Hybrid learning

“What are the three things that the pandemic taught you?” was a JAM (Just a minute) question in one of my sessions for children. The first thing most children answered was that they missed school. These were kids of age group 9-13. Yes, there were few kids who said otherwise for reasons such as not wanting to get up early to catch the bus. But they were a minority and starting to get corrupted by teenage hormones.

 I like most of you was very impressed by the way we, as human race responded to the challenges imposed by the pandemic. How quickly we came up with innovative solutions and adapted ourselves to the new ways of living. Otherwise, where in the world would we have imagined a day where schools came home instead of children going to school. My son studies in a private school in Bangalore and me as a parent was very happy with the way the school managed the situation, the way teachers rose up to the occasion even at times learning how to troubleshoot in the digital world from their students without any shred of ego. 

As a parent I could get couple of hours of extra sleep for not having to pack lunch and could pay closer attention to what exactly happened in my son’s classroom. While the online schooling was a welcome solution for surviving the pandemic challenge, as a parent I could never see it as a longterm routine. For I was worried about the number of things children were missing in this mode. From the discipline they gain from attending school assembly to the confidence they gain when they perform on stage, children were robbed of many precious memories during the pandemic years. 

Working/Studying from home does give flexibility to children and adults. In the adult world, pandemic opened the eyes of many corporates who refused to allow work from home for multiple reasons such as fear of security breach and productivity concerns. Suddenly, everyone found a way to operate in the new normal without compromising on the constraints. While the entire world went back to its old ways after the pandemic, corporates are still struggling to get employees back to office. And that is where I heard the term “hybrid model” for the first time. Almost all corporates have come to the realisation that hybrid model is the future of working for its numerous benefits – flexibility it gives the employees, less traffic on roads, talent utilization without location constraints, savings on real estate and lesser carbon footprint. That’s true in the adult world. Could it be applicable in the world of children too? 

My answer is a firm No. My reasoning will begin from the purpose of schools. School was invented so that people can learn in groups and a single educated being can make the difference in lives of group of peoples. In addition to developing academic skills – reading, writing, arithmetic etc, there are many other purposes for schools such as learning social interaction, discipline and how to behave and manage oneself in different environment. Working with peers on a daily basis can teach a lot of valuable lessons, such as teamwork and cooperation, conflict resolution, diplomacy, and other vital social skills. These are critical life skills which will contribute in the overall development of a child as a human being. This is a debate similar to homeschooling versus traditional schooling. I understand that hybrid model offers a mix of online and offline modes and the benefits of offline mode is not completely taken away. However, with children of this generation spending more time in the virtual world, their ability to navigate the real world is diminishing at an alarming rate. And hence I do not want my child to spend more time in front of screen for online classes. 

One might argue that in a world which is moving to “Learn Anything Anytime Anywhere” (LAAA) mode my position is quite old school and narrow minded. Well, I am a huge fan of LAAA mode and have taken numerous courses on Udemy and other such platforms out of my own interests. But I’d want that mode only for higher education. I can see that people will not be opting for expensive college education in the future but taking certifications and diplomas based on interest and employers will be readily accepting these qualifications only looking at candidate’s aptitude, learnability and employability. 

When I told my 13-year-old son that I’m writing this article he played the devil’s advocate and shared his view on how he sees the future of classrooms. He envisions a world without boundaries where a free period is substituted by a teacher from Ireland joining online and teaching them from a universal curriculum. While he too admits about the impracticalities on logistics, time zones and so on, I applaud his uninhibited thinking ability. My counter argument here will be schools becoming smart schools with latest technology that can take advantage of all such possibilities. Use all the resources available online and improve our teaching methods. Let there be international collaborations, but do it from school. 

Almost all my friends who are teachers felt that quality of learning is less in online mode. Multiple surveys done across the world by reputed consultants such McKinsey seems to agree with my teacher friends. The onus is on the kid to ensure he is learning and not distracted during online classes and the teacher’s ability to ensure the same is less in comparison with offline classes. And not to forget the digital divide in a country like India. Pandemic also exposed the vulnerability of the under privileged and millions of kids lost two years of their education just because they didn’t have the infrastructure. Let us not forget that all this debate of hybrid education is only applicable for the privileged lot and it will be one vote in favour of offline education for its inclusivity. Now that the topic of inclusivity came up, one possible argument in favour of hybrid model might be the flexibility it provides to differently abled children to learn from the comfort of their own home. I believe true inclusivity comes from opening up spaces for all than differently abled limiting themselves to the barriers. 

One final argument against hybrid model will be about the plight of working parents who will have to deal with an additional variable of children being at home during working days adding to the complexity and stress in their lives. Whether we like to admit or not, schools also play a role where children are kept safely during the day for working class parents. Why should we unnecessarily complicate the lives of many? 

In a world where the creators of AI itself is worried about its indiscriminate applications I would want my child to live and experience the real world in his formative years of schooling as much as possible. In conclusion, weighing the pros and cons I firmly say “Nay” to hybrid model!