Schooling in the digital age: Surrey launches hybrid-learning pilot program

With every sector adapting to the digital age, schooling is taking a not-so-new approach as well. 

Whether its backpacks, Chromebooks, or Zoom links, Surrey high-school students will need all three starting this term as the school district implemented a hybrid model of schooling, where students in Grades 10 to 12 can spend half their class time online. Although this is a common approach that has already been adopted by several workplaces and higher education institutions, its implementation in high schools raises a few questions.

Supporters of this hybrid model of teaching argue it will provide students flexibility and good practice for the job market they will be entering in the future. Since COVID-19, students are already familiar with this type of learning, and some parents argue their children performed better when learning online. Not to mention, this will also help school authorities deal with overcrowding without immediate infrastructure changes, which in my opinion is the very reason behind this model of schooling. 

However, this implementation will also mean reduced social interaction with peers. High school is meant to make students engage in group work and study among shared experiences. Gen Z has already been through substantial changes in terms of making friends online and being more expressive on the internet rather than real life. The change in how they learn can impact them even more. 

During my online classes in high school, I noticed that it was easier to do well academically, but the process of learning itself was very lazy. It was way too addictive in a sense that because I had become so comfortable staying home, socializing in real life seemed unnecessary. So my question with this model of learning is that what is the end goal? Just better grades? 

If the goal is to make youngsters familiar with the work environment they will be getting into, I say there are colleges and universities to do so. Most high-schoolers do not have any idea what they want to do with their life and the best place to look for that answer is in class with peers of the same age. 

There’s no doubt gen Z is equipped with all the skills to thrive in the digital age of learning, and a lot of students will be happy with this decision. However, as an arts disciplinary student, I worry that this will affect the secondary socialization of youngsters to a point that it will bring a big change in their outlook of learning and education as a whole. 

Maybe this is just a Band-Aid for problems like overcrowding. Or it might be a peek into what future schooling and learning holds. Either way it will have a big impact on students. 

The success of this project will depend on how the school authorities organize support systems for students and balance course structures. This will also mean more work for teachers and parents, such as having regular check-ins with students.

While a number of students will likely thrive with this model, there will still be some who will require assistance, so proper support systems will be crucial to successfully implement this program. 

But at the end of the day, we are moving towards a new direction on how we want our children to learn, and from my viewpoint, this can be a risky move. Because if it is just about efficiency and grades, this model looks very attractive. But it will risk students graduating with diplomas without growing up together. 

The classrooms may be overcrowded, but they are still where we learn to be humans and no Zoom call can replace that.