Our technologies, cultures, and values are constantly evolving. Education is no different. Students deserve the best education possible, so what can educators do to give them that?
Online-merge-offline (OMO) education combines the best aspects of online and in-person learning. Students and teachers use software and an in-person experience to make education convenient and effective.
Students, teachers, and education leaders would greatly benefit from using an OMO education model. Let’s take a look at what OMO could offer for your students:
Flexibility for Everyone Involved
We saw how students worked in a digital space during the pandemic. Some of them did great, some not too well. However, it can’t be argued that technology can offer some benefits—one of those being flexibility.
Teachers had to learn and adapt to giving lectures to a screen. Some teachers made the most of it by showing a visual aid to the lesson on screen or even interacting with it.
Teachers could combine the interactive aspects that technology offers with in-person teaching to make lessons more memorable and effective.
Some teachers are doing this by pre-recording lessons. They play the pre-recorded lesson in class and pause it to ask questions or address something. This can help kids learn more stuff in a lesser amount of time. It can also be a huge help if the teacher can’t go to work for a day or two.
Another possibility can be having students demonstrate understanding of a lesson online while they’re being taught. They can do a short question once in a while, and the teacher can address any misunderstandings right away.
Technology helps kids speak out. Students are often too shy to participate because of fear of embarrassment.
Students could also watch a lecture virtually if they don’t have a ride to school or missed the lesson earlier.
Flexibility lets both students and teachers feel better about school. They get to do what works for them in a comfortable environment.
Personalized Lessons for Students
Students benefit the most from a personalized experience. Some students might understand a concept while others don’t, and technology can help students catch up.
Teachers can have insight into this information and personally help students that are falling behind.
Software can also give personalized problems to students that match their skill level. And teachers can monitor their students’ progress.
A great example of this in use is ALEKS. ALEKS is educational math software that adapts question difficulty to student skill. Students that used ALEKS were 1.27 times more likely to pass the course”.
OMO: Addressing All Shortcomings
Online and in-person education both have their shortcomings and advantages. OMO Education takes the best of both worlds.
Online education has students stuck at home, looking at a screen all day. They can get easily distracted or even not show up at all. The lack of technical support or a good connection at home can make things even harder.
However, online education can help students who prefer to be home because they’re sick or they like the lessons more.
In-person education is very time-consuming, not very personalized, and is expensive to operate.
But then again, it can help students understand the content and interact with books or other lesson materials.
Both methods of learning are effective in their own ways. But if you combine them into one experience, everyone benefits.
Finding great teachers could be challenging if a school isn’t located near a major city. If teachers could show up to class virtually while an aid watches students, then schools can attract higher-quality teachers.
Some schools are doing this already, with students talking to their teacher via a screen in front of the classroom.
There are pros and cons to all types of learning, but OMO manages to optimize the pros and mitigate the cons.
The Lesson Learned
Students and teachers would both benefit from a flexible, adaptable model of learning.
Students need to be offered the best education possible, and an online-merge-offline solution would address the shortcomings of in-person and online learning.
With affordable options for schools and families available, this education model is becoming more and more popular.
HiLink Education offers an OMO model of education for schools that teach students Chinese, English, or the arts.
Students can interact with course material and lesson plans. However, they’re also getting in touch with software that builds on their skills and hammers down concepts.
And it’s proving effective, too. Students are learning faster than their peers who entirely rely on one education model.