How Troy School District Uses the Meeting Owl to Enable Hybrid Learning

In March 2020, all 25 schools in the Troy School District of Michigan transitioned to operating remotely. Towards the end of 2020, it was clear that a post-COVID world was approaching, and the Troy School District needed to figure out how they were going to bring students back to school safely. But first, they needed to answer the question: how could they provide an equitable and immersive learning experience for all students, regardless of where they were learning from?

Middle school social studies teacher and department leader Joe Schmidt decided to find the answer. Troy School District had decided to implement a hybrid learning approach, where students would switch between in-person learning and remote learning. When some students returned to the classroom, Joe experimented with external webcams and was frustrated that remote students couldn’t hear in-person students and vice versa. He often had to repeat what was being said and felt that students were missing out on important discussions with each other.

After some at-home testing, Joe felt confident that the Meeting Owl would solve that issue, and he set one up in his classroom.

While back at school, Joe overheard that one of his colleagues wanted to retire from teaching; she was frustrated by the obstacles that came with hybrid learning. Joe immediately decided to start fundraising for more Meeting Owls, to try to provide discouraged teachers with a tool that would bring their instruction back to life. Through his fundraiser, he was able to acquire 13 additional Meeting Owls, which he installed in schools throughout the district. In all classrooms, Joe opted to mount his Meeting Owls on the ceiling using Owl Labs-recommended brackets.

In each classroom, Joe showed the teachers how to register their Meeting Owls and access features.

To prove that the Meeting Owl would enable a more natural teaching experience, Joe walked with them around the classroom while speaking, demonstrating that the Meeting Owl could pick up audio from anywhere in the room. 

Joe says that educators of varying levels of technical knowledge are able to use the Meeting Owl without a problem:

“It’s very intuitive. People who are inexperienced with the Meeting Owl are the only ones that are hesitant to use it, but once they start teaching with it, they don’t go back.”

When asked about how using the Meeting Owl was different than teaching with a webcam, Joe says: 

“Remote students and in-person students can have conversations with each other, which wasn’t happening before. I also have the freedom to move around when I’m teaching, to point on my map or screen, instead of being forced to sit in front of my monitor."

"I feel more energetic when I can stand up and move around while teaching and my Meeting Owl allows for that.”

After surveying teachers before and after using the Meeting Owl in their classrooms for hybrid learning, 97% of Troy’s teachers said they would recommend the Meeting Owl to other educators.

Explains one teacher surveyed:

“The Meeting Owl has made our hybrid class feel like one again. It allows students to converse with me and with each other better than before.”

Joe realizes that a post-COVID future is on the horizon, and most students might be back to in-person learning soon. He doesn’t see this as a reason to stop using the Meeting Owl and has been in conversation with the district’s superintendent about purchasing more. He thinks the Meeting Owls could be beneficial for parent meetings. 

“When something happens with a student at school, you want to be able to address it as quickly as possible, and parents can’t always get to the school right away. With the Meeting Owl, we could address issues immediately, without having to ask the parents to come in.”

Some students are homebound, either due to chronic illness or an inability to get to school. Pre-Meeting Owl, these students were given packets of classwork and an occasional visit from a homebound instructor. 

“Homeschooled students should be able to feel like they’re part of the class. The Meeting Owl would give them that opportunity.” 

School performances, guest speakers, author talks, and live events are other activities that Joe believes could be enhanced and made more accessible with a Meeting Owl. 

For now, Joe and his students are all enjoying their Owls in the classroom, and appreciate being able to engage with students who are learning remotely. 

“The kids love it. The first time the Meeting Owl turns on in the morning and gives a “hoot,” they throw up their hands and get excited.”

The Meeting Owl helps school districts connect in-person teachers and students to remote students, so learning isn’t disrupted by distance.