Saturday, February 13, 2021

Hybrid schools – New Challenges and new outlook

 


A true blended approach.  Part of the teaching going online and part offline(in-person), Covid has prepared us for the new normal.  A year passed away without much individual significance.  Locked doors and stay home showed us the importance of greeting and meeting children every day. Today, we are approaching a post-Covid time where we need to think on how to proceed further into education with the uncertainty always looming around us. Flipped and blended classrooms provided the idea of using technology in classrooms but the change was drastic for many Practioner’ s.    Hybrid classrooms plan on having classes online few days and offline the other days. Hybrid is meant to bring more thought process into classrooms and promote independent working among students.  Research suggests that such classrooms are beneficial for students.

Covid not completely out of our lives parents are still hesitant to send kids to school.  The situation looms over the educational institutions to start both offline and online together.  It seems simple as we have handled online, the new norm with ease, but is it truly simple?  Well! Those who have had the classes can tell the difference.  Keeping the teacher live and online and concentrate on the student has become a tremendous task for the teaching community.  Until the fear of Covid is eradicated and parents start sending their kids, the offline and online teaching process will continue.

The new challenges the teaching scenario faces are

  • Versatility of students in class
  • Parental monitoring online for teachers as the student are present in class
  • Mask and other Covid mandatory essentials monitoring by online parental community
  • Differentiating activities for both online and offline students based on their interest
  • Collaborating groups scattered both online and offline
  • Continuing parental apprehensions on Online classes

The concept of BYOD, brings results, but again the teacher in class, monitoring every child with their device is another challenge we need to think about.  New age classrooms ought to build responsibility and accountability among students.  As the era changes, new versions and new outlook brings not only new challenges but also scope to overcome situational crisis through new technologies.

Teachers who are now more facilitators are to think and bring diversity into the classroom space.  Hybrid classrooms will be a success only when facilitators and stakeholders recognise diversity and plan their lessons accordingly.  With technology, as backbone and theories of flipped and blended classrooms, it is true we may not involve 100% of our student community.  However, when we design classroom functionalities based on the behaviour patterns of our students, we can overcome these challenges. 

Parental apprehensions have led to the consideration for ‘Home-schooling’ in many cases. In the long run, such parents have to realise that this new normal is here to stay and focus on the minimalistic effort in bringing education to their children.  Avoiding technology, in learning may not fetch results for the students as today schooling is not about unidimensional subject preferences, it is more about multidimensional subject analysis. Technology is the framework through which the thought process can be revoked and kindled.  Though challenging this brings new beginning for the 21st century educational framework.  With more ahead, let us hope technology only offers solution rather than pollution. Moving forward to the 22nd century should not be to ‘going back to ages’, sustainability and self-regulation should go ahead and make the new paradigm shift.

My thanks to…

  1. https://www.codlearningtech.org/PDF/hybridteachingworkbook.pdf
  2. https://sites.psu.edu/hybridlearning/what-is-hybrid/
  3. https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/updated-e-learning-definitions-2/
  4. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-plan-for-hybrid-teaching-and-learning

 

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PS_Learning and Education

PS_Learning and Education
Education is not the end; Today is to the start of LIFE - Learning Indicators