping with scarcity of labeled data is a common problem in sound classification tasks. Approaches for classifying sounds are commonly based on supervised learning algorithms, which require labeled data which is often scarce and leads to models that do not generalize well. In this paper, we make an efficient combination of confidence-based Active Learning and Self-Training with the aim of minimizing the need for human annotation for sound classification model training. The proposed method pre-processes the instances that are ready for labeling by calculating their classifier confidence scores, and then delivers the candidates with lower scores to human annotators, and those with high scores are automatically labeled by the machine. We demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of this method in two practical scenarios: pool-based and stream-based processing. Extensive experimental results indicate that our approach requires significantly less labeled instances to reach the same performance in both scenarios compared to Passive Learning, Active Learning and Self-Training. A reduction of 52.2% in human labeled instances is achieved in both of the pool-based and stream-based scenarios on a sound classification task considering 16,930 sound instances

Hybrid learning environments in graduate studies

presente trabajo fue realizado por un equipo de académicas que formamos parte del núcleo básico de profesores de la Maestría en Gestión y Desarrollo Social, de la Universidad de Guadalajara. Nos interesa realizar una propuesta educativa que apoye los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje en el actual escenario y que responda a entender y atender las situaciones de incertidumbre tales como las que estamos viviendo ante la crisis sanitaria que originó la pandemia causada por el virus SARS-COV 2. Para ello, conjuntamos nuestros diferentes puntos de vista para integrar una propuesta de Modelo Híbrido de Enseñanza bajo el cual ejercer la docencia en el posgrado en comento, partiendo de la recreación de nuestras prácticas educativas y renovándolas de cara al futuro Post Pandemia que, a nuestro juicio, no regresará a la llamada normalidad del pasado. La nueva normalidad deberá estar constituida por nuevas formas de percibir, pensar, crear y actuar en los diferentes escenarios de la vida que se han visto en la necesidad de recrearse con motivo de la emergencia, pero profundamente cimentada en las innovaciones surgidas en la teoría pedagógica (andragógica, en nuestro caso), metodológicas, didácticas y tecnológicas aplicables a la educación, campo que durante tantas décadas se mostró reacio al cambio.The present work was carried out by a team of academics that are part of the basic core of professors of the Master in Management and Social Development, of the University of Guadalajara. We are interested in making an educational proposal that supports the teaching and learning processes in the current scenario and responds to understand and address situations of uncertainty such as those we are experiencing in the face of the health crisis that caused the pandemic caused by the SARS-COV virus. 2. For this, we combine our different points of view to integrate a proposal for a Hybrid Model of Teaching under which to teach in the postgraduate course in question, starting from the recreation of our educational practices and renewing them for the future Post Pandemic that, in our judgment, it will not return to the so-called normality of the past. The new normality must be constituted by new ways of perceiving, thinking, creating and acting in the different scenarios of life that have been in need of recreation due to the emergency, but deeply grounded in the innovations that emerged in pedagogical theory (andragogic, in our case), methodological, didactic and technological applicable to education, a field that for so many decades was reluctant to change.Facultad de Informátic

Smart Groups: A tool for group orchestration in synchronous hybrid learning environments

Smart Groups is a tool consisting of one mobile application for the teacher and another one for the student for group orchestration in synchronous hybrid learning environments, i.e. when there are both onsite and online students. The teacher application shows recommendations of Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns (CLFPs) when creating groups for collaborative learning, being the location of the student transparent to the teacher. Regarding group management, if the teacher selects a CLFP the change between the phases of the CLFP is done automatically or by following the steps indicated by the application. The application also serves for the communication between the teacher and students and for sharing resources (e.g., documents, external tools, webs...) with the whole class or with each group. The student application indicates the group the student belongs to. Moreover, if the student is in the classroom the application points to the location where the group members should gather, taking into account the current need for social distancing. The student can communicate with the group mates and the teacher through the application and have access to the additional resources provided by the teacher. Finally, both applications warn users that are in the physical location if their safety distance (1.5 m) with another user is not being respected for more than 10 s.This work was supported in part by the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades-Agencia Estatal de Investigación, through the Smartlet Project under Grant TIN2017-85179-C3-1-R, and in part by the Madrid Regional Government through the e-Madrid-CM Project under Grant S2018/TCS-4307 and under the Multiannual Agreement with UC3M in the line of Excellence of University Professors (EPUC3M21), and in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Re-search and Technological Innovation), a project which is co-funded by the European Structural Funds (FSE and FEDER). Partial support has also been received from the European Commission through Erasmus+ Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education projects, more specically through projects LALA, InnovaT and PROF-XXI (586120-EPP-1-2017-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP), (598758-EPP-1-2018-1-AT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP), (609767-EPP-1-2019-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP)