Hybrid and flexible learning

Hybrid and flexible learning

Hybrid learning refers to educational arrangements in which student cohort members can attend some of their sessions online and others in situ while being co-located. Other forms of such flexible learning arrangements include blended learning (where a student cohort has access to some of the teaching activities online and others offline and in situ), and HyFlex learning (where hybrid and blended learning approaches are combined in educational arrangements that afford learners a much wider range and a greater level of flexibility. Flexible learning, therefore, in itself is not a mode of learning. It is a value proposition – much like we see equity or equality that all learning and teaching arrangements aspire to, because flexibility enables learners to customise their learning to their own individual needs and circumstances in relation to when, where and how they may choose to study. As such, flexibility in learning and teaching operations sits on a continuum and may extend to choices learners may have in relation to their engagement and interaction with the subject matter content, teachers and their peers, the learning environment and the educational institution, their assessment activities and feedback on them (Lodge et al., 2022; Naidu & Roberts, 2018).