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[whiteknight]

Does anyone have experience teaching hybrid courses (face-to-face+online component)? Any advice on how to approach them pedagogically?

[zharkov]

I've done quite a few......

First, if you consider all the learning activities in a class, some lend themselves better to online learning.  Discussions, quizzes, and some group project work well online.  Lecturing, class problem solving (math), and student presentations work better face to face.

Second, I like having the schedule follow the curriculum.  That is, I seldom do a pure sequence of face to face, then online, then face to face, and so on.   I may do 2 or 3 face to face classes to start, then alternate online and face to face, then do 2 or 3 onlines or 2 or 3 face to face classes in a row.

[magistra]

Whiteknight -- what field?

Zharkov -- when you alternate classes, don't students get confused a to when to show up and when not to?

[zharkov]

Whiteknight -- what field?

Zharkov -- when you alternate classes, don't students get confused a to when to show up and when not to?

No, I have  a schedule in the syllabus that lists each meeting and the venue (face to face or online).   I also usually mention whether the next class is online or face to face.

My approach, BTW, usually results in about 60 pct of the meetings in class, the rest online.  As I think I said, the curriculum and learning activities should drive the schedule, not the other way around.

[whiteknight]

Unfortuantely, the schedule is laid out so that the beginning and end classes in the week are face-to-face, while the middle class in the week is online.

I teach history.

[onion]

I've taught hybird history courses.  The biggest mistake I made was not specifying exactly how many posts they had to make per week, how long they needed to be, and how often they had to participate.  I now make a distinction between "attendance" and "contribution."  I.E.  They have to log in to the board 2 or 3 times a week and post at least once to get "attendance" (which doesn't count for much) and "contribution" is X number of "substantial, content-directed" posts however many days a week. 

The second biggest mistake I made was assuming that the students would keep the discussion running by themselves.  My "mentor" had a kind of "online facilitator as divine watchmaker" approach to online teaching.  I found, at least with my students, that I had to be up in the discussions, forcing them to be in conversation with each other.  One or two will do it themselves, but my other boneheads precious darlings just regurgitated what the person above them said (which, in my revised syllabus, now wouldn't count toward "contribution").  I've found that sometimes it helps to post archival videos from YouTube or songs or other things that tie into the readings just to keep things moving at times.

Good luck!  It's a lot of work at first, but once you get used to it, it runs itself.

[magistra]

Anyone use anything other than discussion posts?  Zharkov, you mentioned math -- do you have them do problems or self-tests on-line?  How well does that work?

How do y'all like hybrid courses?  Do you see any benefits over in-class or on-line? 

[finallyfullprof]

I teach English and humanities in this format. I have great flexibility due to my institution's definition of hybrid (one can go up to 75% in either classroom or online delivery). I generally do about 1/3 classroom, 2/3 online. I always hold meetings the first two weeks of class because of all the issues with late registration and confusion. My college requires that students be told on both the front web page for the class and on the syllabus handed out exactly what days they have to come to campus.

I use discussion board posts, reading quizzes, online videos, HTML files, and and essays as part of the online component. For the classroom, we do group activities, lecture, and videos I can't steam online. Students also take their midterm and final exams on campus with me.

[onion]

I do quizzes and short writing assignments online.  I use the Blackboard testing feature for the quizzes, and have them submit the short writing assignments through their individual dropboxes.

They take their exams in class with me, but that's because of my U's rules about hybrid courses.

[alexisalexander]

I am developing an online class on How to teach Hybrid and I am looking for a really good textbook on the subject, does anyone here have any suggestions?

[cs_prof]

Much depends on the culture of your school. I have been teaching in a school whre all courses were hybrid and team-based learning was a mainstream paradigm. This helped a lot.
In my new place it is quite different. IMHO if your colleagues and students have no idea of active learning, you are dead - with all your attempts to introduce the innovative instructional/learning models unless it is supported by the top administrators in your school.

Good luck.
 

[rattusdomesticus]

Dear whiteknight,
This is my first semester teaching hybrid (10 years in traditional classroom), so I'll let better instructors than me advise you. Google "Hybrid Courses: Obstacles and Solutions for Faculty and Students" and download this short article by Kaleta, Garnham, and Aycock. Excellent!

[cs_prof]

IMHO before using the term 'hybrid' it would be nice to precisely define this term.

Sometimes it is not obvious if the course is hybrid or not. For example, I teach a standard 2xxx course face to face (F2F), but am using so-called a Web-based supplement for it. My colleague who teaches same course does not use this supplement; so we are doing same job in different way. The web-based course management system that I am using is supported by my school and the online part of my course has no difference from the pure online courses with the exception of the amount of learning material placed on it.

I am using the Web-based supplement solely as a communication tool. I have posted the course syllabus on it, all weekly assignment, and some tutorials including the PPT presentation that I am using in my lectures. Before the lectures, students can download my PPT files and print out slides for taking notes. I post the assignments and the drop boxes with the deadlines on the weekly basis; I am also maintaining the gradebook so the students could always be able to see their current standing in my course. My students are using the built-in email and online discussion features to approach me with questions and help each other (which I encourage).

I am still spending three required F2F hours with my students in the classroom exactly like my colleague does who is not using the Web-based supplement.

So my question is, is my course hybrid or not?

The answer to this question may come together with the concept of the 'course delivery model'. This concept was proposed by scholars in the educational technology area in late 1990-s. If anybody is interested in this topic, please let me know and I will further elaborate on it here.
 

 

[wanna_writemore]

So my question is, is my course hybrid or not?

At my university, "hybrid" means partially online with reduced face to face time.  Courses with online components (as yours - with the syllabus, some notes, etc.) that meet face to face for the same number of minutes per week as traditional classes are called "web-enhanced."

[zharkov]

So my question is, is my course hybrid or not?

At my university, "hybrid" means partially online with reduced face to face time.  Courses with online components (as yours - with the syllabus, some notes, etc.) that meet face to face for the same number of minutes per week as traditional classes are called "web-enhanced."

I agree with that view.

A hybrid substitutes some face to face classes with online learning.

I often use online homework, quizzes, threaded discussions, with pure face to face classes.