Hybrid learning has become the go-to compromise for Kansas’ largest school districts to get students back in classrooms.
Districts in Lawrence, Topeka, Olathe and elsewhere rotate students between in-person and online lessons. Kids get physical time in front of a teacher without risking crowded classrooms during the pandemic.
But some Kansas teachers say the hybrid model isn’t much better than keeping students online full-time.
The constant shift from the classroom to the screen disrupts learning. Teachers say they have twice the workload while splitting their focus between online and in-person students, giving neither the attention they deserve.
Educators say hybrid makes it easier to help kids struggling the most, but both hybrid and online-only are leading to students falling behind.
MONIQUE Goodeyon loves that students will soon return to her classroom. The high school calculus teacher at Shawnee Mission East got into education to teach students face-to-face, not face-to-screen.
Shawnee Mission went from hybrid learning to full remote around Thanksgiving because of concerns that holiday travel would lead to further coronavirus spikes. Students will return to school and hybrid learning Jan. 26.
But, like other teachers, Goodeyon’s not convinced it’s better for students.
“The kids are not learning as much as they should,” Goodeyon said.
Yes, when students actually sit in Goodeyon’s classroom two days a week, they do better than when they’re on a computer. But she said when those students return to online learning for the other half of the week, they do worse than when they stuck with online-only.
It’s difficult for teachers to give the proper attention to both kids in the classroom and those tuning in via the computer screen. Teachers say the split focus hurts all students.
Instead, Goodeyon spends her class time attending to the kids physically present. Those at home can tune in if they want, but they have their own independent work.
She’s also calculated — math teachers can’t help it — her students get about 90 fewer minutes of instruction time from her a week compared to when the school is in full remote.
“Between remote and hybrid, it is hard to decide which one is better,” Goodeyon said. “The 90 minutes I have them is wonderful. But is that worth them having to learn 90 minutes of material on their own?”
Teachers also say hybrid doubles their workload. They must make one lesson plan for the remote kids and another for those learning in-person that day. Shuffling lessons doesn’t work for a subject like calculus where a student must understand concept A before moving onto concept B.
