Kneura

Getting Students Back On Track: Continue Classes during COVID – 19 with new Hybrid Classroom Approach

The pandemic has magnified the existing education system in India. Unless someone develops a vaccine for COVID -19, schools just can’t be the same as before. And the biggest fears are – more cases, longer shutdowns, and the stark possibility of the new virus taking us down again. Think of a classroom that works well in face-to-face and virtual set up, which can be implemented during this pandemic and that can be continued furthermore, which is not confined to a place and time. A classroom that is not only offline or not only online, rather a combination of both?

Is this Hybrid Classroom? Lets see!

The hybrid classroom is the best combination of face-to-face and remote teaching, with digital engagement, ensuring education for everyone. Those, who miss the class due to any reason, will be able to access the recorded session shared by the teachers, ensuring zero gap.

What could a Hybrid Classroom look like?

Envisioning the outcomes, a hybrid classroom will have during transformation journey.

a. School Admin

  • Monitor student and staff performance through real-time analytics and information. 
  • Connect and collaborate through broadcast communication tool 
  • Improve outcome, reduce dropout 
  • Optimize investments by connecting to an integrated platform

b. Teachers

  • Try out new pedagogical opportunities to refine impact 

  • Improve the understanding through stunning lessons 

  • Maintain bond with students and support their needs 

  • Provide frequent feedback and guidance to excel

c. Students

  • More engaged, empowered, and supported 

  • Develop essential skills by interacting in online and offline environment 

  • Learn at your own pace anytime, anywhere 

  • Co-create, communicate, and collaborate

Educational Institutions across the country are going through the content-dense documents given by the district heads and Government, mentioning the rules of social distancing, regular disinfectants, per cent of students and staff allowed in the physical campus in day, revise the syllabus, distribute books, and continue classes. Overwhelmed with the number of pages and confused with the implementation process, each of them has a question of how to brace for the upcoming session.
Now, when schools are about to resume with less attendanceimplementing a hybrid classroom approach has become the need of the hour.

Hybrid Classroom: Teach like Pre-pandemic days

Revisit your pre-pandemic days, when you were teaching all the students together and never felt the need of separating them into batches.

What’s Different

Less attendance in class, students grouped into face-to-face and virtual class.

What’s Same

Teaching will remain the same, maintaining strong teacher-student bonding.

What’s New

Hybrid classroom devices to make class live for students attending the session virtually.

But, how to implement a hybrid classroom concept and what are the devices / gadgets needed for it? Let’s see about that in detail.

What is a Hybrid Classroom Device?

A hybrid classroom device allows the sharing of content with students either viewing live online from a remote location or watching later in a time-shifted format. It replicates everything students available in the classroom feel and understand, including audio, video, and classroom environment.

What are the capabilities of Hybrid Classroom Devices?

Face-to-face interaction: In a hybrid classroom, teachers access the cloud-based multimedia-rich lessons and impart learning through face-to-face interaction, using their credentials on hybrid devices.  
Go-live: Hybrid classroom devices have a go-live button, that enables audio and videoenabled virtual classThis button will enable authorized students to join the class   
Recorded lessons: Teachers can record, save, and share the topic through hybrid classroom devices. Just plug in the device to the laptop and start teaching. 
Formative assessment: Are you missing those surprise tests that were giving you a fair idea about the student’s understanding of a topic? AI question generator frames different kinds of questions, prepares the answers, and grade it instantly, without any mistake. 
Digital profile: Based on the insights given by teachers, obtained marks, IQ level, attentiveness and interest, knowledge graph, student’s details are maintained and updated in their digital profile.

Benefits of Hybrid Classroom Approach

Students need human connection, not automation 
Students who receive personalized feedback perform 90% better than those who just access materials and recorded lessons.  
Maintaining a bond with teachers, to clap when appreciate, to correct when deviate, to re-explain when needed is the first thing a student looks for. For their academic and cognitive growth, they want to receive personalized feedback.
Reduces Teacher’s Burnout and improves bonding with Students 
The teacher’s role got amplified and it was understood that quality is more important than just delivering lessons.  
Teachers understand their students and design lessons accordingly, mixing the perfect proportion of different forms of content, as required. Any video or study material cannot replace the knowledge imparted by the teacher.

How to Implement Hybrid Classroom Approach?

Cybernetyx proposes a one-device approach to Hybrid Classroom
Based upon the existing setup of your classroom, be it a whiteboard, standard panel, or IWB, you can always convert it into hybrid classroom, without altering it much. Just place the hybrid classroom devices in your classroom and continue classes like before.

To convert a normal projector Hybrid Classroom Device

EyeRIS Pro is an advanced surface-independent wireless touch interactive teaching device that converts any flat projection surface into a touch-enabled digital whiteboard. The device is powered by Kneura platform, which means teachers can have multiple smart tools to create, save, and share their lesson plans on the cloud and access it anytime, anywhere. EyeRIS PRO when connected to a computer or laptop enables screen recording and video conferencing. Just place it on any projector and convert any classroom into a hybrid classroom, enabling face-to-face and remote teaching.

To convert a normal TV to Hybrid Classroom Device

Galileo One – Place this device on any regular TV or standard panel and turn it into a full-powered touchscreen. Connect it to a web camera and turn it into perfect device for remote learning.

All in One Hybrid Classroom Device

Quriosity is an all-in-one device that includes everything needed for a hybrid classroom. This 4K-UHD interactive panel comes fitted with all the components including immersive display, toughened glass with anti-glare coating, scratch-resistant screen, session recorder, wireless data transfer, and virtual teaching platform.

To Monitor Social Distancing

The ClassEQ camera captures the students’ behavior by mapping their facial expressions, in terms of their attentiveness, interest, understanding about the topicIn the present context, the ClassEQ camera will also capture the distance between the students and show social distancing norm has been followed or not.

Why Hybrid Classroom Devices are needed?

To resume schools during the pandemic, implementing hybrid classroom approach has become the need of the hour that maintains the continuity of learning without any dependency on school bell rings and classroom desks.

Things to consider before you gear up for Hybrid Classroom

Revisit your campus and check for the number of students it can accommodate in a day, following social distancing.

Assess students’ needs in terms of transportation, containment zones, vulnerability.

Preparing staff to go live for virtual students, using hybrid classroom devices.

Moving Forward

The pandemic has created a vacuum in the education system where innovation can be tried and assessed. Educators, who are in dire need to continue the learning process are willing to try out hybrid classroom approach and firmly believe it will benefit them now and later.  
At this point, when schools are closed for more than three months, affecting upcoming session, resuming the classes with hybrid classroom model seems to be the best possible solution for seamless transition to normal  
Cybernetyx has used over a decade of design experience for in-classroom technology products empowering over 125K classrooms with EyeRIS technology and designed the new series of Hybrid Classroom devices for educators, which do not require any session or training to learn using it. As simple as plugging, the devices can be set up within 5 minutes, lessons can be accessed and taught, and the entire session can be saved and shared instantly.  
We would love to know what kind of set up you have currently in your classroom and willing to help you with expert’s suggestions to upgrade it to hybrid classroom, with minimum modification. Kindly share your though on hello@kneura.com.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *