5 Ways to Boost Your Writing Skills in the Hybrid Learning Era

The EdTech market has exploded. COVID-19 and the normalisation of hybrid learning/working have seen unicorns like BJYU’S and Coursera skyrocket in value. Global impact intelligence platform, Holon AQ, have found that as of 2021, there are now 32 EdTech unicorns around the world that have raised over $21 billion in funding, valuing them at $95 billion collectively.

Hybrid learning has proven its longevity, having a permanent effect on education.  A recent article published by American Psychological Association, discovered several benefits of the practice amongst students:

• Learners become more engaged. They can attain information without distractions and challenges from the classroom;
• Increased autonomy improves motivation and comprehension, leading to higher learning and academic success;
• Increased flexibility of students’ schedule allows for more effective use of time;
• Decrease in bullying;
• As distance learning is more personalized, it leads to a higher focus on individual students and their needs;
• Improved outcomes for special needs students.

1. Sign up for a Course by a Well-Known University

There has been an upsurge in the number of courses and degrees offered online by universities.  GradReports’ Optimal Choice index shows that online universities with writing programs have an average recommendation rate of 65%. These low-tuition schools include Southern New Hampshire University Online and Regent University Online. Students will receive an academic level of education, matching that of in-person teaching. There are dozens of courses backed by well-respected educational institutions. From creative writing to academic English, you are free to choose whatever strikes your fancy.

2. Participate in Online Writing Conferences

If you are interested in improving your writing skills, you are probably familiar with writing conferences and know how useful they can be. Online conferences have a significant advantage over in-person ones. Online conferences and meetings can be recorded and transcribed more easily. Thus, if there was a piece of advice or feedback you received about your work, the exact words you were told can be recapped. It is not just a conference anymore, but an information hub. Here you can find more than 300 relevant programs in the United States and abroad.

3. Join a Writing Group

Writing groups or clubs have been a thing for a long time. The Internet led to incredible developments in writing groups, as today you can be a part of a writing group with members from all over the world. People in such groups share their writing, do periodical writing challenges, and ask each other for feedback. In other words, you can write something and address the rest of the group, saying, “Do my essay review, please”. You then receive feedback from other people sharing your interests and decide whether you want to take it to heart or not.

4. Use Specialized Writing Apps to Improve Your Writing

As you are on the Internet anyway, you can make full use of one of the many apps aimed to make writers’ life easier and their output better. There are many tools that can give you useful pointers. For example, Hemingway App is an excellent tool to teach yourself how to avoid unnecessary wordiness and overly complex sentence structures. Or you may try ZenPen, a minimalist writing tool that makes an effort to eliminate the majority of possible distractions and help you fully dedicate your time to your current writing task.

5. Find a Writing Buddy

While a writing group can be a tremendous boon for anybody trying to become a better writer, they often lack a certain something – namely, a personal touch. Finding a writing buddy can help you in this respect. Instead of working with a group of people, find an individual who is just as eager to improve their writing skills as you are, and begin working on helping each other in this pursuit. Read each other’s writing and point out good and bad points. Give each other tips. Edit and proofread each other’s essays. Think of interesting assignments to give each other so that both of you can better express yourselves and improve as writers. But what if you don’t have acquaintances who are interested in writing? Where do you turn to? Fear not, the Internet is rife with resources dedicated solely to this purpose.

As you can see, there are many ways you can improve your writing skills without having to attend writing courses physically. It all depends on your creativity and ingenuity – the Internet opens up multiple venues for self-improvement, you simply have to keep your eyes open and be ready to use them!

Featured Image: Startup Stock Photos, Pexels.