Any college student has experienced a wide array of teaching styles from multiple professors.
From more traditional styles where material is taught straight from the book to transformation styles that envelop students in a learning experience, there are numerous effective methods that succeed in conveying information.
One teaching approach that is becoming increasingly prevalent is blended learning methods.
Blended learning methods were originally designed for IT students to help them better understand their profession and the skills they need to be successful. It was born out of the general idea of “immersion.”
If you throw a lot of different learning styles at a person, that person will learn much better and faster than if only one method is used.
Also, if a person is able to learn in multiple settings and classrooms, as opposed to just one setting, the rate at which a person can learn improves. In a sense, the classroom becomes multi-dimensional. This is a radical departure from the more traditional method of learning, where an instructor leads the group and has a monopoly over the information being taught.
With a blended learning style, you become an independent individual. You become a model employee. Here are some of the other benefits of using this strategy as opposed to the classical single-method style:
You Stay Focused For Longer Periods Of Time
When you’re first learning about networking, wouldn’t it be great if you could learn at home as well as in the classroom? And, wouldn’t it be great if there were multiple ways to learn your skill set?
This is what blended learning helps you do. You’re able to stay focused for longer periods of time, because the course material is generally more interesting. Plus, using the very computers you’re learning about to look up information or data is a real time-saver.
You’re not chasing down an instructor, or your boss, for information about course material or instructions on how to perform some task. When you do attend classes, more time is spent asking (and answering) better, more thought-provoking questions which can’t easily be found online or in a textbook.
Processes, which may be unofficial solutions to problems, are often best taught by professors or instructors. The basics can be learned on your own time.
You Are More Excited To Learn
Students tend to be more excited about learning something when they’re not bogged down by inefficient classroom protocols. Instead of taking 15 minutes to introduce a new concept, the class can move at a quicker pace, information can be more condensed, and students can get more information per minute than what’s normally possible.
The “immersion” aspect of this type of learning happens outside of the classroom, when you spend time learning about processes instead of wasting class time learning logistics of your course material.
You Can Learn At Your Own Pace
This is a big one – you’ve heard it before. But, it’s true. When you can spend time outside of the physical classroom, learning on your own, you learn at your own pace. If you’re a quick learner, you can move faster than the rest of the class, and yet not become bored with classroom lessons.
When you learn slower than others, you’re not holding other people up, and you don’t feel left behind.
This is the principle upon which Simplilearn bases its ITIL certification training and exam courses. You get to study at your own pace, finish the exam, and then continue taking classes as needed for technical skills not found in a virtual classroom setting.
When you get your first job in IT, this also enables you to continue working while you educate yourself. It builds those life skills needed in the real world.
You’re Better Prepared For The Future
Your future boss won’t hold your hand in the same way an instructor in a classroom setting will. Ultimately, you’re responsible for your own learning once you graduate school. And, if you’re immersed in blended learning, you are moving away from the traditional didactic model of learning to a more auto-didactic model – self-teaching.
With blended learning, you’re getting a mix of both traditional didactic (which is generally authoritarian with one person, or an authority group, teaching a classroom) and autodidactic (self-teaching or learning) methods.
The more you use the virtual classroom, however, the more you become accustomed to the autodidactic method, which is an essential life and job skill.
While your future employer may help you pay for further education and training, it’s unlikely that there will be a formal classroom setting for you to work from.
Mostly, you will be required to take all virtual training, and then incorporate this into your job. At the end of the day, the blended learning style helps “push you out of the nest” of the classical education system.
Chandana is working as a Content Writer in Simplilearn.com and handles variety of creative writing jobs. She has earned her M.A. in English Literature from Gauhati University. PRINCE2 Foundation certified, she has a unique and refreshing style of writing which can engross the readers to devour each sentence of her write-ups.
