{"id":23260,"date":"2025-11-20T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/2025\/11\/20\/is-hybrid-learning-the-future-insights-from-a-harvard-education-conference\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T11:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:11:35","slug":"is-hybrid-learning-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/2025\/11\/20\/is-hybrid-learning-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Hybrid Learning the Future? Insights from a Harvard Education Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/\">Clonlara School<\/a>\u2019s Director of Education April Huard recently sat on a panel at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/centers\/taubman\/programs-research\/pepg\/events\/emerging-school-models-scaling-success\">fourth annual Emerging School Models conference<\/a> at the Harvard Kennedy School. This national conference brought together leaders in education to discuss innovative school models and their sustainability and scalability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Huard was joined by Amy McGrath, vice president at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asu.edu\/\">Arizona State University<\/a> and CEO of <a href=\"https:\/\/asuprep.asu.edu\/\">ASU Preparatory<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asuprepglobalacademy.org\/\">ASU Prep Global<\/a>, and Matt Spengler, founder and executive director of <a href=\"https:\/\/blueprintschools.org\/\">Blueprint Schools Network<\/a>, for a session on hybrid learning. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pmObujtOgZ0\">Blended by design: Is hybrid learning the future?<\/a>,\u201d the three panelists tackled the important question from the session\u2019s title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Image-25-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"26221\" data-link=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/2025\/11\/20\/is-hybrid-learning-the-future\/image-25-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-26221\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Image-23-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"26220\" data-link=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/2025\/11\/20\/is-hybrid-learning-the-future\/image-23-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-26220\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Image-27-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"26223\" data-link=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/2025\/11\/20\/is-hybrid-learning-the-future\/image-27-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-26223\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-very-dark-gray-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\">Hybrid Learning Is the Future<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The panelists were all in agreement: Yes, hybrid learning <em>is<\/em> the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe data shows that it\u2019s popular, people want it, they like it,\u201d Huard said. Enrollment at Clonlara\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/clonlara-annarbor.org\/\">Ann Arbor campus<\/a> has risen by 25% since the introduction of flexible three- and five-day options, she shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Huard has noticed several main groups drawn to hybrid learning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Homeschoolers looking for in-person community<\/li><li>Families with flexible work schedules<\/li><li>Students with school trauma<\/li><li>Students who are involved in music, athletics, or other passions at a very high level<\/li><li>Families who travel<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHybrid learning is just the better default,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cI think it emphasizes the unencumbering of humans to have more control of their time to be able to focus on the things that matter, which is really allowing the students to have flexibility and respect of their own time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would say the hybrid model is directly aligned to what [teenagers] want,\u201d Spengler noted. \u201cThey want to be independent. They want to make choices. They don\u2019t want to be hovered over by another adult . . . They want to pursue something and not be bound to it for eight months, or a year, or two years\u2014and they want to be able to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teens want to be able to move at their own pace, Spengler added; they don\u2019t want to feel like they\u2019re being held back by others in the classroom, and they also don\u2019t want to feel afraid to ask questions because everyone else is ahead. \u201cIt just seems like . . . the hybrid approach is directly aligned with where they are as people,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-very-dark-gray-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\">Hybrid Learning Means Rethinking Everything<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe use these words like \u2018hybrid\u2019 and \u2018blended,\u2019 and you immediately go to the structure of that,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cAnd those are enablers, but it\u2019s certainly ancillary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what does hybrid learning enable, exactly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the panelists, it lets us question just about everything traditional education takes for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rethinking When and Where Learning Happens<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEspecially as a hybrid school, we\u2019ve really learned to recognize an ecosystem of learning and give up the idea that learning only happens in our building during school hours,\u201d Huard said. \u201cWe can think about all the experiences that kids have and really recognize the learning that happens all the time\u2014whether we want to recognize it or not, it\u2019s happening. Kids are learning all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clonlara developed a tool called <a href=\"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/approach\/\">Full Circle Learning<\/a> (FCL) to help recognize, encourage, and document the learning that happens in the student\u2019s whole ecosystem, Huard shared.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rethinking the Role of \u201cTeacher\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTeaching cannot look the same and you can\u2019t be the guardian of information anymore,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cIt\u2019s more just allowing there to be adults that have the time and the acumen to figure out how to help students guide and navigate the complexities of what school looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/asuprep.asu.edu\/tempe-levitt-lab\/\">ASU Prep Tempe powered by The Levitt Lab<\/a>, each student has a \u201cguide\u201d who helps them set their learning goals, rather than a traditional teacher. As long as students are meeting their goals, McGrath continued, they\u2019re able to determine how they spend the rest of their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all about engagement and joy and wonder,\u201d she continued. \u201c[We\u2019re] trying to get the students on these passion paths by giving them respect for time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rethinking Students\u2019 Role in Their Education<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhenever you allow the kids to really drive some of the design of what their school day looks like, you get that buy in and you get a different level of engagement as opposed to this constant sort of authoritarian model,\u201d McGrath shared. \u201cBut truly, the idea of having students in the driver\u2019s seat is not new. It\u2019s just how to deliver on it and how to expect adults to pivot and change when their kids are bored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clonlara has been putting students in the driver\u2019s seat since 1967. \u201cClonlara School was founded as a place where children were respected as people, where they had autonomy and agency over their learning, and parents were invited in to be a part of that learning journey for their kids,\u201d Huard explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of this philosophy, Clonlara students learn to plan their own projects and design their own learning experiences, Huard said. Teachers support students in planning projects that are both authentic and meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rethinking Evaluation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur main goal for students is to help them learn how to learn,\u201d Huard shared. \u201cAnd we also really value six competencies that we use for our assessment and evaluation. One of them is content, but we also want kids to develop communication, collaboration, creative thinking, critical thinking, and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At ASU Prep Tempe, evaluation is a two-way street. \u201cWe survey the kids a lot . . . &nbsp;and they give us really authentic feedback,\u201d McGrath said. Students are asked to evaluate their guides, who are assessed partially based on how engaged and happy their students are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-very-dark-gray-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\">Two Successful Hybrid Models<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So what does all this rethinking look like in practice? The panelists shared details on their hybrid school models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Clonlara\u2019s Ann Arbor campus, the school day runs from 9 to 2 for most students, with optional early drop off and after school options. Students attend either three or five days per week. Students who attend three days (Tuesday through Thursday) homeschool on Mondays and Fridays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe really tried to unbundle the schedule of school so that people could build their ideal schedule for their own family and for their own students for whatever reason,\u201d Huard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At ASU Prep Tempe, students meet on campus four days per week for seminars, projects, and collaboration. The fifth day is optional\u2014students can use that time to learn from home, work on a project somewhere, interview a faculty member, or attend a lunch and learn, McGrath explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students spend about two hours a day working on core learning, McGrath shared. They also have \u201cSocratic seminar,\u201d which cultivates respectful dialogue, and \u201cwonder sessions,\u201d which are an ungraded time to \u201cget excited about topics that are of interest,\u201d McGrath explained. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>So yes: with these two strong examples and many more in the growing number of microschools and other innovative school models across the U.S., we think it\u2019s safe to say the future IS hybrid. Education is not one-size-fits-all, and embracing creative ways of learning just makes sense.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Watch the <\/strong><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pmObujtOgZ0\"><strong><em>full video of the panel<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em><strong> for more, and let us know what you think in the comments below!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clonlara School\u2019s Director of Education April Huard recently sat on a panel at the fourth annual Emerging School Models conference at the Harvard Kennedy School. This national conference brought together leaders in education to discuss innovative school models and their sustainability and scalability. Huard was joined by Amy McGrath, vice president at Arizona State University [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23262,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23260\/revisions\/23262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}