Hybrid Courses with Flexible Participation

Abstract

Students in higher education have more demands placed on their time and need a college education for more careers than ever before. Flexible class participation options are needed that provide students with opportunities to manage their hectic lives with more individualized control. At the same time, most institutions of higher education are under pressure to serve more students and serve existing students more effectively. Online courses are often considered part of a systematic solution to these issues, but many schools and their faculty do not want to jettison their effective classroom approaches in order to shift to online delivery, nor should they. HyFlex courses may support both online and classroom-based courses and programs without deploying separate classes in each mode. HyFlex courses allow students to participate in the classroom or online and to make that choice on a continuous basis. The HyFlex design is used at many institutions to provide these benefits. This chapter describes the HyFlex design and development process, explains two common course types, and provides summary evaluation data on effectiveness of the approach.

Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review

“…In two studies, the decision about the realization of the blend was completely in hands of the learner. In the study of Beatty (2010), learners were able to choose between weekly or topical participation modes (online or face-to-face). Similarly, De George-Walker and Keeffe (2010) argued that there are many successful combinations, and that it is not the role of the instructor to decide on the blend.…”

“…On the other hand, students could prepare in-class activities during online (personalized) activities to make sure all students enter class with similar prior knowledge (Kim et al, 2014). Second, to build in variation, instructors provided students with (a) multiple forms of resources or learning materials, allowing learners to select and utilize the materials that are most suitable to them and to work on their own pace (Antonoglou et al, 2011;Beatty, 2010;Galway et al, 2014), or (b) individualized activities in the online environment, such as a blog to share additional resources about topics of the course (Köse, 2010).…”

Blended Synchronous Delivery Modes in Graduate Programs: A Literature Review and How it is Implemented in the Master Teacher Program

“…This means that faculty can provide online and face-to-face learners with equivalent teaching and learning activities. This is the principle of equivalency, according to Beatty (2010).…”

“…Fourteen recommendations were identified. First, it is helpful to integrate the course delivery mode gradually, especially in higher education institutions where faceto-face instruction dominated for several years (Beatty, 2007(Beatty, , 2010. Also, to seek support from the higher education institution regarding the implementation of this course delivery mode (Bower et al, 2015;Bower et al, 2014;Hastie et al, 2010).…”

“…Further, to employ teaching assistants who can manage technology related problems, respond to online students' chat comments, and manage other issues (Bell et al, 2013;Bell et al, 2014;Bower et al, 2015;Bower et al, 2014). Also, institutions must use the right equipment to optimize online students' experiences and to ensure students' access to learning activities and course material any time (Beatty, 2007(Beatty, , 2010Bell et al, 2014;Francescucci & Foster, 2014;Hastie et al, 2010).…”