[mrs.awalter]

in reply to: Practicing Blended Learning #2264

Small groups and differentiated instruction/student experiences with information were active parts of my teaching practice. Not only did I find it the most intriguing way for students to interact with concepts we were learning, but it gave great informal assessment checks as a teacher to see where students were successful in building up their knowledge, comfortable discussing information, or where breakdowns and resistance to learning were showing through. Access to technology was never a big issue, but the use and management with student use seemed to always be a hassle. On that note, in conquering the fear and worry of students not using technology appropriately, I would love to develop my skills and demonstrate effective use of apps and platforms (some mentioned in this thread sound particularly interesting that I’ve never worked with: Quzizz, Blooket, Near Pod, Pear Deck, Jamboard), to restore a hope that “active, collaborative experiences that shift the cognitive load to the students” can truly be a stable way for learning to take place. I’m not saying this type of reliance on technology is so distracting it shouldn’t be used for quality learning experiences. I personally just want to develop a stronger belief and level of confidence in my own teaching practices with technology use.

[mrs.awalter]

in reply to: Blended Learning Models #2138

Since I’m not actively teaching but rather in a season of keeping qualifications and credentials up to speed, I can use my own children’s classrooms as a point of reference. Ideally, the best scenario for any group of students would probably be the HyFlex model as it is the most accommodating model for the most unpredictable inconsistencies that might happen in a given time when society is adjusting to new norms. However, the best model in this season of 2022 — and less of what looks like a circus-organizing schedule of a HyFlex model — would be to use the virtual accommodation model; having small groups of students be familiar with how to interact with a majority of their peers who are face-to-face, but not missing out on the experience of being “in” the class if they need to be absent for an extended time.

My son’s 2nd grade teacher executed a mix between the differentiated and virtual accommodation models beautifully by using Swivl technology, Zoom live sessions, and Google Classroom. For the most part, the teacher had a headset/microphone that interacted directly with online students (in which my son could still find delight in hearing the other students in the background if close enough to the teacher), and in turn allowed the teacher to respond as needed to any students online and not feel abandoned to a screen without direction. She used a station schedule so that small groups of students would also interact with any online students via an iPad. On the student-end, and parent-end, this blended learning was very successful. I’m curious to know how mentally mind-juggling this must have all been for the teacher, as managing a face-to-face classroom and online students at the same time couldn’t have been easy. I could speculate this teacher was organized and well-supported by the administration and staff to bring many pieces of blended learning together.

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