Report on Hybrid Learning in Language Teaching Organisations

With COVID-19 forcing schools to physically close down or adopt social distancing measures, new teaching modes have emerged. From Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) to adapted blended or hybrid learning solutions, the educational community has had to make remarkable modifications to provide continuity of learning. The world of language education was no exception, with language teaching organisations and institutions adapting very quickly to the new reality and going through transformational changes as a response to the pandemic. 

One of these changes has been the adoption of hybrid learning solutions e.g. teachers working with both in-person and online learners at the same time. This has been the focus of the present research report that I had the pleasure to work on along with Thom Kiddle (NILE), Chris Farrell  (CES) and John Glew-O’Leary (International House Manchester).

The report looks at instances, insights and implications of the Hybrid Learning model in language education contexts globally and reflects language organisations’ experiences and perceptions in autumn 2020. Respondents’ teaching organisations were located in 31 countries, with four countries providing the most respondents: United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and Spain.

As hybrid learning models can vary significantly, we focused our analysis on the hybrid learning model that refers to classroom settings that simultaneously combine the teacher and some learners in the same physical space plus other learners participating remotely. Respondents’ experiences with and perceptions of this model of hybrid learning were also varied and thus they were classified into distinct categories i.e. those who are already running hybrid learning courses; those who are considering them for the near or distant future; and those who either have not yet considered hybrid learning or have decided not to engage with it. The structure of the data analysis in this report follows a similar pattern with authors analysing different sections of the data as well as authoring different sections of this report. 

It was a great pleasure being involved in the authoring team and I hope you find our report informative and useful. Special thanks go to our institutions NILE, CES, International House Manchester and De Montfort University Centre for Language Learning as well as Eaquals, AQUEDUTO, EnglishUK, IALC, IH World Organisation and AISLI for their support.

To discuss Hybrid Learning and the findings of this report, we took part in a panel discussion hosted by NILE on 12 January 2021. The event generated active discussion between the panelists and the audience and the recording can be found in the NILE members’ area (membership is free).

Sophia Mavridi is a Digital Learning Specialist & Lecturer in English Language Teaching at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK. She holds an MA in Educational Technology & TESOL and is a doctoral researcher in Technology Enhanced learning with Lancaster University. Her research focuses on online learning and the increasingly important role of digital literacies in education. Sophia supports institutions and teachers to integrate technology in a pedagogically sound way and has trained for major organisations such as the British Council, International House, Macmillan Education and many more. She is a regular keynote speaker at international conferences and the joint-coordinator of the IATEFL Learning Technologies Special Interest Group; her latest co-edited volumes are ‘English for 21st Century Skills’ (Express Publishing, 2020) and ‘Digital Innovations and Research in Language Learning’ (IATEFL, 2020), both of which reflect her keen interest in innovative pedagogies in language education.