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High schoolers, educators decry split focus of hybrid learning model - CBC.ca

High schoolers, educators decry split focus of hybrid learning model - CBC.ca

High schoolers, educators decry split focus of hybrid learning model - CBC.ca
Oct 24, 2021 2 mins, 39 secs

After a Grade 10 year with province-wide shifts to virtual learning, Evelyn Jia was eager to be back at school in person this fall. .

However, the 16-year-old and her peers continue to struggle with their schooling daily, she says, because her Mississauga, Ont., school board has opted for a hybrid learning model: with one teacher simultaneously instructing in-person students and those logging on from home.

Ontario school districts using the hybrid model of simultaneous instruction this year say it's the way to keep remote learners connected to familiar teachers and their regular school communities.

It also allows for greater flexibility if sudden shifts between in-person and remote learning are required.

However, the model — which some boards adopted to address the ongoing provincial mandate requiring them to offer virtual learning — continues to draw fierce criticism from students, parents, educators and more, who blast its sustained use this year as unacceptable at this point of the pandemic.

Grade 11 student Kaden Johnson notes the uphill battle remote students have attempting to learn virtually alongside in-person peers.

This marks the third school year students have experienced at least partial disruption to their education because of the pandemic.

Now in Grade 12, she worries about the "compromised learning" students have faced under the hybrid model, especially as she prepares to shift to post-secondary studies.

"I'm looking at doing health sciences in university, and if I'm not able to understand a lot of the content being taught because of all these issues of hybrid learning, then when I go into my first year of university, I will be sort of falling behind," said the 16-year-old, who attends the same school as Evelyn. ?

He teaches in the Peel District School Board in Mississauga and tries to prepare engaging classes for his in-person and remote students, but it's often an impossible task.

While much attention has been paid to the difficulty younger students have under the hybrid model, Bradshaw points out that high-schoolers, especially those in a key transition year such as Grade 9, are also at a critical period of learning. .

Peel District School Board cited "pedagogical, social and health and safety benefits" for its adoption of hybrid teaching for secondary students.

These include being taught by the same educator whether learning in person or online, as well as continuity of learning for students suddenly sent into isolation because of COVID-19 exposure or if schools are directed to virtual learning by public health officials or the Ministry of Education, the board said in a statement.

Similar reasoning was offered by York Region District School Board, which is using hybrid in both elementary and secondary schools. .

The government "recognizes that returning students to full-time, in-person learning is key for their health and development," said Caitlin Clark, a spokesperson for Stephen Lecce, Ontario's education minister.

However, "in order to best respect and support the choices of families, remote learning will continue to be offered for this school year," she said.

Despite push back against the model, including recent protests in Toronto and York Region, school board officials have not budged on the issue

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

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