Tech Avant-Garde incorporates Hybrid Learning in Maratha Mandal Engineering College, in collaboration with AICTE

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: With the advent of the Internet came the transformation of most sectors – be it commerce, automobile, transportation, etc, – however, one sector has seen little change- yes, we’re talking about the education sector. While we have seen technology affect the finance and the banking sector to a large degree over the past few years, ED-Tech sector is gaining momentum only post covid. A few years ago, educators had to move classes online abruptly thanks to the pandemic, which left students dissatisfied, but the advancement in pedagogy has resulted in hybrid learning emerging as a new norm, providing an alternative to traditional learning.  

TAG (Tech Avant-Garde) in collaboration with AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) recently incorporated Hybrid learning for all AICTE approved colleges, Maratha Mandal Engineering College in Belgaum was the first one to adopt Hybrid Learning for its students. “In Maratha Mandal we have reimagined education by implementing Hybrid Learning. The hybrid model combines the best of in-classroom and remote learning, with digital engagement. It is more than a quick fix. It is a way to enhance and accelerate learning by providing student centred approaches to meet diverse learners needs and make the institution lock down proof. We are the first AICTE approved college to adopt this futuristic system. This initiative will give our students a fair advantage over any other students studying in any other institutions across the globe,” said Rajshree Nagraj, Chairperson Maratha Mandal Engineering college.  

Ali Sait, CEO, Tech Avant-Garde said “Hybrid Learning is a knowledge Age learning system, we are glad that India is implementing NEP 2020 this will make our education system most modern in the world and our society the most progressive. India being the youngest and the largest country in the world Hybrid Learning is the way to go because quality education will reach every corner of the country.” 

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) former chairman Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe said “The available resources must be used to their full potential. The greatest strategy is not to construct another institution or college. Instead, we must implement hybrid learning.”   

What and Why of Hybrid Learning? 

Hybrid learning is a combination of synchronous, asynchronous, physical, and virtual learning. In this new model, the aim is to create deeply individualised, learner-centred experiences for students. The foundation of hybrid learning is made up of four pillars. These include the environment, the pedagogies used during the transfer of knowledge, the partnerships, and the efficient use of digital devices. 

Digital infrastructure like the Connected Learning Community System and the Digital Teaching and Learning Platform are part of the environment, which could render schools totally lockdown-proof. Pedagogies advise the following: GEM Pedagogy, or Gen Extra Muros. Gen Extra Muros pedagogy, which translates to “knowledge beyond walls,” is a concept used in Hybrid education. It has five class managers: a presenter, collaborator, engagement specialist, content manager, and digital coordinator. Digital tools like Virtual Labs, Metaverse –Avatar, Mixed Reality, Adaptive BOTS, are some of the digital tools that can support innovative teaching. The two most significant digital interventions are experiential learning and virtual field trips. They provide opportunities for learner to learn things outside of the tuitional classroom. 

In partnerships, providing digital literacy training is the main goal, and to ensure digital and cyber security, and put experiential learning and virtual field excursions into practise. 

When it comes to digital devices, the goal is to give teachers and students access to gadgets as well as sizable cloud storage with dependable hardware for student-t-centred approaches. Devices for teachers and students are pertinent in the hybrid learning model, they can be used for virtual labs and cyberlearning spaces. 

Advantages 

The greatest flexibility is offered by the hybrid learning strategy; there are more avenues for educators to use in addressing students’ needs thanks to technology. By taking charge of their education, students may fit it around their busy schedules and do away with the conventional barriers of time and place. 

Hybrid learning offers advantageous remote collaboration opportunities for students to virtually collaborate on academic projects. This also ensures that the student receives the attention and a personalised learning model according his/her learning style (whether they are visual, auditory, reading/writing, or kinaesthetic learners). Additionally, a diverse course content offered in a hybrid classroom setting can increase engagement and enhance the authenticity of the learning experience. 

What does effective instruction in a hybrid setting look like?  

Every student has a unique learning style, and hybrid learning recognizes this. Other students learn best through visual cues, some through verbal cues, some through reading, and some through hands-on experience, or by doing. Therefore, we can affordably customise this material according to the needs of the learner with the aid of technology. There are several ways to accomplish this through the integration of multiple media, which will increase flexibility and foster deeper connections between students and other educational stakeholders. 

The 5Cs, which will direct learning and include the fundamental abilities of literacy and numeracy, will mould hybrid learners. These include communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and computational thinking. Employability is the most important aspect of education. This way, every student will be well-equipped with 21st century abilities when they graduate from college, including creativity, critical thinking, communication, cooperation, and computational thinking; these abilities vastly improve their chances of employability. 

Everything around us is becoming more digitalized. Therefore, for our educational system to transition from the industrial to the knowledge age, technology is required. As a result, training in digital literacy is now more important than ever. Naturally, this means that transformation in digital content is also needed simultaneously. We recognise that every student has a unique learning style. When it comes to learning, we do not think that there is a one-size-fits-all solution. Some students learn best through visual clues, some through verbal cues, some through reading, and some through hands-on experience, or doing. Therefore, we can affordably customize this material according to the needs of the learner with the aid of technology.   

Students will receive enough support and develop the necessary soft skills through hybrid learning. In addition to this, we are dedicated to delivering a top-notch education that emphasizes on innovation to tomorrow’s leaders by utilizing technological tools that improve the curriculum and instruction. Our goal is to give student an interesting and participatory learning environment that develops tomorrow’s leaders.   

About Tech Avant-Garde: 

Tech Avant-Garde (TAG) is India’s largest Solution Provider in the education segment, supporting all genre of institutes, ranging from K-12 schools to universities. TAG is a part of the Accelerator program of Microsoft and has been certified as a Global Trainer for Microsoft in Education. TAG won the award for the Best Worldwide Training Partner of Microsoft Asia region. TAG, as a co-sell partner and ISV of Microsoft, has implemented the Digital Transformation and Holistic Learning program to help educational institutions to navigate from physical classrooms to digital classrooms. Some of the products and solutions of Tech Avant-Garde include Lycee-Cyber Academe, an ERP Campus Management solution, Efeeonline, an Online Multimode Fee payment solution for educational institutions which is connected to the Bharat Bill Payment System developed by NPCI. TAG works on knowledge enhancement of educators through Knowledge L’avenir, the largest social learning platform for teachers, and Knowledge Key Foundation, to bring state-of-the-art technology and tools to aid institutions and teachers to enhance their digital teaching and learning skills.