The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routines and forced us to reassess life as we know it. Now, hybrid working has become the new norm. Our education system needs to see the same change. Edutech is making it happen.
The pandemic threw us into disarray. We embraced hybrid working and fluctuated between impassioned proclamations that it would destroy the world or push us into a new era of explosive productivity.
For all its highs and lows, the majority has spoken. Hybrid working is the new norm. People found what they needed to boost their mental well-being, productivity and motivation.
Our current education system has been struggling to nurture curious and self-directed learners. It is time we look for solutions outside the school walls.
Here’s why I think the hybrid model makes sense for our education system; and how edutech is making it happen.
Learning goes beyond school
In a world full of possibilities, distilling the world and its wonders into a handful of subjects in our curriculum is inadequate.
Diverse experiences will make our children better learners. Heuristic problem-solving exists in our school curriculum but it lacks consideration for real-world elements. Issues such as climate change are discussed in classrooms without the nuances of real-world conflicts and inequalities.
In short, the four walls of the school obscure and unintentionally prejudice perspectives.
Schools of the future
Just as varied models of hybrid Wwrk address the different needs of our workforce, hybrid schooling will need to offer various flexible options.
Also Read: In this age of digitalisation, is edutech a bane or boon for educators?
Hybrid schooling will be an important step toward letting kids decide what, when and how they want to learn. Realistically, it’s not practical to let learners decide entirely.
The key here is to give kids agency, giving them a sense of ownership over their learning. Research has shown that children are more motivated to learn when they feel in control of what and how they are learning.
- LingoTalk is an exciting edutech that offers personalised language learning with AI
- Padlet is a beautiful interactive space for anyone to mindmap and pins a wide range of multimedia
- Doyobi offers student-led experiences online, so students all over the world can meet and collaborate
The Skills Advantage Report by LinkedIn highlighted that employers these days are increasingly prioritising transferable skills in their hiring practices rather than academic qualifications. In tandem, the education we give our kids has to shift similarly.
An inclusive experience
Critics will be quick to claim that hybrid schooling puts students from families that lack resources and knowledge at a massive disadvantage. In actual fact, we only have to look within the communities that we live in. It just takes a little thinking out of the box.
From pet-sitting to volunteering, helping out with a small local business, exploring a passion project, to initiatives to rejuvenate the neighbourhood, the world is interconnected, interdependent and nuanced.
School, on the other hand, is a safe space governed by routine and timetables. I have no doubt that parents feel peace when their child is safe within the four walls of a school, but balancing that with a recognition of the reality that our children will face is equally important.
If you’re in tech, you would know just how interconnected and globalised the real world has become.
Interactions between people lead to greater empathy. Children who develop empathy have stronger relationships with other children and educators, which helps them become better learners.
Freedom in unstructured time
A huge part of why hybrid working resulted in greater productivity was its freedom. Workers were free to work in settings they deemed the most comfortable, invest time in hobbies that were both therapeutic and reinvigorating, and spend more time with their families and loved ones.
Also Read: Edutech in a post-pandemic world: Where do we go from here?
Children need the same freedom to develop their imagination and ability to manage themselves without external stimulation.
- DesignContest challenges designers all over the world to compete and express their creativity
- Masterclass gives you access to experts from anywhere in the world.
With more time and space to explore their interests and passions, children will also discover more about themselves. With greater self-awareness, children develop better decision-making skills and are more purpose-driven.
In a rapidly evolving world, we need to give our children a supportive environment for self-discovery.
Let them fail!
One thing is clear, hybrid schooling will not be neat, tidy or perfect.
Children, with all the optimism and enthusiasm in their hearts, will have ambitions that may not be practicable in the real world. Let them fail. Encourage risk-taking! Let them learn from their mistakes and overcome their fear of failure.
Failure is not the be-all and end-all in life (another issue I have with standardised testing).
In the real world, your value is not determined by standardised testing. Most of our young workers these days struggle with that reality. They believe that to win approval, they should constrain their actions within KPIs that are set for them.
If everyone gave up at the prospect of failure, we would have zero successful startups. Zero!
Our privilege disconnects us
We are privileged. We are digitally literate, we have access to the basic necessities of life. The schools we send our children to also give them “invisible” privileges that disconnect them from life.
Ultimately, if we coddle them, restrain them and teach them that uncertainty and the pursuit of new discoveries are not worth the time, they will be at a massive disadvantage in ambiguous, real-world situations.
School, or our concept of it, needs an overhaul. Parents, educators and the community must participate and invest meaningfully in their education.
Only then can we nurture a generation that we couldn’t be prouder of.
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Image credit: Doyobi
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