LAN602 Group Essay Instructions Assignment Sample

Introduction

The essay is going to shed light on the learning styles in higher education in the United Kingdom. The prevalence of traditional learning styles is going to be evaluated with the importance of teacher and student face-to-face interaction in the classroom. Along with this, digital teaching has become popular in recent times especially in the pandemic situation. The advantages of blended learning are going to be illustrated in this essay. In the modern era, pupils can learn from a remote place with the help of technology and gadgets. Therefore, the study is going to focus on the importance of blended learning. In addition, the reason behind the popularity of the blended learning style over the traditional one in the UK will be addressed in this essay.

Thesis statement

The thesis statement of the study is “Blended learning style is going to replace traditional classroom teaching permanently in higher education in the UK”. The study is going to illustrate that blended learning is going to be practiced parallelly with traditional classroom teaching in the UK.

Prevalence of traditional classroom learning in the UK

Classroom learning is the most common learning style all over the world. In schools, colleges, universities and educational institutions classroom learning style has been followed traditionally. As per the information obtained from Power and Cole (2017), usually, teachers and lecturers regulate the flow of knowledge and information on different subjects in this learning process. The students are expected to attain classes conducted by the teachers in order to learn new things. Traditional learning consists of the ritual of teaching the students with face-to-face interaction in the classroom.

The teachers share their knowledge in a specific subject through dialogs, lectures, and classroom discussions. In addition, the teaching staffs also use the blackboards to demonstrate important topics by drawing figures, models, flowcharts, and many more. As per the view of Palmer et al. (2017), notes are being provided by the teachers in higher education by making briefs of the whole topic. However, face-to-face interaction among the teachers and students in the classroom is mandatory in traditional learning. The students are expected to improve their knowledge of a specific subject through classroom discussion and homework activities.

All the schools, colleges, and universities follow the method of traditional learning for teaching pupils. It is possible to teach a certain number of students on a particular topic at the same time through traditional learning. As narrated by Manzoor (2018), face-to-face interaction among the teachers and students is required to convey the concepts to the students without the application of technology and digital approaches. It has been observed that in the modern era of technology digital learning has become popular among the learners, however traditional learning still remains equally effective (Yuenand Xie, 2020).

The surrounding ambiance plays a significant role in the learning procedure. As per the studies of Bowyer and Chambers (2017), the traditional learning style provides the students an appropriate learning ambiance in the classroom which helps the students in quick learning by enhancing enthusiasm and interest. All the students of a specific educational brunch have to attain classes together in higher education. The teachers and lecturers conduct discussions, lectures on the different topics through blackboard demonstration or video learning through projectors and PowerPoint presentations in the classroom (Supiano, 2018). In addition, the teachers provide homework and assignments to examine the knowledge and adaptability of the students. The whole traditional learning is based on the face-to-face interaction of the teachers and students.

There are certain advantages of traditional ways of learning that make it widely accepted across the globe. As opined by Warren et al. (2020), learning through face-to-face interaction helps the students to learn quickly and gain depth knowledge on a specific subject. Along with this, there is a better scope of clearing all doubts regarding a particular topic through direct interaction between teachers and students. Besides this, group study and group discussion are an integrated part of the traditional learning style. It helps to clear all doubts and enhance perception and knowledge on a particular subject by sharing and exchanging individual views. As stated by Kristanto (2017), it is important to clear all the doubts to have a vast knowledge of the concerned subject. However, there are some drawbacks of traditional learning too which makes digital learning more popular in recent times.

It is hardly possible to gain knowledge in traditional learning without attaining the classroom. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the students to understand the topic which they missed in the classroom due to some emergency such as physical illness, transportation issues, and many more. In the COVID-19 pandemic situation, all the educational institutions have been closed for a certain period of time due to maintaining social distancing and resisting the outbreak of the pandemic (Palmer et al. 2017). Therefore, traditional classroom learning becomes irrelevant in this situation because of strict restrictions of social distancing and lockdown. On the other hand, digital learning is effective from a remote place through the internet and gadgets. Moreover, it is possible to learn from different teachers in digital learning which enhance the quality of learning as well.

The emergence of blended learning in higher education in the UK

Blended learning is a mixed process of traditional learning style and digital learning. As per the information obtained from Power and Cole (2017), the blended learning style has become very convenient in the recent past because of its effectiveness in learning through both face-to-face interaction and digital approaches. It has been identified that many educational institutions have followed a blended learning style to teach the pupils properly. During the COVID-19 pandemic situation, it became impossible to continue classes in the traditional way therefore most of the colleges and universities have introduced blended learning to continue the learning process. Blended learning consists of face-to-face interaction in the classroom along with digital learning styles. It has been observed that many of the institutions have private websites which can be accessed by only the students and teaching staff (Unal and Unal, 2017). Along with this, digital platforms such as Zoho, Google meet become the optional platform of learning in blended learning.

Online classes have become prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic situation as traditional classroom teaching was not possible at that time. As per the studies of Nazar et al. (2019), technologies and digital interfaces play a significant role in blended learning styles. Online video classes have been conducted by the teachers in different video conferencing tools where the students can join the live classes. Along with this, recorded video classes become an important part of the blended learning style. The students are instructed to submit their home tasks and assignments through Email in the blended learning. Blended learning is emerging in the pandemic situation because it is possible to continue learning through technology interfaces and the internet from remote places.

It is equally effective as classroom teaching as the discussion and lectures of the teachers are clearly visible and audible through the digital interfaces. In addition, the teachers can examine the learning of the students by allocating them online tasks and assignments (Warren et al. 2020). The assignments can be submitted to the concerned websites which are going to be analyzed to examine individual learning. Therefore, it can be summarized that digital learning is equally important with traditional learning in the modern era of technology. Blended learning style makes the learning procedure more attractive and effective as well.

The term blended learning refers to the practices of using both in-person along online learning techniques or methods for the best optimum results and experiences. It is even known as hybrid learning or mixed-mode learning which was initiated due to the pandemic situation in the UK and schooling or learning turns out to be difficult for the students because of the safety and precaution practice amongst the teachers and students within the educational institute. As cited by Taylor et al. (2018), blended learning includes the online learning accessibility where it is considered as the minor component aspect within the classroom-based course which includes video-recorded lectures, text chats, live videos along with other digital-enabled learning experiences and activities for maintaining the primary instructional interactions between teachers and students (Namyssovaet al. 2019).

Blended learning in higher education in the UK is crucial for nurturing knowledge and understanding within the student related to their course. It is even considered as one of many approaches for providing flexible techniques and methods within the higher education in the UK along with it becoming an extremely prominent approach that can be helpful for the student to continue with their study during the pandemic situation around the globe. This approach or method is essential for the future of higher education and it provides a range of possible ways for the students to engage. In the UK where technologies are increasingly changing the way of living and changing the daily life of millions, blended learning holds a crucial role in providing knowledge to students during difficult situations which mostly impact the daily life systematic workings. Blended learning utilises the existing technology which converts the traditional face to face teaching to e-learning without impacting or reducing the importance and values of in-person teaching (Adekola et al. 2017).

Blended learning is important for higher education in the UK in various ways such as it provides the best attributes of in-person and online learning for maximizing the benefits of both in the most possible manner. As narrated by Kumar and Pande (2017), it focuses on individual perspective rather than group perspective which it allows and enables teachers to identify and determine strengths along with weakness of each student, it even promotes closer relationships while enabling and allowing teachers for evaluating and understanding the most tailor approach for every student individually (Medina, 2018). Besides, personalised instruction which can suit the appropriate learning style for the individual students and blended learning is essential for continuing the learning during the pandemic situation where normal routines are affected and impacted and as an alternative, it is considered as the most prominent way for continuing the learning.

How blended learning becoming more popular compared to traditional learning in the UK

Blended learning has become more popular compared to traditional learning in the UK as blended learning holds numerous potentials for delivering various opportunities for the student along with the organisation which traditional learning could not deliver.

The potential benefits of blended learning for students include flexibility where blended learning assists the student in obtaining an improved level of flexibility where students are mostly delivered with access material facility which helps the student to access their course learning material from anywhere at any time.  Moreover, these facilities which are delivered or provided by blended learning to students help the student to engage themselves with other activities along with studies which can help them to develop individual skill sets for the betterment in the future. These facilities are even more crucial for the students who are facing challenges related to the physical or geographical challenges which are provided (Fisher et al. 2018).

Improved student retention allows the students to achieve certain levels of trust and freedom which can provide control over their learning combined along with the flexibility of location and time. This can assist the student in improving their retention ability as a whole while staying focused and encouraged towards their studies and education. As stated by Fresen (2018), this way of learning helps students for working life in advance which consists of effective control over their learning process, time management skills along undertaking workload which can suit their lives.  Studying at their own pace is considered as another benefit which is provided by blended learning as the learning process of students allows them flexibility and enables them to continue within studies at their level of pace while providing ownership over their process of learning (Nerantzi, 2020).

The potential benefits of blended learning for organisations include cost-effectiveness where the blended learning even delivers benefits not only for students but in fact for the organisations as well during the pandemic situation. As stated by Khalil et al. (2018), implementing the appropriate technological aspects can allow students to continue with their studies when they are physically not present within the campus. This benefit helps the organisations to save costs from various elements such as hardware cost, software licensing cost along IT support. Improved student satisfaction is another benefit that is provided and acquired from blended learning. The benefit helps to improve the students’ satisfaction level with the assistance of flexible approaches or techniques as it enables student satisfaction levels along with student engagement while delivering better outcomes from the traditional teaching or learning approach (Kristanto, 2017).

 Blended learning even provides and delivers benefits toimprove inclusion and accessibility within the organisation. Blended learning allows increased amounts of students for enrolment without worrying about the limited seat within the campus for continuing their higher education.  As cited by Rasheed et al. (2020), however moving the course content on the online platform is not enough and impactful on the students until appropriate technologies are adopted and implemented by the organisation for delivering e-learning teaching.  Therefore, blended learning is the solution for the organisation as it helps the organisation to create or generate a bridge between the learning gap while delivering a more personalised learning experience for their students in the UK (Holton, 2018).

Based on the above-mentioned benefits which are delivered and acquired from blended learning it has become more popular from the traditional face to face teaching in the UK. As narrated by Smith and Hill (2019), traditional learning however provides certain opportunities and benefits which are considered different from blended learning but the opportunities which are delivered from traditional teaching or learning are limited and the possibility of extending is low and the potential impacts are high on the learning or teaching approaches. Therefore, blended learning is becoming more popular in the UK rather than traditional learning (Wright, 2017).

Conclusion

The study focuses on thesis statements that help to deliver the multiple aspects related to the study topic for the understanding and acquiring knowledge to agree or disagree that blended learning is becoming more popular for higher education in the UK. The study sheds light on the various related contexts with the topic for acquiring a proper and systematic understanding of the study topic. Study contexts include the prevalence of traditional classroom learning in the UK, the emergence of blended learning for higher education in the UK along blended learning becoming popular compared to traditional learning in the UK. Significances of blended learning over traditional teaching approach are identified and considered along with various possible benefits which are acquired from the e-learning approach. I can be determined based on the discussion that the statement “Blended learning will permanently replace traditional face-to-face classroom teaching in UK higher education in the near future”  has been met.

References

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