Hybrid Education Model – The New Normal

Education sector has been highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Current situation has prompted schools and parents to consider online education as a saviour and choose to learn from the most qualified teachers without stepping out of the comfort of their home and utilising time to the fullest. 

Live online classes conducted by many schools is catering to the educational needs  of the students in the most effective manner. Lot of people still prefer traditional way of education with physical presence of teachers, but technology has given teachers so many tools to provide students with a similar or even better learning environment. Students can be in an online class on an app like Zoom, Webex, Google Meet etc and the feel of the class can be much better than a physical class with each student getting more attention from the teacher. Students can learn from anywhere in the world at their convenience. Timescale is the biggest benefit to students. Even the tests are conducted online, which is a very efficient mechanism. 

Teachers of 2020 are improvising and adding to their skills to impart better education and enhance the learning experience of the students and help in their overall development.

Globally there has been a spike in the number of students enrolling for online courses with subjects ranging from K-12, Management courses to Dance & Music Classes… list is endless, which we could not even imagine couple of weeks back.  

What is the way going forward …. Is this the way education should be imparted in the times to come?

Lot of us are considering that online learning is just an emergency recourse and we will return to traditional classroom very soon. Have we considered that teaching methodology in schools may never be the same again. What Covid prompted as an emergency recourse might be a permanent feature of school education and probably the much needed evolutionary leap.

Nothing can substitute the importance of physical schooling as its much more than just academics. The feel of a classroom, a paper book, the school discipline, teachers, classmates, sports, labs, .. is beyond any virtual experience.

I believe Hybrid Education Model with the right mix of Online & Physical classroom teaching is going to be the New Norm in the times to come. Let us all look forward to the evolution of Schooling in 2020 & beyond !