Resumen:
Hybrid education has become an alternative to the exclusively online educational environment by combining face-to-face and online learning. In this work we address two main issues: (i) the potential preference for the hybrid education over the exclusively online and (ii) the satisfaction on the implementation of the Flipped Classroom (FC) methodology over traditional methods. Our research relied on 17 hybrid classrooms taught in two higher education institutions (Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain, and Kendall College, USA) during the last two quarters of the 2016/2017 academic year. Relevant information provided by the teachers of these classrooms was analyzed based on both quantitative (closed surveys) and qualitative (focus groups) approaches. Results indicate that (i) the hybrid environment is seen by teachers as a key instrument to circumvent the pitfalls associated with the purely online learning; and (ii) implementing the FC methodology in higher education would maximize the benefits derived from hybrid environments.