As of late, it was challenging to envision that functional preparation for skill-based courses could be conveyed online so successfully!

Alvin Toffler said “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

This is the case for everything undergoing some type of transformation. Because of the push from COVID-19, the impulse to take on computerized innovation in blend with conventional preparation techniques has helped us reconsider skilling in numerous ways.

It was not only the pandemic that made us reconsider how skill training was provided, the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 likewise called for speeding up skill-based preparation through "Phygital learning" or a hybrid model.

'Phygital' learning is an innovative approach combining digital learning with hands-on learning and instructor-led interventions to provide learners with a unique, engaging, and inclusive learning experience.

'80% of students aged 14 to 18 reported lower levels of learning during the pandemic than while physically present at school, and at least more than 42% of students between the ages 6 to 13 did not have access to any form of remote education during school closure." - UNICEF Survey.

This survey made us ask a crucial question - 'How do we build better classrooms today that will engage and make our learners ready for the uncertain future?'

A potential response is to consider technology as the framework and not a transitory arrangement.

Using technology can be a way to deliver high-quality personalized content to students. Phygital in this aspect would mean that technology must entail learning and assessment right from the stage of curriculum planning and development. This method will allow teachers to leverage the synergy in the classroom.

A simple video instead of mere textbooks gives learners a choice. It enables them to take control over the pace of how they understand a concept.

Integrating the capabilities of tech-driven learning into hybrid classrooms would be a great way to repurpose structured face-to-face time with the teacher and students. The Phygital model in skill development can be a potential game-changer in reimagining vocational education. The model will result in making learning more accessible, affordable and aspirational. 

Instructors can be empowered to remould into true facilitators of associations and experiences by moving the burden of data spread to nonconcurrent modes and opening up multimodal ways to deal with learning through application, analysis, and assessment, prompting creation.

Phygital learning holds the possibility to metamorphose education in India. It is the future since it contextualizes and rethinks learning. In any case, we should establish an empowering environment that makes students and educators reassured and hopeful in navigating this space in their language.

Phygital learning opens up enormous opportunities for capacity building among the leading workforce in the country. It holds high empowerment potential since it can empower upskilling, benefiting people of all ages who wish to remain relevant to the job market. Phygital learning can act as an economic development engine and a groundbreaking power that empowers each Indian.