The Hybrid Teacher: The Sweat, the Sweet, the Survival

  The Hybrid Teacher: The Sweat, the Sweet, the Survival

    Hybrid learning occurs when students learn through a mix of in-person and online activities1. The concept of hybrid, for example in animal and plant science, signifies the development of a powerful or desired new species. One may want to ask if the same could be said of the hybrid teacher and by extension the hybrid school. Are hybrid learners getting the best of the teaching and learning experience?

The education space is a rapidly evolving space. These past months have witnessed new and still-evolving technology, pedagogies and policies covering instruction delivery, health and safety, technology integration and even adjustment of fees and remuneration.

To give a first-hand experience, I would say that the whole transformation has taken its toll on me. From the emergency remote learning periods to the main hybrid-learning era, it has been a journey of learning, unlearning and relearning. Even though I could easily be described as a versatile techy teacher, yet the blended learning needs and challenges keep dipping me into deep waters daily. I have had extremely good blended lessons and my share of bad ones. In all, I have learnt to:

·     Keep my cool. There is nothing like staying in charge and intact when your lesson looks like one heading for disaster. Thousands of other teachers are under the same fire. I tell myself, “Lanre, do not turn to ashes first.”

·     Tap into the power of plan B. This takes planning and forward-looking. It takes the right mix of optimism and realism. Know that if anything could ever go wrong, your next lesson might just be the day it would go wrong. There is no magic wand to somethings.

·     Communicate with my students and supervisors about any challenges that surface. In one of my science classes, where I had a few technical hitches, I remembered using it as a teachable moment for my students. My learners and I worked out the solutions together. It was amazing seeing learners suggesting a technical way out. Moreover, why not? They are digital natives after all! That was problem-solving in real-time!

·     Keep going. If it takes me moving from plan A to Z, I would. Keep the fire of resilience burning? Wear your creative thinking hat and persist. Remember the 10,000 hours rule to reaching expertise. How many hours of blended/hybrid/remote teaching do you have under your belt?

Now back to my questions. Favourable answers to those questions would require teachers, school administrators, and IT support and coordinators, and other stakeholders to consider the holistic transformation of our educational settings. This is needful in other for us to adapt productively to this new normal.

Although there are many uncertainties and both the challenges and solutions would differ from school to school, we must not miss the goal post. We all have the same goal of providing the same quality of education for millions of students irrespective of unprecedented settings. The essence of equity and equality is key to achieving the sustainable development goal 4.

Especially in the underserved parts of the world, we all must come to the understanding that the gap between the out-of-school children and the in school children is getting wider. Technology is supposed to be a blessing to close this gap.

Let us keep reimagining the classroom!

Lanre Oguntoye

Techdagogy Strategist & Trendsetter

https://linktr.ee/Lanreabolaji

Reference:

1.     Top Hat Glossary (2020) https://tophat.com/glossary/h/hybrid-learning/ [Retrieved November 21, 2020]

2.    United Nations (2020) Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4    [Retrieved November 21,2020]

3.    Picture: Lanre Oguntoye Collections (2020)

4.    Picture: Promethean World (2020). https://cdn.prometheanworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Educacion-AMADA_image_1000px.png.[Retrieved November 21,2020]