What are your thoughts on hybrid learning (in person and at home) compared to when you are in your learning groups (at school for all classes). Which format do you prefer, and why?
The hybrid system is when you go to school in person while also doing online class from home while learning groups are when you go to school for all classes. If I had to pick one that I preferred, I’d pick the hybrid system. I actually liked the hybrid system a lot more than I thought I would’ve. While hybrid is a bit more messy and awkward with the timings and schedules, I liked the online portions of the hybrid system a lot because it felt a lot calmer and more relaxing than learning groups were. Plus, I also worked more efficiently at home and I had more and better equipment to assist me in doing my work. While learning groups are more fun community-wise because you get to see everyone and get to participate in class more often, sometimes it’s just a bit too much and having the ability to be able to work from my room back home away from the classroom is a really nice luxury to have.
How has technology benefitted you during the hybrid learning experience?
Technology has benefitted me in a lot of ways during hybrid learning this year. Technology can provide you with nearly all the information in the entire world, and having that resource at my fingertips was really useful during long projects and assignments that required a lot of research and inquiry. It also allowed me to connect with my classmates more easily this year as I’d be able to find nearly all of them on social media and be able to ask them for help regarding work more easily as well.
How has technology impeded you during the hybrid learning experience?
A way technology impeded me during hybrid this year was definitely how often it distracted me. I can get off task quite easily, and having online work in front of a computer that has access to millions of games, books, and shows can be quite tempting. I often found myself being distracted from my actual work while online, and that really impeded my work efficiency this year.
Is there anything that you hope remains a part of school that was new because of hybrid learning after the pandemic is over and school returns to normal?
I hope only having less than 4 classes (often 2) every day is something that they’ll include. I feel like having more time in one class is great because you get to cover more material and get more time to go over and practice it. Though, I’m sure I’ll like having a lot of classes in one day too, because that’ll be more like middle school (which I’m used to) and it’d be more fast paced and you’d be taking more subjects at a time, thus also learning more.
Link to 2 Projects in school /TALONS that used digital technology, and explain how the use of that digital technology enhanced your project. Ideas include In-Depth, Eminent, Zip, individual class projects in Talons or other subjects…
This project involved me completing a ton of research regarding an inquiry question I created for myself that had to do with the science 9 curriculum. For my question, I asked myself “how is the smell, taste, and look of bread affected by the amount of yeast and type of flour added?” Digital technology really helped to enhance my project because I had so many credible and informational resources available to me on the internet. Through digital technology, I was also able to polish and make my presentation look better through video editing and audio recording!!
This project involved me picking another inquiry question, but this time it was to be centered on a skill I wanted to learn. I chose game design using Unity because I was pretty interested in game making, and using digital technology, I managed to enhance my project a whole lot. Using the internet, I was able to find many courses and resources online to help teach myself the programs I wanted to learn to make games. Also, I used the internet to polish my final presentation as well using websites that allowed me to post my own games free of charge for anyone to play. Finally, I used technology (specifically the Unity game engine) to help me make my game itself, as without it, I wouldn’t have been able to even make my game and to enhance it.