The world as we knew it has presented a structural change after facing the COVID-19 pandemic and the education sector has been one of the most impacted by this situation. Teachers had to adapt to the new reality to continue offering a quality education from the implementation of new methodologies and didactic strategies .  




The new generations of students are constantly changing, they expect a transformation in teaching methodologies from their teachers, they seek to develop digital skills and they are increasingly interested in social causes. 

The competition in the current labor market is overwhelming, it is necessary to develop technical skills or hard skills, but it implies developing interpersonal skills, advanced digital skills and adding that recruiters request a certain level of experience.  

The big changes mentioned above have made the situation complex, since it goes far beyond the fact of implementing digital solutions in universities or completely eliminating face-to-face classes. Which leads us to ask ourselves the million dollar question:  

Is face-to-face education obsolete or can it be renewed?

In-person vs Virtual


Face-to-face education encourages face-to-face interaction, which reinforces teamwork and a closer relationship with the teacher. Face-to-face education facilitates group interactions, which are essential for students to develop interpersonal skills .  

It is known that the limited interaction and lack of socialization of online classes can increase the levels of anxiety and depression in students, who come to feel unmotivated, less engaged and even bored with distance education.   

However, when the student groups are large, face-to-face teaching techniquesThey may present limitations, generating distractions in the student. In addition, the rigidity in complying with schedules and the limited study possibilities for people with physical disabilities, who live in remote places or with limited resources do not help either.  

The greatest benefit of virtual education is the implementation of technological tools that allow reinforcing student learning, making classes more dynamic and interesting.  

Digital solutions help students reinforce their technical skills, digital skills and can even strengthen their soft skills . Some examples of this can be simulators, virtual laboratories, virtual libraries, among many others. 

An interesting fact is that the numbers of student desertion for economic reasons increase with virtual classes. This generates large gaps in the learning processes and this is where the greatest challenge of higher education systems lies.

The flexibility of the hybrid model

Hybrid education, also called blended learning or b-learning , is defined as the combination of online education or distance education, with face-to-face methodologies.  These blended education

models result in an adaptable and more flexible system than previous models, but their implementation is not as simple as it seems.  Among the main advantages of hybrid education are that it helps to optimize time, considerably reducing the journeys that must be traveled to reach educational institutions, allowing more time to be shared in family or social activities.  

In this way, it makes it easier for students from home to care for their families and, in parallel, have meetings with their teachers and fellow students, obtaining a positive impact on their academic training and quality of life. 

It is important to emphasize that not all students are interested in this new educational model, although there are a significant number of those who do want this modality and the flexibility that it entails.

How many ways to combine face-to-face classes and virtual sessions are there?

There are various types of hybrid education. Below are some of the blended learning models most used in universities.

Synchronous hybrid model

Combine the physical presence of some students with the online participation of others, there may be rotation between the groups or remain the same throughout the course. This model has been adopted in some higher education institutions due to the restriction of the number of students per classroom or as an option to include more people.

Seasonal Rotation Model

The classes are divided into workstations and each of them has a specific function, achieving a single objective together. That is, each student or group works at one station for a certain amount of time and then moves on to another, until all the stations are completed throughout the process. At least one of those stations must be online.

Rotation Lab Model

In this case, depending on the activity, the working group is divided into two: a theoretical group and a practical one. After a while, the groups reverse their roles with the goal of reaching the same results. In this way, you have a group of students learning theory about thermodynamics while the other does experiments in the laboratory and in the next session, the opposite.

Single Rotation Model

In the individual rotation model, students work individually without having to go through all the study stations. In this way, the trajectory is personalized, according to the needs of each student.

flipped class

Each student reviews the topic that will be analyzed in the next face-to-face class and the teachers ask questions about the content and always contrast what they are teaching with a different idea within the material that the students read. The exchange of ideas with the discussion of revised content before class helps each student develop autonomy. 

To carry out these new hybrid methodologies, it is necessary to have technological tools that facilitate the teaching-learning process of university students.  

At Pearson Higher Education we have digital solutions such as Virtual Labs, which provide a safe and fun environment that encourages students to participate and share their knowledge with the class.