Learning in higher education has changed over the past few years. Galway Academy could establish that most higher education students prefer online learning to traditional learning.
But more interestingly, most of these students prefer hybrid learning, which is the combination of online and traditional learning, as the best form of learning today.
A survey recently conducted among 27,000 university students in the UK by Jisc reported that students are more comfortable learning online and hybrid than traditional classroom learning.
The report showed that:
- Students now enjoy more access to support in their online program.s
- Ability to interact with assistive technologies is important in their distance learning.
Galway Academy says students’ online learning experience has improved since 2020 and most students consider their online learning experience to be good or exceptional.
Jisc, the UK-based non-profit digital, data and technology agency, says:
“It is clear that digital learning now forms an integral part of the higher education experience”.
Examples of elements shaping the online learning environment include:
- Recordings of live sessions
- Online assessment/testing platforms
- Recorded/pre-recorded content and resources
- Live streams of lectures
How hybrid learning has become the norm
Galway Academy could confirm that a major category of students surveyed prefer a mix of in-person and online learning. Students prefer this because they get to enjoy the benefits of traditional classroom learning and online learning.
These benefits include:
- They enjoy the remote accessibility offered by online learning.
- They enjoy human connection attributed to traditional classroom learning.
- They also tend to enjoy access to all campus resources.
