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As we know there a lot of debates about what schools should or should not do during these unprecedented times. Regardless of your own beliefs, teachers need to find a way to make every scenario work. Sometimes students need to transition to remote learning due to potential exposures. Sometimes classrooms of students need to change over to remote learning. Hybrid teaching involves teaching students within a physical classroom as you teach students online at the same time. Essentially, you are doing two jobs at once. You are an online teacher and a physical classroom teacher.
Throughout my experience teaching during these difficult times, I have found that one of the most important thing that I can do as an educator is to prepare my students for whatever might happen. I do not want to set a student into a tailspin because they are overwhelmed with what they need to do if they have to suddenly change to remote learning.
When students are physically with us then this is the best time to practice what to do if we change to remote learning. I took my class and divided my class into two groups. I told the one group that they would be in the physical classroom next door to me, but they would be trying out remote learning. I did this with college students, but if you do this with younger students then you will need to have another adult stay with the other group. The groups switched for a different lesson so everyone had the opportunity to experience remote learning with support.
The students learned how to use our Learning Managment System to access our video conferencing link. Students were able to see where the resources are stored and organized for every class. I was able to troubleshoot with students, receive their feedback, and adjust what I was doing. The students were increasing their level of comfort if they have to use these types of resources again.
I often hear teachers explain how unhappy they are with the behaviors of students when learning remotely. When we have the students in person we can explicitly teach the students about our expectations for online learning. I would highly recommend that you take time to teach your students about remote learning expectations and procedures now while you are in person because we never know what will happen in the future.
Additionally, this test drive helps the teacher try out new technology with students. I have tried different things during hybrid instruction. One thing that I am excited about using is the Meeting Owl. It is easy to use. I plugged it into the computer, and I selected the Owl for the microphone and camera. Then video and sound quality of the experience increased for my students. Students were able to experience a 360 degree view, fully immersive experience of me teaching. The Owl turns and follows me as a I am teaching, and it will change over to different students when they are talking as well.
Another tool that I enjoy using with students in this type of classroom is Nearpod. There are various interactive features within Nearpod to keep students engaged, and I collect information about the thinking of my students throughout the lesson. Once my students have the join code then the students can see the presentation on their own device. This has helped students with being able to see the presentation better. Sometimes masks make it difficult for us to hear one another in physical and virtual settings so I like to use my Q-ball, but I will share about that later in another post.
Simply put, as educators, we spend a lot of time preparing our students for the expectations for the upcoming school year. We need to ensure that we prepare our students for what to expect and what we expect in physical, virtual, and hybrid settings. Students will feel more at ease when they already know a little bit more about what to expect during these uncertain times.
