Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid learning has become a household concept, whether or not parents and children like it. Hybrid learning combines the advantages of traditional education with the convenience of remote learning and offers students and parents the opportunity to receive educational schooling both at school facilities and at home. Despite its benefits, hybrid learning presents unprecedented challenges for students and teachers alike. Perhaps the most challenging hurdle that educators must face is navigating how to adapt traditionally effective educational techniques to remote learning.
If you’re an educator hoping to help your students zoom through the classroom and the living room lesson plan, check out this list of the seven best strategies for success in hybrid learning.
Don’t be afraid to decorate
While the transition to partially remote learning has produced a host of changes, one thing has remained the same: students benefit from a warm, familiar, and engaging learning environment. Whether your classroom’s desks are full of children or you’re broadcasting your lesson plan to kids at home, don’t be afraid to enhance your classroom’s visual appeal with engaging learning aids, charts, decorations, and maps.
Consider investing in bright, educational classroom decorations from providers like Sproutbrite to add pizzazz to your in-person classes and encourage student engagement with the course material.
Continue using direct instruction
A tried and true educational method, direct instruction is frequently utilized in in-person classrooms and has a critical place in hybrid classrooms. Direct instruction requires the teacher or instructor to communicate the concept directly to the student while using easy-to-understand or straightforward language.
Don’t be afraid to do your homework and familiarize yourself with lecture methods that may help you better implement direct instruction to children in and outside of the physical classroom.
Try learning by play
While maintaining the attention of school-aged students in a physical classroom can be challenging enough, ensuring that students who are learning from home stay on task is even more difficult. Since hybrid classrooms are often associated with distracted classrooms, educators should consider going the extra mile to keep their students attentive to the learning material. Luckily, implementing engaging activities that remind children of play is a surefire way to keep your kids on track.
Encourage cooperative learning
Cooperative learning is a learning technique that inspires students to work together to solve a problem or complete an assignment. This method works well in Zoom breakout rooms and teaches teamwork and social skills while encouraging students to consider the educational goals of the project. Moreover, this student-centered approach offers potentially interaction-starved students an opportunity to connect with their peers while increasing student participation and ownership.
Use the think-pair-share method
Like cooperative learning, think-pair-share approaches encourage students to think about the topic individually before pairing up with a partner to discuss. Once in a collaborative headspace, students can share their reflections and remain engaged with the subject on a social level. Luckily, educators can implement this approach in person or online through meeting platforms like Zoom.
Play the two-minute presentation game
When playing the two-minute presentation game, teachers will instruct students to prepare an impromptu two-minute presentation on a given learning topic. The activity fosters the development of public speaking and social skills and offers virtual students the opportunity to connect with their peers via their virtual learning platform.
Keep learning peer-led
While hybrid classrooms may disincentivize peer-led teaching, the opposite can be true if teachers appropriately take advantage of the virtual platforms at their disposal. Try taking a backseat to your students’ educational conversations and allow the learners to take control of a roundtable discussion. Students will have the opportunity to practice organization, ownership, and critical thinking.
Wrap up
Running a hybrid classroom is an opportunity to stretch yourself as an educator and practice your creativity and flexibility. These seven tips can help you maximize the efficacy of your hybrid classroom and empower your students to take ownership of their education.
