Embracing Hybrid Learning with Promethean
Teachers have never been strangers to trying new things in their classrooms to serve their students—a skill set that will more than likely be put to use with the tenuous plans for teaching this Fall. With so many new buzzwords and so many resources, it can be difficult to wade through to find what will work best for your in-person and virtual classrooms. Two words that are at the forefront of educators’ and administrators’ minds regarding Fall 2020 are blended learning and hybrid learning.
Oftentimes ‘blended’ and ‘hybrid’ learning are used interchangeably, but they are, in fact, two different teaching methodologies.
Blended learning is likely something that most classroom teachers have been doing for a while: it’s an approach that combines in-person instruction with supplementary online activities to be done out of the classroom on the students’ own time.
Blended learning is not to be confused with a flipped classroom; blended learning still has the teacher delivering most (if not all) instruction in-person with students. On the other hand, flipped classrooms usually require students to learn the majority of content on their own at home using instructional videos and texts and then come to class for a deeper dive with the teacher.
Both blended learning and flipped classrooms still operate under the assumption that students will, at one point, get some form of instruction in-person with the teacher. Given how schools might have to pivot in the fall to serve all students, hybrid learning might be the way to ensure that all students get the instruction they need whether they’re physically in school or tuning in from home.
Hybrid learning is the method of teaching students in-person at the same time as teaching students who tune in remotely with technology: students working from home are learning synchronously with those in the classroom. This would require the use of popular video conferencing apps like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, or other tools that your school has standardized on. By setting up a webcam or using the one built into your laptop, you can easily teach both sets of students at the same time.
But how can you engage them?
Engaging students sitting directly in front of you is hard enough, let alone students who are watching a video stream from home. However, you can leverage a solution that Promethean offers: Explain Everything.
Explain Everything by Promethean unites two of the biggest names in education technology to offer what’s sure to be a revolutionary software platform for interactive and engaged teaching and learning. Together, we’re developing an exciting roadmap toward our goal of giving teachers unparalleled power to create and deliver lessons like never before. Learn more and start a free trial at: https://explaineverything.com.
Promethean prides itself as being an education company built by teachers, for teachers. We provide solutions to help engage and empower students through technology and are here to help support you in your classroom during these unprecedented times. You can find more information about our mobile learning solutions here.
