One of the most challenging aspects of the hyflex delivery mode is creating a single, cohesive learning community. Often in hyflex learning courses, students who choose to participate online feel disconnected or ignored as compared with their on-campus counterparts. Thus, faculty members must make a conscious effort to design learning experiences that engage F2F and online students with each other, with the material, and with the faculty member.

• For tips on building connections among students and between students and faculty, see Building Connections in Hyflex Delivery.
• For tips on setting expectations, see Setting Expectations in Hyflex Delivery.
• See Humanizing the Asynchronous Environment for additional tips to support asynchronous learners.

Feedback Loops  

Feedback is truly the heart of education; through feedback learners can adjust their approach or self-correct and ensure that they are progressing toward mastery. Feedback loops are important tools not only for learning, but also for teaching. Students engage in formative learning activities (low or no-stakes formative assessments in D2L, through digital tools such as Slido or Teams polls, observations made by the faculty member during activities, etc.) and these formative activities provide data that can support alterations in teaching, resulting in deeper learning. 

In-Class Logistics

Some things to consider in hyflex delivery include

• Reviewing the D2L “Start Here – Read This First” module
  Dedicate part of the first class of the course to reviewing the aspects of the “Start Here” module with your students. This can support community building between F2F and online students. If your course doesn’t have one, contact LDSTeam@flemingcollege.ca to have the module template added to your D2L course.
• Establishing routines within the course to allow for student planning and organization.
  For example, discuss class breaks with students and decide when makes the most sense to take a break during class and how to re-engage online students after breaks; follow a similar lesson plan format during each class with a clear introduction, agenda, and conclusion so students know what to expect (see our Lesson Planning Templates).
•  Acclimatizing students to procedures
  During the first few weeks of the course, consistently and gently remind students of the course processes, procedures, and expectations to help them acclimatize to the learning environment.
• Managing the learning spaces
  During hyflex delivery, this can be complex because you must manage both the physical and virtual spaces.  Questions to consider include: 
  • What do they hear or not hear? See or not see?
  • What options do they have for participation? 
  • What are the physical constraints on you as the faculty member because of the technology? 
  • How can you track the chat for student responses?  
  • How will virtual students participate (e.g. virtual hands raised, chat, mics)?  
  • Is the content being shared properly through the synchronous platform?
• Planning to be adaptable
  Hyflex delivery requires faculty members to be adaptable and malleable in three specific domains: 
  • Managing the uncertainty of attendance, and the effect this may have on planning; 
  • Managing the increased cognitive load of delivering in a hyflex environment; and 
  • Managing the increased technical challenges that come with hyflex delivery technologies. 
• Preparing for technical challenges
  Hyflex instruction requires specialized equipment. Faculty members need to be able to not only use the equipment available, but they should also be able to troubleshoot for their students (to some extent). Knowing that technology can fail, faculty members need to be adaptable and malleable in these cases. The following are some tips to help support this challenging aspect of hyflex delivery: 
  • Have a plan in place regarding the potential of failing technology: outline what steps need to be taken if streaming is interrupted and discuss these plans with the class at the beginning of, and periodically throughout, the course.
  • Practice with the technology – the more you can practice and make mistakes, the more opportunity you have to seek out assistance in how to troubleshoot these errors, making you more prepared for any eventuality.
  • Know how to contact IT for support: From your classroom teaching station, use the phone to dial ext. 4111 and then press 1 for AV support.
• Considering attendance patterns
  If students choose their mode of participation during any given session, faculty members will not know how many students will be attending each session virtually or F2F. This can be challenging because planned activities may require a minimum number of F2F students or remote students; students who attend F2F may not bring devices with which to engage remote students; and remote students may have greater access to digital interactive technologies than F2F.
  A faculty member must be ready to alter and adapt their plans “on the fly”. This is why it is so important to design your course first for your online students. 

Preparing for the In-Class Cognitive Load

In hyflex delivery, the faculty member will have to monitor and engage F2F students, remote students who use their cameras to interact (using the hand up icon or physically putting up their hand), and remote students who use the chat to interact. This will mean that the faculty member’s attention will be divided in three. Some tips to help manage the cognitive load include

• Recording the lesson. This will benefit students who cannot attend the live class, but also enable students who did attend class to revisit challenging topics or information they may have missed during the lesson.
• Pausing before each activity to set up the technology – for example, switch the camera mode from Presentation to Discussion mode (if available).
• Continuously connecting with remote students to ensure their experience is equal to F2F students. For example, when sharing your screen, ask the remote students for a “thumbs” up if they can see the content, ask remote students if they can hear you before engaging in a lesson, etc.
• Asking a student to be the chat monitor: They can monitor and repeat all comments and questions that come through on the chat.
• Building specific and purposeful pauses into the lesson. This can help the faculty member refer to the chat and repeat the questions and comments from the chat for the benefit of all students. It is also a great way to support student consolidation of information.
• Building time into your lesson planning to deal with technical issues. Faculty members may not be able to “get through” as much content in a hyflex lesson because time must be allocated to troubleshooting technology, pausing to solicit responses from both sets of students, etc.