Hybrid Instructional Formats

Hybrid instruction (sometimes referred to as “blended”) combine some online activities (synchronous or asynchronous) with some in-person activities. “HyFlex” formats refer specifically to hybrid courses in which both students in-person and online participate simultaneously in a single class experience in different ways. Many different hybrid models are possible, for example:

  • A Monday, Wednesday, Friday model in which half the class is in-person and half attending via Zoom on Monday, with groups switching on Wednesday, and all students participating in Zoom on Friday.
  • A Tuesday/Thursday model in which half the students attend class in-person Tuesday and half Thursday, and each half completes an online asynchronous assignment on the other class day.

Hybrid and HyFlex modalities may be especially useful to reduce classroom occupancy density during an infectious disease outbreak, or when a subset of students are unable to travel to campus.

Benefits:

  • Allows flexibility for students to attend class in different ways if needed (for example, due to quarantine, injury, anxiety, or other medical conditions).
  • Reduces transmission of communicable disease by allowing for social distancing.

Challenges:

  • Constrained by technology available in the classroom space, such as the number and placement of cameras and microphones.
  • Adds additional potential for additional technology difficulties.
  • Creates heavy cognitive load for instructors to engage students effectively both in-person and on Zoom.

Recommendations:

  • Invite one or more students with tech skills to take on the role of “tech champions” for the semester, helping to set up systems and troubleshoot as needed.
  • Have students in the classroom rotate through community-support tasks (monitoring the Zoom chat and sharing out questions asked there, taking notes for the class in a shared document) throughout the semester.
  • Include small group work when all students engage in breakout groups online, regardless of their physical location, to create an equitable and safe small group experience.