Embracing Hyflex: Enhancing Learning in a Diverse Educational Landscape

georgia klein

College of Sustainability

In the dynamic realm of education, where flexibility and inclusivity have been increasingly valued since COVID-19, the Hyflex (hybrid-flexible) pedagogical approach stands out as the new kid on the block of innovation. Hyflex allows students to tailor their educational experience by attending a lecture in person, joining the classroom remotely via a virtual platform, or accessing lecture recordings at their convenience, asynchronously. Learners can select the mode that best aligns with their individual needs and, regardless of their physical location, cater to achievement of learning outcomes that require group work or in-class activities, which are also designed to work in all modalities. By offering multiple pathways for engagement, Hyflex empowers students to navigate their educational journey with autonomy and, hopefully, with higher efficacy.

This flexibility is particularly advantageous in today's educational landscape, where factors such as geographic location, scheduling conflicts, and personal obligations often affect students’ ability to fully engage in traditional classroom settings. Financial hardship, high rent and costs of living, are increasingly forcing students to move back home or leave the province. For many students, Hyflex becomes the only option to continue their higher education. Moreover, I am positive that this approach not only caters to individuals in the circumstances described above, but also to neurodiverse students who feel significantly more comfortable in an online setting.

For many years, I have admired the flexibility of curriculum delivery at universities such as Athabasca; the sophistication of their edutech-classroom integration is equivalent to a rocket launch control room. At Dalhousie, the various technologies in classrooms across campus, overall, still lack the requirements of a hybrid delivery, such as: two-way audio connection, incoming video presentation of remote learners and outgoing video presentation of classroom and learners (see more in drop-down box below).

• What classroom tech is available at Dal?

  There are several Panopto-enabled rooms on campus. Panopto is lecture-capture software. In a Panopto-enabled classroom, the integrated tech will record the lecture and automatically upload it to your Brightspace site. While helpful, it does not have the capability of two-way audio/video communication between those in the the classroom and those outside of it.
  
  For small- to medium-sized classes, an OWL is a good option. An OWL is a piece of video conferencing technology that you can plug into a laptop or classroom podium computer. It’s called an “owl” because it is capable of capturing a 360-degree view of the classroom, in addition to being able to focus on the person currently speaking.
  
  Send a message to support@dal.ca to learn more about Panopto-enabled classrooms, or to book the use of an OWL.

This is a barrier to a more fulsome Hyflex experience; but, it is a viable endeavour, even without the full technological array, as my student evaluations report. What kept me going are the expressions of gratitude from various students who are able to attend classes while holding a job, live in remote areas, balance degree requirements as single moms or as caretakers of family members. In the discourse about implementing the values of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA), Hyflex emerges as a crucial consideration.

Empowered by consideration of various student-centred frameworks (such as Universal Design for Learning), the learning I have gained in the workshops delivered by the Centre for Learning and Teaching, plus very supportive leadership, I embarked on my own Hyflex adventure. Three years later, I cannot imagine going back. What follows is what my Hyflex course looks like for a second-year class with enrolments ranging from 65 to 112 students.

As early adopters, my colleagues and I had to piece together the technology we currently employ, which is, I believe, a good compromise until there are better equipped classrooms available. The set up includes a camera on a tripod, a high-quality microphone, and a laptop, which I share with my colleagues. To support me in the classroom, we employ a “Lecture TA” whose is responsible for setting up the equipment, ensuring the joining of online participants, and following the speaker with camera and microphone to allow for an authentic experience. During class, the Lecture TA actively curates the online group’s chat, bringing comments or contributions to my attention, which I pick up and integrate into the class flow. The TA also supervises class activities, ensures accessibility to interactive documents or polls, and facilitates discussions among online students during break-out sessions. At the end of the class, the Lecture TA posts the recordings on Brightspace.

• What kind of tech would you need?

  Each course is unique. Contact the Centre for Learning and Teaching for a consultation on how your pedagogical approaches and learning outcomes could combine with various edutech to produce a good course experience for students.

In synchrony with adaptive technologies in the classroom such as learning management systems (LMS), polling tools, and interactive whiteboards, Hyflex can foster a cohesive learning experience across the modalities when student-centred pedagogical approaches are at the forefront. It is a delicate balance, but I feel we have been successful in offering a cohesive experience to students, which includes the online students’ perception that they feel included, and a part of things. Cohesion is subjective, depending on individual experiences and contexts, therefore requiring regular feedback from online participants. This interaction not only enhances our direct engagement but, ideally, also improves the strategies and tools used in the Hyflex classroom.

To bridge the gap for online students, I strive to create a sense of belonging by addressing them directly, making eye contact, and inviting them to add their thoughts and opinions. Verbal contributions from the online group are relayed through the video conferencing chat function by the Lecture TA. Similarly, if someone wishes to contribute to the discussion, the Lecture TA signals me, and I integrate those students' insights into the conversation. I also engage online participants through shared activities, such as word clouds, polls, and collaborative questions answered in a live, shared doc. There are numerous user-friendly engagement platforms within the bundle of our campus tech, and on the web, which help facilitate connectivity and activities during the lecture. While evaluations such as a quick mid-term, stop-go survey can gauge all “rooms,” my intention is to develop a nuanced survey for the online participants to learn not only about the pros and cons of technology or delivery, but also about their feelings of inclusion and belonging.

Here are some advantages expressed in formal SLEQs, personal emails, and conversations:

1. Students from diverse backgrounds can fully participate in academic discourse, contributing their unique perspectives to enrich the learning environment. As such, Hyflex promotes inclusivity and accessibility, allowing international students or those with English as a second language to join from their home countries, or review class recordings to enhance their understanding of the class material. The opportunity to actively engage and participate can deepen the online learning experience.

2. This autonomy fosters higher levels of motivation and engagement, especially in learners facing mental health challenges, who can actively choose how, when, and where they interact with course content. Students with high social anxiety thrive in an online format with the reduced pressure on being visible.

3. As we all experienced during the pandemic, the uncertainty of sudden cancellation or ability to attend can be high and stressful. With seamless transition between the modalities, Hyflex offers a resiliency and continuity in education, safeguarding progress and quality of academic achievement. A young mother with two children was very grateful for the ability to attend classes from home and she excelled in our program. Further, our TAs have confirmed that the quality of tutorial contributions from students engaging in all modalities is of the same quality.

While I am all about experimenting and trying out new things, I acknowledge that there are challenges, which we can hopefully address as a collective. It is important to acknowledge that while we can implement all the technology we can wish for, we may struggle to adapt our deeply engrained patterns of class delivery and facilitation to the requirements of the various modalities and tech.

For example, it is easy to forget a remote, yet present, group of students in the classroom and we have to make a consistent effort to engage with them by occasionally looking into the camera, addressing them directly (“I would love to hear about your experiences …”; “Any comment from my favourite peanut gallery?”), to ensure they feel included and their voices are heard. Furthermore, due to the lack of a better integrative and permanent classroom technology (no rocket launch station), I habitually summarize or repeat on the spot what was discussed for online attendees who struggle to hear soft-spoken contributors on the other side of the room. Secondly, frustration and dissatisfaction can arise from the technology. Broken links, or dysfunctional/under-utilized interactive platforms leave students to depend solely on a 90-minute slide presentation.

And lastly, complacency poses a trap: maintaining equitable learning experiences for all students—regardless of their chosen mode of participation—requires ongoing assessment and adaptation. Short, mid-term or stop/go surveys, and readiness to adapt and implement changes, signal to online students they are being heard and their voice is important. I implied before that this is a learning journey which forces us to critically examine how we talk, move, and address or engage students in these different modalities. As a non-native speaker, I want to assure online students can clearly understand me. This effort is supported by the captioning service offered by Academic Technology Services (ATS), which provides a wonderful person who ensures my German-isms and language quirks are making sense in the captions.

In conclusion, Hyflex embraces inclusivity, accessibility, and personalized learning, all essential elements in evolving and adapting pedagogy in higher education. Also, adaptation is a two-way street: in addition to instructors’ willingness to engage with novel approaches to knowledge transfer, it also requires institutional support in the form of educational workshops, individual consulting from the CLT, and technology that facilitates Hyflex delivery. I am sure that I have not yet convinced everybody, and I can hear the unspoken argument that the best technology cannot replace the classroom experience. Is that true? I’m not bold enough to claim it isn’t; rather, my hesitation stems from a lack of data and the influence of subjectivity. I invite you to continue this discussion with me.