Article: http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/06/15/03hybrid.h04.html?intc=mvs
As we have entered the 21st century, there is undoubtedly a race to integrate the use of technology in the classroom. As highlighted by the article on Education Week, as the debate over how to raise test scores in schools across the nation has evolved, so has the approach to bring about innovation in the classroom. These hybrid charter schools offer in-person instructors as well as online classes in a structured setting. While the need to increase the use of technology in the classroom, I think we should continue to find solutions that balance the effect of quality teaching with reinforcement from technological resources that best help our students. Using this philosophy, I believe we should continue to expand the idea of hybrid schools due to a few reasons.
As education funding is being cut, allowing face-to-face instruction to be supported with online instruction and assessments allow for teachers to oversee independent learning from students. Additionally, teachers are there to manage the students and oversee social interaction of students as they work independently or in small groups. Overall this idea seems most supported due to the various models that schools can choose in the effort to create project based and collaborative learning opportunities. Some students support the model due to the need to alleviate overcrowded classrooms.
Online instruction also provides these schools some degree of innovation and flexibility in choosing their curriculums. These teachers can then provide direct support to struggling students by giving them additional assignments to clarify any misconceptions. Using online instruction, students can be assessed, receive additional work from teachers, and continue to complete more work to assist in overall mastery of the material.
I believe we should support the use of more online resources for general instruction in Baltimore City, especially as we are shifting towards our 2014 Common Core Goals. By providing additional opportunities for online instruction we would best assist our students’ ability to test, as we will begin to use computer-based standardized assessments.
2 comments:
This looks like something out of Feed or Futurama! This article marshals several good points in favor of hybrid schools, and I'd like to add another one: a school like this arguably prepares students for college. So much of learning now is done online--what a productive way to school students in using the Internet as a resource rather than just a procrastinatory tool. I wonder about the effect that hybrid schools have on students' research skills and media literacy/discernment...are these students more able to determine the viability of certain academic sources? Are they more able to navigate the many resources on the Internet and determine biases? Do they have better time management skills than students who are given a traditional in-person worksheet and have no distractors other than (possibly) a cell phone or another student to whisper to?
I'd be interested in seeing the future of these hybrid schools and what they do for our students in the years to come.
The article hits on an innovative approach that has been used within my own education. In high school, I was enrolled in an online class that met twice a week. But as I think about bringing this modernization into Baltimore City, I wonder if students would be able to be freed with such independence. Can students be trusted to sit in a classroom with no concrete authority and still be accountable for their work? Management from both ends would need to be established and I am unsure if both staff and students would be on the same page.
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