Hybrid Learning Initiative

While initially forced upon schools as an unforeseen consequence of COVID-19, both the technology and pedagogy necessary for successful hybrid learning has advanced significantly over the last two years.

We believe hybrid learning has the potential to significantly enhance student learning by:

Allowing students the opportunity to travel and take part in off-campus activities while fully participating in classroom learning without being physically present

Allowing teachers who can’t be physically present on campus to effectively teach students who are

Creating the infrastructure necessary for recording all classroom instruction in ways that allow students to play back pieces that they missed or that they want to review

We believe the most significant obstacles to effective hybrid learning today are that:

Students feel like a “fly on the wall” rather than immersed in a classroom environment which leads to a lack of engagement and poorer learning outcomes

Teachers feel overwhelmed by the need to engage, monitor, and effectively educate both the students who are in class and those who are online

In order to alleviate these challenges, the Gisela & Daniel Ades Foundation has assembled a team of leading hardware consultants and software developers to create a more effective classroom solution.

Three outstanding educators at the Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles, California were chosen as EdTech Design Fellows for the 2022-2023 academic year. Their role is to work with our team to beta test the team’s initial design prototype, iterate, and curate best practice with regard to classroom implementation.

Hybrid Learning Feedback

To better understand the impact of our Hybrid Learning Initiative during the 2023-24 school year, we gathered feedback from our Jewish Leadership Academy community — including students, faculty, and parents — through a three-step process:

Mid-Year Survey: We conducted an internal survey after the first semester, receiving responses from 83 students (83%) and 23 faculty members (72%).
End-of-Year Survey: The Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) conducted an independent survey to gather broader community feedback.
Data Analysis: After the school year ended, we reviewed data from our Student Information System (SIS) to assess remote learning patterns.

The insights from these efforts have provided valuable guidance as we continue to enhance our hybrid learning experience.

Project Lead

A pioneer in the field of remote work, Dr. Rafael Prikladnicki is an experienced transformation leader and university researcher with a wide variety of professional experiences in Program Management, Software Engineering, Digital Transformation, and Innovation Ecosystems Management.

He has published 50+ journal papers, 125+ conference papers with more than 5k citations and has co-authored 5 books, including the first book in Portuguese about remote work in IT projects back in 2007.

Dr. Prikladnicki is currently a faculty member at the School of Technology at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), visiting scholar at the University of California Irvine (UCI), angel investor at WOW accelerator and Business Partner at ABO Academy.