What the COVID-19 Pandemic Taught Us About Future Classrooms

Children are naturally distracted, and classroom learning environments have been designed to reinforce a structured environment that ensures all students are focused, motivated, and have equal access to the teacher and learning materials, regardless of household income. With remote learning, those elements can be lost, which can result in more distracted students  with substandard learning space compared to a traditional classroom. “It’s different when you’re learning from a person and you have a relationship with that person,” cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham has said. “That makes you care a little bit more about what they think, and it makes you a little bit more willing to put forth the effort.” With the combination of lack of social structure, limited teacher reinforcement, and the absence of natural relationship building, it’s clear that 100% remote learning is not an effective long term learning model.

The definition of hybrid learning differs, depending on who you ask. In BenQ, we define hybrid learning as the practice of combining in-class learning with digital learning.

In practice, especially in the post-pandemic age, that means having both in-person and remote students participate in the class at the same time. At the same time, a typical feature of hybrid learning is the use of digital tools by the teacher as an alternative to paper-based materials.

Hybrid learning is a great tool to equip students with future-proof skills, familiarize them with technology, and make teaching and learning much more efficient and save time. Typically, young, digitally-native students are also much more engaged in a tech-enabled classroom, and hybrid learning allows them to interact with technology while learning, which is much more attractive to them.

"Hybrid learning" and "blended learning" are often used interchangably, but the two models differ. Find out what blended learning is here.

According to George Lucas’ Education Foundation Edutopia, “Effective tech integration must happen across the curriculum in ways that research shows deepen and enhance the learning process. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts". One example is the need to transition from interactive whiteboards that run proprietary in-class software to more flexible interactive flat panels that can adapt to a wide variety of curriculum that can be used either in-class or remotely.

Even without an ongoing pandemic, Covid-19 has caused educators to consider how to accommodate remote students' needs caused by illness, inclement weather, or extended travel. In 2018, many Texas schools completely shut down due to flu outbreaks or unexpected inclement weather, impacting budgets and learning plans. With new interactive displays equipped with innovations such as anti-microbial screens and live interactive cloud collaboration, educators will have more tools to ensure strong student performance without compromising in-classroom health.

When classroom technology changes, a new opportunity for higher student performance emerges. While universal forced remote learning has its challenges, there is research that shows that some students may retain as much as 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. Why? 

By allowing students to learn at their own pace, students can focus on the areas where they need more help, spending their time going back and re-reading areas they need more help. Also, teachers can now record their lessons so they can comment, annotate, and customize sections to help students in difficult areas and enable a student to access from wherever they are, at any time.