HyFlex Teaching and Learning - Teaching Comptencies & Skills for HyFlex Teaching

 HyFlex Teaching and Learning

Teaching Comptencies & Skills for HyFlex Teaching

                                                      DurgaBhvani G / 21-Nov-2022

                   The hybrid flexible, or HyFlex, course format is an instructional approach that combines face-to-face (F2F) and online learning. Each class session and learning activity is offered in-person, synchronously online, and asynchronously online. The flexibility of the HyFlex model demonstrates a commitment to student success, and that flexibility can also enable institutions to maintain educational and research activities during a disruption of normal learning process.

 

The development of the Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) course design in the Instructional Technologies (ITEC) graduate program at San Francisco State University was driven by several important institutional, faculty and student factors. Institutional factors include the location, instructional history, and enrollment characteristics of the university. Faculty factors include the capacity and capability to teach online and in the classroom and the motivation to try something new to better serve students. Student factors included the academic interests, technical abilities and time and location constraints/restraints of the current student enrollment.



Blended and Hybrid Learning Environments

As it became clear to us that some combination of online and classroom instruction would be needed, we assessed the current understanding of best practice. Blended learning in hybrid courses was well established as a legitimate (and sometimes superior) instructional format in higher education. 

Within the blended/hybrid literature, we found excellent design guidance for creating teacher-directed blends or hybrid formats. Most academic discussion and design guidance for blended and hybrid formats also required students to participate in both classroom and online activities or sessions, so there was no explicit support for students who want or need to be always online or always in the classroom.

Benefits to Students

  • Increased access to courses:
    • when attending class in person is problematic, and 
    • when desired classes are scheduled at the same time
  • Schedule control: more control over day to day schedules associated with attending class
  • More learning resources: multiple modes of participation often require more robust instructional materials, enabling richer instruction and providing additional opportunities for learning 

Benefits to Faculty

  • Able to serve more students with the same resources (time, instructional materials)
  • Develop skills and experience in teaching online without giving up classroom instruction
  • Provide a built-in alternative when classroom instruction isn’t possible due to scheduling conflicts

Benefits to Administration/Institution

  • Increase overall course enrollment by offering additional schedule and location flexibility to students. When implemented at a large scale, HyFlex may lead to increased per unit course load and reduced time to graduation.
  • Increase individual class section (a single instance of a course) enrollment beyond the seat capacity of a physical classroom. When implemented at a large scale, HyFlex may reduce space requirements for expanding enrollment and increase the availability of bottleneck courses.
  • Support innovative approaches to instruction that should contribute to greater student success, when done well. This can lead to increased student learning, provide opportunities for faculty research and publication, and create institutional marketing opportunities to external stakeholders.

Costs to Students

  • Requires personal management related to learning path: decision-making (which way to participate?) and when online is chosen, requires substantial time management skills.
  • Personal and technical resources are required to participate in the online version of the course: (most commonly) hardware, network, ability to engage in online learning platforms, and the ability to learn through mediated experiences


General competencies:
  • Familiarity with development and learning psychology.
  • Awareness of the learner and the teaching- learning process.
  • Class management.
  • Teaching methods.
  • Controlling.
  • Evaluation.

Essential Teaching Competencies

  • Communication and Interpersonal Skills
  • Organization and Planning
  • Classroom Management
  • Facilitation and Engagement
  • Assessment and Coaching
  • Collaboration and Teamwork
  • Caring and Inclusiveness
  • Flexibility and Adaptability


Being a teacher at any level requires a significant amount of knowledge and skill. Paying attention to the core competencies for educators helps to ensure that all teachers and others who work in education are prepared to make school a positive experience for students and their families.

1. Interacting Well with Students

2. Creating a Learning Environment

3. Good at Lesson Plan Design

4. Able to Use Varied Teaching Strategies

5. Able to Assess

6. Able to Identify Student Needs

7. Good at Communication

8. Able to Collaborate

9. Maintaining a Professional Appearance

10. Demonstrating a Commitment to the Profession


Skills of HyFlex Teaching

  • Engage students in memorable activities and learning experience
  • Providing relevant and meaningful content
  • Assessing learning and adapting instruction to meet student needs
  • Supporting student self-assessment when appropriate
  • Become digitally literate
  • Should be able to provide Technology Support and Troubleshooting





5 Quick Tips for  HyFlex Instructions

Highly-skilled teachers who provide in-person and online learning experiences simultaneously, students and teachers who move seamlessly between in-person and digital interactions, high-quality technology infrastructure for teachers and students, equitable learning experiences for all, and additional support

Tip #1: Simple and Authentic

Create meaningful learning experiences by utilizing authentic assessments to collect information about learners (e.g. running records).

Tip #2: Checking In

Check-in with learners synchronously as much as you can. This is an opportunity to greet them personally and connect on a human level.

Tip #3: Use the Chat and Keep Meet On

Keep Meet on during independent practice. Learners feel supported when they know you are there and they can pop back in with questions.

Tip #4: Come Back to the Grid

If you are sharing your screen to show a slide show while teaching, pause and come back to the grid to “read the room.” Make eye contact with face-to-face learners and virtual learners.

Tip #5: Provide Ongoing Feedback

Feedback drives the learning process. When you invest time in providing learners with ongoing, cyclical, high-quality, specific feedback, you will see a big return on your investment.


Conclusion

    Teaching competencies deal with the professional skills of the teacher which enable them to perform the task with high excellence.
 Teacher should use the competencies based on background, situation and need based.
     If the teacher have the mastery over the content he/she should know how to deliberate teaching in classroom or in any format such as HyFlex Teaching.
    The teaching  skill and competency should be used accordingly need. 

References

https://mariangelf.com/a-professors-guide-to-hyflex-teaching/
https://edtechbooks.org/hyflex
https://teachbetter.com/blog/5-quick-tips-for-hyflex-instruction/
https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2020/7/eli7173.pdf
https://hr.abbyschools.ca/node/11936

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