Do You Need to Attend In-Person Classes for the Best Master’s Programs for Education?

Exploring the benefits of hybrid learning in educational leadership programs

Online learning has never been more popular. If you are looking for the best educational leadership master’s programs online, you already understand the many benefits of the online model. With the ability to go through the classes and coursework on your own time while still gaining access to the knowledge and experience of outstanding professors and staff, the best master of education programs can help take your career to new heights – even while you stay in the classroom.

That said, it would be a mistake to completely dismiss the value of in-person learning. Sharing a room with the people you are learning from (and with) can be a powerful experience and often elevates your education to a place that it might not have reached with online-only classes. If you are thinking about getting a specialist degree in educational leadership, going with a hybrid model that blends in-person and online learning could be a great choice. That’s the format offered by Belmont University, and we believe it gives our students an unmatched experience. This approach combines the convenience of predominantly online coursework with strategic in-person components. Students engage in synchronous online classes for real-time interactions, complemented by one-day intensive sessions on campus each term. These in-person sessions provide invaluable opportunities for face-to-face collaboration with peers and faculty, enhancing the learning experience beyond what's possible in a fully online format. 

The Benefits of the Online Model

It’s the flexibility of the online learning model that immediately comes to the forefront when discussing why so many people take classes online today. When pursuing a master’s degree in educational leadership or any other kind of educational track, the flexibility of online learning is without question.

This is a particularly valuable option for professionals who are already working in a field and need to fit their classwork around their schedule. Most people going after an educational leadership degree will not be able to simply drop everything that they are doing to attend classes throughout the day. With online learning, those classes can be taken from home early in the morning, late at night or even on a lunch break during the day.

And it’s not like there will be any loss in the quality of the information you receive while studying in online education specialist programs, either. As long as you are receiving your education from a quality institution with a proven track record and qualified professors, what you learn online will be just as valuable and useful to you moving forward as what you may learn in a classroom setting.

Where In-Person Learning Thrives

Getting an online master’s degree in educational leadership is not going to leave you lacking in qualifications to move your career to the next level. After going through a curriculum that includes courses on topics like leadership, governance, equity, decision-making and more, you’ll have a wide-ranging toolset that you can apply to a principal role or many other positions within education. These might include positions such as:

1. District-level administrators
2. Curriculum coordinators
3. Instructional coaches
4. Education policy analysts
5. Higher education administrators
6. Educational consultants
7. Department heads or lead teachers

With this degree, you'll be well-positioned to drive positive change in educational systems, influence policy decisions, and make a significant impact on student outcomes. 

While online learning is great for many reasons, adding an in-person element to a program does elevate it in a meaningful way. With in-person opportunities, you’ll gain some of the following advantages:

• Direct, Immediate Feedback: You aren’t going to immediately grasp and understand every concept or idea that is presented to you in a course—that’s just not how learning works. It will take some time to comprehend everything, and when you are in a class on campus, you can ask questions, get direct feedback and talk things over with your peers. This is a rich opportunity that doesn’t come with the online-only model.
• Networking: When in an educational leadership program, you are going through that program with other people in a similar professional situation to your own. This can be an exciting opportunity to get to know your peers and make connections that could serve everyone in the class moving forward. Of course, those connections are much easier to make when you can look someone in the eye, shake their hand and get a coffee together after class. Having an in-person component to your educational leadership program makes it much easier to build the kind of network that you want to have as a professional in this field.
• Staying on Track: The freedom that comes with an online-only program is helpful from the practical perspective of trying to fit everything into your schedule, but it can come at a cost—it’s easy to fall behind when not accountable to an in-person schedule of classes that you need to attend. Knowing that certain in-person dates are coming up can help you remain focused and keep up with the curriculum week after week.

It's no surprise that people have been learning together in classrooms for centuries. This model has always made sense as a great way of distributing information and helping people learn it effectively, and it’s far from outdated. These days, both online and in-person learning have their advantages, which is why the hybrid model makes so much sense for so many students.

Have It All

As we have been discussing so far, there are notable advantages to both styles of learning, and one is not better than the other across the board. So why not bring them together into a single package? With a hybrid learning model, you can enjoy the flexibility that comes with online learning while still extracting some of the benefits of in-person classes.

With most of the classwork done online, you’ll be able to schedule your days as you see fit and line up everything so it all comes together just right. Most of the time, you’ll be able to flip open your laptop, go through a class and effectively learn the lesson for that day without having to physically be on campus.

On some days, however, you will attend class on campus and get to enjoy a live lecture and discussion opportunities with classmates. Many hybrid students find that they come to enjoy these opportunities more than they expected at first. There is usually so much focus on the convenience of online learning that people forget how pleasant it is to sit in a classroom with like-minded people to learn and grow together.

By the end of the program, even with doing much of the learning online, you will have come to build relationships with some of the people and instructors that you met along the way, and those relationships could carry on for years. Whether they wind up benefiting you professionally or just enriching your life personally, you’ll be glad that there was an in-person component to your curriculum. 

A Wonderful Opportunity to Grow

The educational leadership program at Belmont University is one of the best online educational leadership programs available for aspiring school administrators and other professionals in the field. This program is specifically designed to prepare candidates for the complex and demanding role of school principal, as well as other administrative positions within K-12 education systems. 

With a hybrid model that provides some of the best of both in-person and online learning, this program is organized to accommodate working professionals. Classes will include hybrid courses that combine predominantly online class meetings with one required one-day, on-campus session and other completely online (synchronous) courses. Students should expect a one-day intensive session each term (summer, fall and spring) in person on the Belmont campus in Nashville. 

Belmont's program offers a comprehensive, flexible and high-quality pathway to achieving your career goals. The combination of rigorous academic study and practical application ensures that graduates are well-prepared to take on the challenges of educational leadership and make a positive impact in their school communities.