OTAN News

How to Approach Hybrid Teaching

Image External Link Icon opens in new window or tab by Hatice EROL External Link Icon opens in new window or tab from Pixabay External Link Icon opens in new window or tab

One of the most important questions in the quest to reopen our adult education programs and welcome students, staff, and the community back into our physical spaces is what our classroom instruction is going to look like moving forward. The past year or so has shown us the possibilities inherent in online teaching and learning, and schools all around the country have started experimenting with “blended” or “hybrid” learning models (for example, the A/B model, and the HyFlex and BlendFlex models External Link Icon opens in new window or tab) that might become the new normal.

More and more information and ideas about blended learning are coming from educators who are currently working with students in both physical and virtual spaces. Here is just a sample (all YouTube videos) of some ideas to consider:

• Hybrid Teaching Tips External Link Icon opens in new window or tab from the New EdTech Classroom, which argues that all of the learning (even in-person) should be organized online, and to be careful with spending money on technology (hint: spend it on 1:1 devices and not fancy cameras and other equipment).

• How to teach online and in-person students at the same time External Link Icon opens in new window or tab is a good explanation on how to create a physical setup in the classroom to serve both in-person and online audiences.

• Setting up your teacher hub External Link Icon opens in new window or tab discusses how you can use two screens to manage the virtual space.

• Using new technology to teach in a hybrid model External Link Icon opens in new window or tab which shows a live elementary classroom with technology the teacher is using, including a document camera, to connect with both audiences.

We also want to remind adult educators about a professional development offer that can help them better understand how to create a blended learning environment. OTAN is offering a self-paced Blended Learning course from Essential Education that covers topics such as, What is Blended Learning, Choosing a Model, and Teaching and Assessment Tools. You can learn more about this offer on the Essential Education Curriculum Offer External Link Icon opens in new window or tab page.