Hybrid vs. Blended Learning

The Sloan Consortium is taking a poll asking which name your university uses: blended, hybrid, or mixed-mode. Click Here!


The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee website - Hybrid Courses - is one of the most informative I have found. On their FAQ page, they indicate that "hybrid" and "blended" mean essentially the same thing. They choose the name "hybrid" over "blended" or "mixed." they describe a hybrid as a course in which some traditional face-to-face "seat time" has been replaced by online learning activities." This site discusses the differences between web-enhanced and fully online courses and provides examples of different approaches to hybrid teaching and learning. They list three key features of hybrid coursess:

• web-based learning activities are introduced to complement face-to-face work
• "seat time" is reduced, though not eliminated altogether
• the web-based and face-to-face components of the course are designed to interact pedagogically to take advantage of the best features of each.
  

The University of Illinois Online Network (ION) does differentiate between "blended" and "hybrid" courses. They label courses according to the amount of time spent in a classroom versus online. Michael Lindeman's powerpoint (2005), "Making the Shift: Onground to Online" describes the differentiation between blended and hybrid.

• Onground - Courses in which all learning activities are implemented in a face-to-face classroom setting.
• Blended - Courses in which a significant amount of the activities are implemented in a face-to-face classroom setting. Some materials available online. No online instruction time is substituted for f2f time.
• Hybrid - “Courses in which a significant amount of the learning activities have been moved online, and time traditionally spent in the classroom is reduced but not eliminated” (Garnham & Kaleta, 2002)
• Online - Courses in which all learning activities have been moved online.

Get the Powerpoint!

View Powerpoint: Overview of Hybrids (Lindeman, 2005)

View a Chart from Maricopa College District on the Wide World of Hybrids!