Abstract:

Educational models can not stay the same as before the pandemic we lived because of COVID-19. One year ago, all educational institutions got the challenge to offer continuity, equity, accessibility, and quality education to students without attending school in a face-to-face way. Today, educational leaders face the challenge to welcome their students and professors at the campus in a safe and organized way, and it seems that the hybrid modality is one of the best options to reintegrate the face-to-face academic activities.

By hybrid modality it is understood the teaching of classes in which there are students present physically and in a remote position at the same time, using technologically equipped classrooms (hybrid classrooms) to guarantee social distancing measures, and allow students to attend the campus facilities in an organized way.

Considering this challenge, Universidad Panamericana decided to approach this situation as an opportunity to redefine the different learning environments, and transform learning experiences and educational possibilities to improve the quality of all the academic programs. The main strategy, after ensuring the health and safety of every community member, is focused on guiding and training teachers. So, since March 2021, Phase 1 of this project started by inviting professors of each academic area to teach their online courses at the campus using the hybrid classrooms. After a couple of sessions, each professor invited between 2 and 5 students to start identifying with real experiences the challenges and opportunities that this modality has.

For assuring the correct operation of the hybrid modality, the Academic Coordinators (A.C.) of each area of the University, the crew members of the Technologies and Information department (T.I.), and an Educational Innovation Committee (E.I.C.) had to design a training program for teachers. In this regard, the objective of this study was to inquire about the teachers' thinking regarding the hybrid model, and the principal training needs for its functional operation. For this, a qualitative research with an interpretive case study framework was developed. The dimensions of analysis were:
(1) advantages and disadvantages of the hybrid modality,
(2) challenges on teaching on an hybrid modality,
(3) main roles of the educational agents on an hybrid modality, and
(4) teacher training needs to achieve a high level of educational quality.

The sample was composed by 15 professors who participated in the Phase 1 of hybrid modality. Data collection was done by a questionnaire for all the participants, and a semi-structured interview to 5 teachers of different academic areas. The data analysis was done with the Atlas.Ti software, through which two hermeneutical maps were generated; the first one about the teachers' thinking regarding the hybrid model, and the other about the training needs identified in their discourse.

The results show a favorable perception of the hybrid model, conceiving it as a means of educational innovation oriented to quality, but also as a complex challenge that implies a change of teaching practices and the use of more technological resources. Likewise, it was identified that the training expectations are oriented towards the improvement of technological, didactical, and communicative competences in the face of teaching scenarios in which classes are given with face-to-face and online students at the same time.

Keywords:

Educational innovation, Hybrid modality, University educational model, Teacher training, COVID-19