Imagine a situation where you are going to give a hybrid class for the first time. If you’ve taken the time to prepare for the situation, you’ve probably planned how you’ll deliver the lesson. Equally, the situation could have come up quickly and you may not have had much time to prepare.
I remember these experiences well from my own years as a trainer. The feeling was certainly not pleasant. The biggest fear was whether the technique would work and whether I would be able to get through the lesson in a way that would keep everyone on board. In this setting, the instructor is like a juggler with many balls in the air at the same time. When trying juggling for the first time, few can keep all the balls in the air simultaneously.
People learn by trial and error and practice. You can’t do hybrid education without these, and why should you? Teaching as a hybrid is a new skill that can and should be practised.
The glorification of self-direction in society has led to a somewhat false notion that things are created by the snap of fingers. Time must be taken to develop one’s own skills and employers must create opportunities for employees to do so. There should be opportunities to try and practise – even if you fail – and learn from it.
The project changed trainers’ perceptions of hybrid learning
TAKK has been involved in the HAVE project (Hybrid classrooms in Adult and VET Education, Erasmus+), which has developed hybrid teaching. During the project, we have noticed a clear change in the way hybrid education is taught. In the past, the word ’hybrid’ often evoked negative opinions among teachers and the same kind of sweat drops on the forehead as I described at the beginning. Now the attitude has changed, and I can see it clearly in my own work as a digital pedagogue. The project has played a big role in this change.
Teachers need practical support for hybrid teaching. Coaching alone is not enough, but it is important that trainers can ask someone to join them, for example, at the beginning of a lesson. The importance of working together – it creates a sense of community. Timely support fosters a sense of security, which in turn enables learning to take place.
When it is possible to experiment and practice in a permissive and safe working environment, it is also possible to learn. Insights are central to how you perceive something as part of your work. If the trainer feels that hybrid teaching is appropriate to his or her own work and teaching subject, and finds his or her own way of doing it, this will increase the experience of self-consciousness.
As with many things, the development of hybrid competence is a process of taking small steps forward. Positive experiences increase the desire to learn more and to develop. In a changing learning landscape, new skills and the ability to think and act flexibly are needed. Staff should not be left alone in this matter. In these situations, the importance of support and working together is particularly emphasized.
Virve Soininen
Digital pedagogue at TAKK
