Hybrid Teaching: Strategies for Instructors with Both In-classroom and Remote Students

This document offers guidance to instructors who are teaching a Hybrid course, i.e., one with both in-classroom students and remote/hybrid students.

Tips for Creating an Equitable Learning Environment when Teaching to Both Remote and In-person Students

1. Inform and Communicate
   • Establish early on how learning will work for students, especially those who are Remote, and communicate all means of support - from yourself, TA's, LTS Help Desk, etc.
   • Frequently remind students who will be Remote temporarily  to contact you about missing class if they are in isolation, in quarantine, have symptoms, etc.
     
     
2. Make all materials and experiences accessible.
   
   • Use Course Site as your course home for all materials, assignments, resources, assessments, etc
   • Record lectures and make them available to students whether they are participating in-person or online.  You can pre-record lectures or capture classroom lecture (read on)
     
   • Offer online office hours as an option for all students..
     
     
3. Foster a sense of community and togetherness
   • Use both synchronous and asynchronous activities during class meetings and between class meetings . 
   • If you plan to have group project work and assignments, integrate remote learners into groups of in-person students.
   • Provide asynchronous opportunities for all students to communicate with each other outside of regular class time - use Course Site forums, Slack for your course, other chat tools
     
     

Tips for teaching in a classroom, simultaneously, to your in-classroom and remote students (known as "HyFlex Instruction")

1. First: Based on how you teach and what you want remote students to see, hear, and do, determine what equipment you need in your classroom.
   
   • If you want remote students to see  and hear you lecturing: you'll need a microphone and a "lectern-facing camera."  In addition, if you plan to walk around while speaking, you'll need a wireless microphone; if you're bringing in your own equipment, you'll need a laptop or a web-conferencing kit.
   • If you want remote students to see your handwriting and hear you: you'll need a microphone and either a "document camera" or "SMART Podium."
     • NOTE: Even in classrooms with built-in lectern-facing cameras, it is very difficult for remote students to see your written boardwork, so we strongly recommend you use a document camera or SMART Podium...or other handwriting-capture solution you are comfortable with (more on that below).  By using a system that captures your writing, you will be able to project your writing to your classroom screen AND also Zoom your writing out to remote students, which means all students will be able to see what you are writing.
   • If you want students to hear you, see your digital presentation (e.g., PowerPoint, etc), but not see you: you do not need a camera in the room but you will need a built-in lectern mic or a laptop-ready classroom (see below for instructions on using your laptop to present both to students in your room and to remote students)
   • If you want remote students to see/hear/contribute to a classroom discussion: look for an "audience-facing camera."
     •  Tip: In this scenario, use the classroom computer/projector to display your remote students on Zoom.
   • Also: consider pre-recording some lecture videos and using a blend of your classroom/Zoom time for discussion/Q&A/active learning.
     
     
2. Check in Banner to see what classroom you are in, if you don't already know.
   
   
3. Check on the LTS Classroom Site to see what technology is in your classroom. If you are in a classroom designated as 'HyFlex 1', 'HyFlex 2' or 'HyFlex 2A', familiarize yourself with the technology in the classroom using the tutorials and instructions on those pages.
   
   
4. If your classroom does NOT have the technology you need, contact the Registrar to see if there is any possibility of switching you to an alternative room so, in your request, indicate if that is something you would prefer/not prefer. Alternatively, the Digital Media Studio has a limited supply of portable recording and conferencing equipment available to be borrowed for classroom use. This equipment includes Meeting Owls and web-conferencing kits consisting of a ClearOne microphone/speaker and Logitech web cam. You can contact the DMS at inmediad@lehigh.edu to submit a request to borrow equipment.  
   
   
5. If you have no classroom conferencing technology available in your room, you can use a laptop or tablet (e.g., iPad) to host a Zoom session while you are teaching.  In this scenario, you will not be able to capture students' voices or faces. But you CAN capture audio and video of yourself speaking, so long as you stay close to your device. Position the laptop first to capture audio (of you) reliably, and secondarily to provide the video you want to stream out.  By connecting to the classroom projection, you can share presentations, etc, to both your in person and remote students.
   
   
6. If you want students to see your handwritten work on a whiteboard/chalkboard, bear in mind that such handwritten material  is very hard to see in webcam video or even when using built-in classroom cameras, so consider one of the following solutions:
   
   1. use a document camera or the use the virtual whiteboard in Zoom.  This will allow you to simultaneously project your writing in the classroom and stream out via Zoom. Some classrooms have document cameras  or you can sign one out from the DMS (see #4 above)
   2. use one of these solutions to capture lecture annotation in a screen sharing Zoom session.
   3. Prepare, before class, a digital version of what you would ordinarily write on the whiteboard/chalkboard (e.g., PPT slides, a Word document, or digitized handwritten notes); save this to your laptop or cloud storage; , log into Zoom on your laptop or instructor computer, and share your screen. By doing this, you will simultaneously project to the class AND stream out via Zoom to your remote students
      
      Whichever solution you choose, consider asking in-class students to take notes and share digital copies (e.g., in Google Docs) with other students after class. 
      
      
7. Prepare yourself for teaching in the HyFlex classroom
   • The biggest challenge is making the experience equitable for in-classroom and remote students.
   • Always double check with remote students to make sure they are connected and are seeing and hearing what they are supposed to see and hear.  
   • Call on remote students first, engage them in activities, and connect them to in-classroom students.
   • Ask in-classroom students to monitor Zoom or chat for questions (you can rotate this role).
   • If you do group/teamwork in your class, you can either have the remote students partner together. Or, ask your in-person students to bring laptops and ask in-person students to connect to the Zoom on their laptop and have them pull in the remote students. In this scenario, if you have multiple remote students, you would need to create  breakout rooms that includes both the remote student and the in-class partner)
     
     
8. Additional Resources
   
   • Watch CITL’s workshop on HyFlex Teaching: Strategies for Instructors Who are Teaching In-classroom with Remote Students PM - [View Panopto recording] [View Zoom recording w/chat] [Session slides]
   • InsideHigherEd’s, “The HyFlex Model” (Edward J. Maloney and Joshua Kim)
   • “Teaching a Hybrid-Flexible Course: The Faculty Experience in HyFlex”  (Brian J. Beatty)
   • Chronicle of Higher Education’s “How to Engage Students in a HyFlex Classroom” (Beth McMurtrie)
   • Educause white paper on “The HyFlex Course Model”
     
     
9. Ask for Help
   • If you have non-urgent questions about anything in the email or about using classroom technology generally, please submit a request to LTS/CITL Classroom Technology Team.
   • If, while teaching, you have an urgent need for help, call the LTS Help Desk at 610-758-4357 (8-HELP) or by text at  610-616-5910

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