Sitting on the fourth floor of the Chaloem Rajakumari 60 building next to hustling and bustling Pathum Wan, nearly two dozen students are busy receiving their lessons. Nothing unusual, but these are unusual times. COVID-19 has led to a global panic pandemic, and the term “scare” is no longer restricted to horror movies.

But the teens in this teaching hall are different: they are pursuing a program that is a unique hybrid of arts and science, and this semester, all of them are engrossed in learning deep tech. Amidst the corona outbreak, the School of Integrated Innovation (ScII), where they are enrolled, has moved to a hybrid teaching model.

“We have moved away from both the traditional classroom and the online teaching model, and our courses are now being offered in hybrid mode,” reveals ScII Executive Director Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai. The classroom mode huddles all students together in a restricted physical space, while the online mode lets them sit in front of their computers in remote locations.

“In online teaching mode, the content remains the same, whether in the classroom or on the computer screen; but the hybrid model is a leap ahead,” Prof. Worsak says.