Hybrid/HyFlex Sessions

What is HyFlex?  At SOM, this is a class that has a combination of students and faculty in person and over Zoom at the same time.  The term HyFlex may be used differently at other schools.  With COVID still posing a risk to our community, we anticipate that some students may need to join in person classes remotely.

This is our curated list of tips for making your class a success when your classroom has a combination of in person and remote students.

Thinking about HyFlex? Contact us at somaltsupport@uw.edu.

Teaching Tips

  • Do a Practice Run
  • Have a Co-Facilitator: To monitor the chat and manage Break Out rooms.  Discuss roles and do a practice run.  Your co-facilitator does not need to be a content expert, they can repeat questions asked in the chat.
  • Be Inclusive: Don’t forget about your Zoom participants.  Check in with them on sound levels, ask questions, look at the camera periodically, and remind in room students to use the Push to Talk microphones.
  • Repeat Questions: Asked in the room so that those on Zoom can hear them.
  • Build-in Pauses: Check-in for questions.  Ask your co-facilitator to read questions aloud from the Zoom chat.
  • Be Adaptable: Things may not go as planned, be ready to adjust course as needed.
  • Show the Roadmap: With so much extra going on, students (and some faculty) need additional reminders about the big picture.  Add a summary slide and a slide showing progress through the agenda (some use their sessions objectives) about every 20 minutes.  This practice reduces cognitive load and allows students’ working memory to reset.

Technology Tips

  • Set Expectations: Clearly outline what technology you plan on using, as well as all your expectations you have for both in-person and online participation during synchronous sessions.
  • Reaffirm Expectations: In-person & remote students will still need real-time guidance on “how” & “when” to interact with the course content, the instructors, facilitators, & other students.
  • Plan Ahead: We regularly hosts training sessions. Contact us at somaltsupport@uw.edu and we can help you plan the classroom technology in your lesson.
  • Microphones: Stand near the in-ceiling microphones, wear a lavalier microphone, or use a handheld microphone. Instruct students to ask questions with the push-button table-top microphones when available.
  • Prioritize Audio Quality: Even the best video won’t matter if people have to strain to hear you.
    • Lower quality audio contributes to listening fatigue which leads to poor retention rates.
    • 90% of audio quality has to do with your recording space. Improve audio with microphone proximity (see Microphones above) and noise control (Remote Recording Best Practices Guide).
    • Need help?  Email us somaltsupport@uw.edu.
  • Look at the Camera: Periodically make eye-contact via the camera with your remote learners so that they can feel connected to you and your content. Use pauses for questions and summary slides as a reminder to look at the camera.
  • Set up Early: Make sure to arrive early enough in the classroom to get the technology ready.
  • Confirm: That remote students are seeing the correct information on the screen.

Additional Teaching Strategies

  • Tepid Calling: Give a student or group of students advance notice that you will be calling on them soon.  This gives students time to prep their brains and technology.
  • Make Them Write: For deeper engagement, use polling tools that allow for full written responses (not just multiple choice) such as PollEverywhere or Mentimeter.  Students have to engage with the material actively as they articulate their thoughts in writing.
  • Put Them ALL to Work: from Ted Ladd: “Learning occurs through active speaking, not through passive listening. In a large classroom, only one student can speak at a time even during engaged debate.” To increase the number of students actively learning at the same time:
    • Break students into teams to accomplish a specific task and to document their thoughts in a PowerPoint slide or text in a Google Doc.  Select a few at random to share with the entire class during a debrief. 

Questions about any of these?  Need help getting started?  We’re here to help!  Contact us: somaltsupport@uw.edu

Sources

Optimizing Concurrent Classrooms: Teaching Students In The Room And Online Simultaneously by Ted Ladd, Forbes, June 19, 2020

Concurrent Classrooms, Academic Technology Services, University of Delaware

Cognitive Load Theory: Helping people learn effectively, MindTools