Living The Hybrid Life

Posted by Courtney, Program Curator

November's issue arrived yesterday, and as I dug into its "virtual workplace" theme, I found myself envisioning a true live/work lifestyle. My favorite blurb from the issue was actually from the Editor's Note which sited Herman Miller's Director of Strategic Research and Development. (What? Office furniture companies are already concepting how to snazz up the home office? What an idea!) So what is Herman Miller thinking? That "the office will exist in order to facilitate connections and relationship building, but you might not even have your computer there." Apparently other designers are a bit more skeptical--hence the dining room table with hidden cabling, perfect for a dinner party of eight or a corporate board meeting--take your pick.

As I started considering Herman Miller's idea of hybrid employment--the kind where you're sometimes in the office and sometimes home or elsewhere--I started wondering...does hybrid employment mean hybrid school? We can't fully envision the live/work lifestyle and omit kids from the picture. Benefits of hybrid employment include more time at home and together. We probably want the same for our kids, right?

What does the live/work lifestyle look like to you?

Thank you, Hybrid Teachers!

Posted by Courtney Harritt, Program Curator


This week we reviewed some of the comments that teachers from our summer pilot program offered as testimonials. We appreciated their insight, and I thought I would share a few of my favorites.

“As many universities move to the online and hybrid teaching formats, the time to embrace these new academic modalities in high school is now.” – Mr. Silver (English Teacher)

“One advantage of hybrid courses is that they help to prepare students for a world where virtual collaboration is the way of life.” – Ms. Wilson (English Teacher)

“Our flexible hybrid course schedule reached students who otherwise would not have taken the course due to scheduling conflicts.” – Mr. Logan (Math Teacher)

More teacher insights on our website.

EdWeek: Schools Blend Virtual and F2F Learning

Posted by Alan Rudi, Principal Solutions Strategist

Recently Education Week published the article Schools Blend Virtual and Face-to-Face Teaching. At the same time, we published a thorough case study, Hybrid Courses for High School Students. I’m excited.

I agree with the EdWeek article that “blended or hybrid learning has caught the eye of many looking into the potential of online learning,” but there is still much to learn and develop. These articles and conclusions are not, however, why I’m excited.

I’m excited because I’ve now personally seen or taught about 50 courses in the hybrid model at both the college and high school level. I’ve seen nearly every student get excited about the course. I've seen students engage in discussion boards challenging each other’s thinking and compete in simulations anxious to see results. I've seen students thrive in an environment where they get the "big picture" of the course during class meetings, and individually approach online material that gives them the details. I've seen students get excited about seeing curriculum in new ways they have not seen before. And I’ve heard teachers express their positive surprise at the experience of blending the classroom and online learning.

It is for these reasons, reactions by students and teachers, plus our own experience, that we at Thesys have embraced hybrid learning.

We're excited.