Flex: Pedagogy 👩🏻‍🏫

Available for both Canvas and Kaltura MyMedia, a Flex instructor can utilize course and video analytic data to better analyze and address student engagement. Please view our Kaltura page for more information about viewing Kaltura Video Analytics. 

Facilitating interaction with content is a well-known best practice in Online instruction, and this is also true in Flex instruction.

While it may be tempting and realistically practical, simply putting a video recording of a class session online doesn't make for an engaging Flex course. It is important to keep in mind the Online students. How do they interact with their peers and content that were present in the lecture earlier? How are they motivated to interact or held accountable for that interaction?  

Here are some tips from Flex instructors to facilitate interaction with content:

• As the Flex classroom creates multiple recordings of the class, often there is a perfect view for each situation. Explain and demonstrate the multiple views that are possible with a Zoom/MyMedia recording. 
• Break recordings into chunks through editing and/or using video chapters or hotspots available through Kaltura's video editor
• Pair a video with a short response question or discussion in Canvas
  • Ask students to view a particular chunk/part of the video, referring to time or chapter stamps as needed
• Upload the video into Canvas Studio to use Studio features to enhance analytics, require comments, or create a quiz that accompanies the video
• Use buzzwords in a video and connect that word with an assignment
• Utilize a shared Google doc to facilitate guided notes
• Utilize a Google Jamboard, a Google Slide/Document, or Zoom's Whiteboard feature to facilitate interaction with synchronous students. This feature facilitates interactions between the instructor and students and students and students as well. Please note: Zoom's Whiteboard feature is only available when hosting a Zoom meeting from a separate device from the room (e.g. the desktop in the Flex room)
• Consider outside sources, such as Ted Talks, YouTube content, and study.com resources (a paid for service) to stimulate conversation and interaction
• Create online participation assignments (e.g. assignments, discussions, etc.) that ask students to analyze, practice, respond, etc. individually or in groups. Students then have the option to engage and complete the requirements of the assignment asynchronously online or synchronously during class for credit. You can post these before or after class according to what fits the goals of the assignment the best. For example, students can analyze a text and respond to particular discussion questions online or in small groups synchronously. Additionally, students can be asked to solve a problem that is posted online or solve the problem individually or in groups in class. Either way, students have the opportunity to engage with the content, and they are accountable for a response in a modality that fits them.
• Ground content in realistic scenarios and real world problems through projects, case studies, and reports
• Allow students to apply, explore, experiment with content 
• Facilitate discussion with open-ended, deep questions
• Structure contributions with due dates, a rubric, and possibly roles for facilitation 
• Include a variety of materials, including video, audio, text, games, and simulations from a variety of sources
• Encourage self and course reflection as well as note-taking by assigning chapter notes and regular reflections
• Consider additional educational software on this page

More information about creating engaging video and Online environments is available on our Canvas and Kaltura page.

Students crave interaction with their instructor, and a Flex course is no different. Through regular and assignment-based feedback, instructors facilitate the growth and development of their students.

Here are some tips from Waubonsee faculty and staff to facilitate interactions between instructors and their students in a Flex course: 

• Use Zoom features such as participant lists for attendance/participation, chat (for private/direct and public messaging), and polls
• Practice the principle of Zippering, going back and forth between remote and in-person students
• Consider additional educational software such as Google Jamboard, Kahoot, Quizlet, Pear Deck, or Mentimeter
• Utilize Zoom's Whiteboard feature to facilitate interaction with synchronous students. This feature facilitates interactions between the content and students and students and students as well. Please note: this feature is only available when hosting a Zoom meeting from a separate device from the room (e.g. the desktop in the Flex room)
• Send regular emails, announcements to all students
• Provide rubrics with timely, personal, and constructive feedback
• Create a forum for questions
• Create a due date checklist along with clear guidelines and expectations

Facilitating interaction among students is another best practice of effective instruction.

Small groups are easy to create in a purely Face-to-face environment. When a class is being delivered over Sync Online, breakout rooms are often used to divide students into smaller work groups. When students are present Face-to-face and via Zoom, it creates a unique situation. Do you pair the Face-to-face students together and the Zoom students together? What do you to facilitate interaction with Online students? 

There are many ways to have a shared learning experience through Flex. Face-to-face students can easily explain their work with other Face-to-face students and the Sync Online students by sharing over Zoom. A digital whiteboard can be used to mark-up existing slides, screens, images, etc. Other tools can also easily be shared such as a document camera or a tablet. 

Here are some tips from Waubonsee faculty and staff to facilitate interactions between students in a Flex course: 

• Using Waubonsee-provided resources as needed (through students checking out a laptop or using a laptop cart/computer lab), ask all students to bring a device to class so they can interact with students via Zoom. 
  • If you decide to reserve a laptop cart for class, please be mindful that the cart needs to be requested in advance and is available on a first come, first serve basis, as other instructors may want laptops for a select class period. If you foresee needing devices for the entire semester, we recommend that you ask students to bring personal devices/check out WCC laptops or request a Flex room with a computer lab. 
  • Some instructors prefer having all remote groups and all in-person groups. Then, they bring the groups together for a larger debrief discussion.
• Use Zoom features such as chat, breakout rooms, and Whiteboard. Please note: Whiteboard is only available when hosting a Zoom meeting from a separate device from the room (e.g. the desktop in the Flex room). When using breakout rooms for the first time, we advise instructors to contact our office first for additional information and support.  
• Consider additional educational software such as Quizlet, Gimkit, Google Slides/Docs, and Google Jamboard
• Try to limit group discussions and in-class activities one class period because of dynamic attendance
• Practice the principle of Zippering, going back and forth between remote and in-person students
• Create online participation assignments (e.g. assignments, discussions, etc.) that ask students to analyze, practice, respond, etc. individually or in groups. Students then have the option to engage and complete the requirements of the assignment asynchronously online or synchronously during class for credit. You can post these before or after class according to what fits the goals of the assignment the best. For example, students can analyze a text and respond to particular discussion questions online or in small groups synchronously. Additionally, students can be asked to solve a problem that is posted online or solve the problem individually or in groups in class. Either way, students have the opportunity to engage with the content, and they are accountable for a response in a modality that fits them.
• Utilize a discussion board for asynchronous engagement and activities to enrich/extend the classroom
  • This tool can help bridge the gap between asynchronous and synchronous students
• Assign group projects for an assignment, module, or even the whole course 
  • Ensure the infrastructure for the group is online to account for dynamic attendance
• Provide an icebreaker(s)
• Encourage personalized profiles on Canvas
• Provide opportunities to work collaboratively with online communication tools, especially on problem-based projects
• Be intentional to structure and support groups
• Consider topic or resource-based groups 
• Create a virtual lounge for networking and collaboration 

As with any modality, it is helpful to communicate clear expectations with students at the beginning of the term. In addition to customizing a Waubonsee-provided syllabus for your course, we recommend you consider the following topics and questions when designing your Flex course and syllabus, discussing topics with students as appropriate: 

• Review a basic orientation of the course with your students, including information about basic technology requirements, navigating the Canvas shell, accessing or participating in class sessions, and accessing/viewing recordings. 
• Discuss expectations for attendance/participation. Because of the nature of a Flex class, we encourage faculty to focus on participation rather than attendance so students have opportunities to succeed and engage through any chosen modality. This area may include the following sub-topics/questions:
  • Are students required to attend in person or synchronously throughout the semester? Generally speaking, requiring students to attend synchronously (either online or in person) would not be consistent with Waubonsee's Flex model. 
  • Are students required to select or commit to a particular attendance method (e.g. sync online), and are they allowed to adjust that selection throughout the semester? Is any notice required for that adjustment; how does that notice get communicated? Generally speaking, requiring students to permanently commit to one modality would not be consistent with Waubonsee's Flex model. However, to support easier planning, we encourage instructors to ask/survey students for a preferred modality and to give notice about any unexpected changes as an act of courtesy. 
  • How can you adapt a learning activity to a smaller group as necessary?
  • What assignments/activities do you have in place to facilitate online attendance and participation, such as discussion board responses, watching videos, or video quizzes/comments (see Student-Content or Student-Student Interaction above to assist with attendance and participation tracking). 
• Discuss expectations for remote participation. This may include the following sub-topics/questions:
  • Should remote students unmute, use reactions/emojis, or use chat?
  • How do students chat with you privately/directly, with other students privately/directly, and with the whole class? 
• Are students allowed to join class late? While late students may not always be disruptive, you may want to suggest for students to take advantage of asynchronous learning if they will be late, as it may help them and the synchronous students.
• What do students do if a meeting suddenly crashes or there is another tech glitch? You can view our Flex: Support page for addition information to help you get your class back on track. 

Feel free to view and adapt this sample syllabus from a Flex class, courtesy of Flex instructors Laura Ortiz and Amy Powers

Episode 120: Case Study Episode: Let's Take a Look at a HyFlex Course with Dr. Andréa Brus
by Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D.

Description:

Episode 120 of the Lecture Breakers podcast is a case study episode! That means we’re taking a deep dive into one professor’s course to talk about what’s working, what is being improved, and what advice you can apply to your own courses.

Today, Dr. Andréa Brus is here to take us inside her hyflex course. She shares her journey starting with what shifted her mindset about hyflex course design and how her role has changed since she started teaching using this model.

She also shares how she aligns her learning outcomes, competencies, activities, and assessments. And finally, we talk a little about how her definition of “engagement” is changing and what that means for higher education.

https://barbihoneycutt.com/blogs/podcast/episode-120-case-study-episode-lets-take-a-look-at-a-hy-flex-course-with-dr-andrea-brus

Strategies to make online group activities more engaging for your students!