As the year goes on, the idea of having hybrid learning becomes more prominent in Dublin High School. The form asking for parents’ and students’ choices for their preferred learning environment has gone out and everyone has different opinions as to which learning environment works best for them.

A portion of students and teachers would love to return to Dublin High to finish out the 2020-2021 school year. Jennifer Holbea, a freshman, stated, “Hybrid learning will be a great thing for students who are struggling right now with distanced learning and who don’t have the motivation.” Motivation is a major factor for many students who believe that hybrid learning would be beneficial for the school community. They may think that their home environments are less motivating than a classroom with a teacher to keep them on track. At home, students have a harder time learning due to less privacy and more distractions. 

During online classes, some teachers have expressed how much they would love to see students’ faces again in person compared to only through a screen. Although it may be more difficult to teach with simultaneous zoom and classroom instruction, a great deal of people would choose this option since there would be interaction without an electronic barrier in the way. 

However, other students believe that transitioning into hybrid learning may cause more problems and be more difficult and complicated. Tanvi Thota, a junior, spoke out and thinks that the transition would be “too drastic and abrupt, further making it difficult for educators and students to readjust [and that it may] affect a student’s retention of material and academic performance as well.” Most students and teachers have gotten used to teaching and learning from home and, as the 2019-2020 school year indicated, abrupt changes cause confusion and can slow the learning process down. 

Jessica Holbea, a junior, agreed, acknowledging that hybrid learning is “too complicated of a process [and doesn’t] see the point of making such a huge change when we don’t have very much time left [in the year].” The teachers will have to drastically change their teaching styles and students will have to alter their schedules and learning styles to adapt to a change that no one has ever experienced before. 

The spread of COVID-19 is another added risk when returning to in-person schooling. With more students and teachers in the same room as one another and more students interacting with one another in between classes, the virus will likely spread faster and more easily. Tanvi added, “This process would ultimately result in a higher risk of exposure and transmission of COVID, and I don’t think hybrid learning is as ideal as it seems.” 

Will the hybrid learning style change students’ and teachers’ lives for the better or for the worse? Only time will tell.