Professor Graham Wynn of the University of Leicester has introduced the ‘Ignite’ programme as offering the ‘best of both worlds’ with one-to-one mentoring and small tutorial groups added to the mix to help students apply what they’ve been taught.

 

With a society adjusting itself to the ‘new norm’ of a post lockdown world, blended learning promises a balanced solution. However as with all new systems of organisation, blended learning isn’t without its problems and concerns, so we’ve set out 10 top tips to help you adjust to the new post-covid world order

 

 

 

1. Fail to prepare and prepare to fail

 

Number one on our list is to get your house in order right from the word go. Get mentally comfortable with your oncoming learning programme by getting an early overview. Familiarise yourself with what battles you’ll be fighting before you start, and get in place anything you’ll need to help you through potential weak spots before they occur.

 

Use a study calendar and input anything that may interfere with your study so you can plan around it. Birthdays, holidays or social events, it all needs to go in. Is anything clashing with deadlines? Can you see clear conflicts that could compromise the harder modules?

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Create a study zone

 

Beds are for sleeping, and pj’s are for relaxing in, so try and shift up a gear from slumber time by having an area(s) where your learning take place, preferably outside the bed.

 

Waking up ten minutes before lecture time and logging on from your bed may be convenient but it’s not productive. Most importantly find a space that works for you. Whether it’s the local cafe, library, or kitchen, find a place that suits your particular process.

 

Keep your area minimal and fresh and make sure you have a good supply of clean air. Remember to monitor the temperature, bearing in mind the sweet spot of 70-77F (21-25C) proven to aid mental focus. Lastly make sure you have the right tech to aid study.

 

Many learning bodies offer laptops for hire, so if there’s any technical issues you need to surmount do so in good time.

 

 

 

 

3.  Get your questions out of the way first

 

With distance as a factor, being able to ask questions with fellow students or tutors, whilst entirely possible, won’t be quite as free flowing or easy compared to face to face. Refining an idea or bouncing a theory off other people is a great way to scrap or improve an initial concept.

 

So get ahead of the curve, review your course material and list potential problems that will need solving from the outset. Whilst you’ll want to avoid obsessing over details, question time won’t be as readily available or as fluid when you’re off campus. If you need answers to anything that stands out get them in good time.

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Know thyself!

 

As a general rule, knowing how you function as a human being is a great tool for any learning process in life, but not more so than when adjusting to the blended approach. Some find having less real actual contact time a plus, whilst some struggle not fully understanding why.

 

Whilst self awareness sounds a little Zen like, don’t reach for the sandals and beads just yet. Instead, check out a recent innovation called the VARK questionnaire here, it’s a great way to begin orientating the world around how you function as an individual, and getting to grips with what works for you and what doesn’t. Sandals or no.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Get S.M.A.R.T

 

One risk with blended learning is getting too comfortable in your own bubble. This can tempt you in to taking your eye off the ball and getting complaisant. Counteract this by setting yourself goals to keep that forward momentum going. Just remember S.M.A.R.T a useful acronym to help you keep things in check and goes something like this:

 

 

Specific: 

Instead of ‘learn the first half of the chapter,’ try ‘complete the first module, Chapter 2, pages 20-25’.

 

 

Measurable:

With a higher degree of specificity, there’s a better chance of measuring your success or lack of, and thus learning from your mistakes.

If you’ve set yourself the above goal, you will know precisely if you’ve reached it. This eliminates fluffy thinking and approximation, and helps you steer your ship more a little sharper.

 

 

Aceptable:

Are you goals acceptable for you? Have you allowed other people’s goals to influence the challenge you’re setting yourself? Remember, the more you know yourself, the more customised your goals will be.

 

If you can’t walk, don’t set yourself the goal of running because a friend may be doing that very thing. Similarly if you’ve mastered flight, don’t go back to plodding through the mud to keep your friends happy.

 

Keep asking yourself, ‘Is my progress acceptable to me personally in achieving my goal’ and remember to be honest with the answer.

 

 

Realistic:

Did that marathon read in the early hours fulled by red bull and donuts work for you or not? If after three chapters you’re gently drooling whilst staring at the wallpaper you’ve reached your limit.

 

Make a mental note of where the words started falling off the page and try and increase your study stamina slowly and gradually until you feel the benefits.

 

 

Time framed:

Lastly make sure you put a time frame to what you’re doing. Sometimes that will mean being uber strict and specific, ie ‘I’ll have this ready for 9am Monday morning so I can hand it in at 9.30am’ or it may mean something a little more flexible, ie ‘I need to have this ready sometime between Monday and Wednesday at the latest for an initial review.’

Again, if you don’t respond well to pressure maybe consider more flex in your self imposed deadlines.

 

 

 

6. Design for your situation, not mood:

 

Blended learning will always come with some form of online monitoring. Don’t be tempted to swap your virtual class attendance for your pillow and duvet thinking you can just watch the online recording later that day.

 

Constant bunking off will almost always lead you in to hot water and mess with your learning process. Try and be as disciplined as you can, but if the odd hangover has other plans, don’t beat yourself up too much…that’s uni!

  

 

 

7. Don’t get stuck:

 

One possible effect of blended learning is getting stuck in your own bubble. A perpetual lack of one to one stimulus can create brain fog and lull you in to a false sense of security.

 

If your institution comes with a learning assistant or a mentoring programme remember to take advantage when you can, and tie off any loose strings you may have in your learning by asking questions face to face.

 

Remember that blended learning is exactly that, blended. Actual face time is more productive than the Apple variety, so don’t neglect meeting with tutors and mentors and addressing any concerns you may have.

 

 

 

 

8. Ever forward:

 

Every journey needs a destination so decide what you’re looking to achieve right from the outset. It maybe that being able to afford your dream house, establishing your reputation in a noble field or inserting yourself in to an industry with multiple avenues of progression.

 

This will provide you with a horizon line, a promised land of sorts that comes in to sharper focus with each day.

 

However be flexible and be prepared to listen to your heart and mind if you need to revise how that destination changes as your character and learning process develops.

 

Another way to maintain momentum is by rewarding yourself. Many of life’s delights are the simple things like bubble baths, a slice of cake and a coffee in the sun or just a night cuddling up to the remote control. Whatever cherry sits aloft your cake, makes sure you give yourself small maintainable incentives that won’t break the bank.

 

If you feel like you need to mainline inspiration straight to the vein check out Eric Thomas, ‘The Hip Hop Preacher’ on YouTube here.

 

 

 

 

9. What would Bruce Lee do?

 

Bruce Lee was a big proponent of being open minded and taking inspiration from alternate fields. He was known to be a big fan of Western Boxing and Wrestling and his unique style of ‘Jeet Kune Do’ was a forerunner in many ways to the MMA industry. So why not take some time and look at varying methods of learning.

 

 

Don’t become obsessed but rather keep an open mind to what methods work for you, and just try them out. 

 

Some people learn on their feet finding their minds are more active and stimulated. If that may be  you, why not experiment with listening to a recent lecture pod cast style whilst taking a walk round the park?

 

Some people associate the information they’re ingesting with the environment they’re walking in using ‘memory association’ as the technique by which they later recall information on that particular subject. 

 

Some find silence in a small room works best, allowing their minds to close off to anything but information, and some find a background chill hop playlist on Spotify eases the brain and allows free flow of thought…find your route by experimenting and possibly combining variants.

 

However some factors are universal and aren’t open to interpretation. Things like getting 8 hours sleep, a good diet with vegetables and healthy carbs (steer clear of processed carbs that cause an insulin spike and the proceeding energy crash that accompanies them) and regular breaks combined with fresh air and human interaction.

 

 

 

10. Get backed up!

 

Blended learning relies on technology, basic technology but technology nonetheless. Good Wi-fi connectivity, a decent laptop and a pair of earphones that work. If you’re going to move forward with the blended approach in a big way, make sure you have a spare pare of everything.

 

If your bandwidth is more restricted on certain days, plan around it. Maybe on those days you’re on campus and you take advantage of emptier households on your virtual days. If you don’t have loss or damage insurance for your laptop and phone, now’s the point you splash out. Lastly keep everything synced up both to a cloud AND a physical hard drive.

 

Single Terabyte storage isn’t going to break the bank, and if that pesky computer virus pays you a visit, you’ll be glad it’s yours!