VIRTUAL: Learning. Life. Work.

Abstract

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The concept of hybrid learning spaces (HLS) has evolved from a peripheral idea to a central practice in education, particularly highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This video explores HLS, adopting an interdisciplinary approach that intertwines pedagogy, technology, and co-design. It investigates the notion of hybridity, which extends beyond blending physical and virtual spaces to encompass a coexistence of various learning modes. The practice of hybrid learning, mixing face-to-face and online learning, emerged in the early 2000s. This educational approach has been further amplified due to the impact of COVID-19 where institutions shifted to remote learning (Picciano et al., 2021). In our post-COVID landscape, a key focus is on the co-design of educational spaces, highlighting how engaging teachers and learners in this process can lead to reflection, discourse, and self-determined learning (Yeigh et al., 2021). Furthermore, an exploration of semantics in hybrid learning is necessary, discussing its spectrum from blended learning to unbounded multi-dimensional fluidity. The concept of Hyper-hybridity is introduced, emphasizing the emergence of educational contexts characterized by multiple dimensions of hybridity (Gil et al., 2022). Current educational activities blur the pedagogical modalities into new mixtures or blends, creating unique expressions of HLS. Overall, this video presents a pedagogical perspective of hybridity and its growing importance and complexity in educational discourse. It promotes a co-designed approach of HLS as a potential future direction for blended teaching and learning, especially in a post-COVID-19 world.