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?

Since COVID happened, we have had to rethink a lot of the ways we go about life, including school learning. We have all gotten a good taste of remote learning this past year, but to be honest, I’m not sure which I prefer. There are a lot of ups and downs for each! Remote learning let me schedule work how I wanted when I didn’t have to be physically at school and was a lot more flexible, but there were some days where I didn’t do any work for the class I was at home for. Learning at school is very helpful because it’s a lot easier to get feedback from teachers and classmates, and I personally would rather do most work at school than home. That said, I do hope we keep a bit of the hybrid learning style for next year! It was very different from what we were used to, but I think it’s quite useful. I wouldn’t want to do all learning at home though; that was not very fun. I think the hybrid model was a great alternative.

How has technology benefitted you during the hybrid learning experience?

Technology was very useful because even when we were at home, we could still learn on zoom (though, two hour long zoom classes were a nightmare and I’d much prefer to do that stuff at school!) and communicate with our teachers and peers through emails, teams, and discord. Even through tough times like these, we still managed to stay connected, and technology was helpful with that.

How has technology impeded you during the hybrid learning experience?

Though technology brought us together in many ways, it still kept us apart a bit. It’s hard to connect with people solely through technology, which is why the hybrid model, being able to go to school as well, was so important this year! Also, the way some people used technology impeded our connections. I guess people might think that they need less of a filter online, and say things that they might not have in person, not realizing that their actions can still be really hurtful. Another way technology made it harder to learn is that on a digital setting, it’s a lot easier to get distracted. When you’re always doing your work on the same device that you watch YouTube and use Discord on, there’s a lot of distractions that can tear you away from your work. There’s a lot less distractions when you’re learning and doing work at school!

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 that after the pandemic is over, we might still get to do a bit of learning at home. I think it was nice to have the freedom to spend however much time we needed to on a project, instead of being in class for a long time. For some classes, like guitar, it was hard to practice guitar for a full 2 hours, especially when we were first starting out. The hybrid classes were helpful with that because we only spent as much time as necessary on it and weren’t dragging out the class!

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…

Some of my favorite memories around technology this year were with Eminent and In-Depth night. It was fun to take a look at what everyone had learned, and leave comments on their blog! During In-Depth night, I also called my friend so we could look at people’s blogs together. Another project with tecnology was way back at the start of the year, when I was doing Animation class! We did all our work digitally, which I really love because you’re less limited in the supplies you use for your art (like, I don’t own a spray paint bottle or fancy pens but I use them all the time in digital art!) and you can also undo things really easily, which is extremely helpful. I posted some of my projects on my YouTube channel as well, which is great because it means I get to show my art to more people!

Here are the links to my Eminent blog post (Eliza Hamilton Learning Center) and my In-Depth blog post! (American Sign Language)

https://mygleneagle.sd43.bc.ca/xyliag2020/2020/12/11/eliza-hamilton-learning-center/

https://mygleneagle.sd43.bc.ca/xyliag2020/2021/05/31/in-depth-learning-center/