Kerri Shields
Toronto
Bimodal Flexible (ByFlex) Course Design Copyright © 2023 by Kerri Shields is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
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Higher education institutions are realizing that students want and need flexible options for attending and participating in courses. During the COVID years, the world saw that many jobs could be done online. We also saw how many college and university courses and programs could be completed online and still produce quality graduates. This set a precedent for employees to expect more flexible options upon their return to the workplace. It also set a precedent for students to request more flexible options upon their return to campuses. Educational institutions can reach more students by offering flexible learning options and therefore, increase revenue and maintain growth, so it is an attractive option. Students prefer flexible course design because it allows them to have a work-school-life balance and meet their personal, work, and academic goals. Flexible learning is happening and is probably here to stay! The question is, “How much flexibility should an institution build into course design in order to meet the needs of their students?” This book examines this question and provides a suggestion for bimodal flexible (ByFlex) course design as the preferred choice.
As a college professor for more than 20 years, I have had the opportunity to work on many projects and have been a member of many committees. I have designed, developed, and delivered many courses including in-classroom, online, blended, and hybrid. I have also been a program coordinator and course lead. These experiences have helped me develop skills in designing and developing courses. I have noticed over the years that there was, and still is, a need to provide students with flexible options for attendance and participation in courses in order to support student success. I find myself wondering if the HyFlex course model is too high maintenance, and I wonder if there is another flexible course model that would meet students’ needs yet at the same time be easier to instantiate and deliver. I envision a course that offers both synchronous and asynchronous options for students and allows them to switch between delivery modes as they prefer or need to. The bimodal flexible (ByFlex) course model may be the answer.
I will try my best to update the book content from time to time and check that videos or resources do not become obsolete or outdated.
I hope you find the information in this book interesting.
Sincerely,
Kerri Shields
Unless otherwise specified within the Pressbook, Bimodal Flexible Course Design is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The author of this resource is committed to providing free, open, and accessible educational content for all. The web version of Bimodal Flexible (ByFlex) Course Design was designed to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level AA, and follows all guidelines in Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility of the Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition.
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The web version of Bimodal Flexible (ByFlex) Course Design has incorporated the following accessible features:
eCampusOntario is a provincially-funded non-profit organization that leads a consortium of the province’s publicly-funded colleges, universities, and indigenous institutes to develop and test online learning tools to advance the use of education technology and digital learning environments.
(Note: This list of sources used is NOT in APA citation style instead the auto-footnote and media citation features of Pressbooks were utilized to cite references throughout the chapter and generate a list at the end of the chapter.)
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Many colleges and universities had to quickly develop online courses for delivery during the COVID pandemic in order to maintain operations and continue to serve students. As students returned to classes on campus, institutions recognized that there was still a need to provide students with flexible options for how they attend and participate in courses. Flexible courses allow students to customize a school-work-life balance that supports their specific situation and needs.
Many of us have experienced online courses or on-campus courses over the years. Some of us have experienced hybrid (or blended) courses wherein part of the course may have been offered online while other parts were offered in the classroom. Few of us have probably experienced a truly flexible course, such as a trimodal or a bimodal course. In these types of courses, students have choices for every class session whether to attend in person or participate online (either synchronously or asynchronously).
Flexible courses enhance inclusivity by building student-centered, self-directed learning, and empowering students to choose how and when they learn. Flexible courses align with the practice of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)–“The primary focus is on finding ways to teach the material to the many types of learners in a classroom. Teachers plan lessons to address a wide range of needs and strengths. There’s no “typical” student.” When flexible courses are designed, developed, and delivered well they can reduce barriers to participation. Flexible options support the needs of marginalized learners but also benefit all learners.
The term bimodal means two modes, and in flexible course design, it means two delivery modes that are offered within the same course. As educational institutions continue to review flexible course delivery it may become evident that the bimodal flexible course model is one of the course models that can support students’ needs as well as institutional goals.
Some institutions, such as Concordia University define a bimodal course as “Everyone participates in a single synchronous (live) class session: the professor and a portion of students participate in person while the remainder of students participate remotely. This is what is referred to as a bimodal classroom because it allows faculty to make teaching and learning possible by combining two groups of learners. Students can attend class in-person when on campus, or they can attend virtually online via Zoom when located remotely.”
The University of Ottawa agrees with Concordia University in its definition of a bimodal course. “This approach is a combination of two distinct, real-time (synchronous) teaching spaces. The first is a physical space (in a classroom on campus) with an instructor present and a reduced number of students. The second is a virtual space using a web conferencing technology (Zoom or MS Teams) with students who choose to take the course remotely.”
In these two examples (above), the type of bimodal model being used allows students a choice between two modes of synchronous learning for each session over the duration of the course. While this does provide flexibility for students who prefer (or need to) to stay home to learn, it does not allow flexibility in meeting times as students must meet with the professor as the classes are scheduled by the institution. This can be an issue for some students, such as those who live in a different time zone, have small children at home, or have a full-time career. This model for bimodal flexible course design may not be flexible enough to meet students’ needs.
Does it seem a bit limited in flexibility to only offer students a choice between two synchronous delivery modes? Would a bimodal course design not provide more flexibility if it offered an option between synchronous or asynchronous attendance and participation? What if it also allowed students to vary their choice each week, for each class? That might be rather flexible, don’t you agree?
Currently, there has been little research done in the area of flexible courses that combine one synchronous and one asynchronous component in a single course, although, the following article does discuss blending these options within an online course. There does not appear to be any mention of a bimodal course that combines an on-campus synchronous delivery with an online asynchronous option. “While research into and adoption of online learning has increased, this article explores a particular aspect of online learning—the blending of synchronous and asynchronous online learning into what we label bichronous online learning. We contend that the blend of synchronous and asynchronous online learning potentially reduces some of the challenges of asynchronous online learning alone, including a lack of immediacy, community, interaction, and audiovisual communication.
Refer to Table 1.1 for the definition of synchronous and asynchronous.
Synchronous Online | Synchronous In-Classroom | Asynchronous |
---|---|---|
Students and their educator(s) are online at the same time. | Students and their educator(s) are in a classroom or lab on campus. | Students are online, but not at a specific time. Educators are not online at the same time as students. |
Typically uses a virtual classroom/chat room. May use an online conferencing tool such as Zoom or Teams. May or may not use cameras and audio. No need to commute. | Face-to-face delivery and interactions, discussions, etc. take place. May use a screen and projector to share information. | Students set their own pace for learning (within deadlines) and take control of their learning. They can prioritize what they learn. No need to commute. |
Immediate feedback. | Immediate feedback. | Feedback is not in real-time, not immediate. |
Can be less isolating than asynchronous for students. The educator helps motivate students and guides and directs them on what needs to be accomplished by due dates. | Not isolating because of the face-to-face experience. The educator helps motivate students and guides and directs them on what needs to be accomplished by due dates. | Can be isolating for students. Students need to be self-motivated and disciplined enough to keep up with the course activities and due dates. |
Students choose WHERE but not WHEN to learn. | Students do NOT choose WHERE or WHEN to learn. | Students choose WHERE and WHEN to learn. |
A Bimodal flexible (ByFlex) course model offers students two options for attending and participating in courses, online or on campus. Then, offers two options again, synchronously or asynchronously. It provides students with flexibility in how they prefer to attend and participate in courses from session to session throughout the course duration. This allows students to customize a school-work-life balance that works for their specific situation and needs. The two ByFlex options are listed below and also depicted in Figure 1.1 below.
To make bimodal courses more flexible, the two modes offered for learning should be synchronous and asynchronous, with a choice for students for each class session. When flexible courses are designed for two different groups of learners (synchronous and asynchronous) supportive learning materials and resources must be created for both groups. “Blending synchronous and asynchronous allows us to gain the unique benefits from each modality while overcoming the unique limitations”. Students who are living in different time zones, who may be ill, who may have to go to work, or who may have small children at home might prefer to attend the course asynchronously. This does, however, involve more planning and designing within the course learning management system (LMS) because course learning materials, resources, and weekly flow of content need to be available, clear, and directive so that students can self-direct through the LMS learning modules and meet the course learning objectives. It provides students with self-paced learning while adhering to the course schedule and deadlines.
Brian J. Beatty established four principles for HyFlex course design which include Learner Choice, Equivalency, Reusability, and Accessibility. These principles can be applied similarly to ByFlex course design.
What’s great about the ByFlex course model is that it takes what institutions already offer, courses online or courses on campus, and adds an asynchronous option for student attendance and participation. Bimodal (ByFlex) courses offer more flexibility to students than traditional courses do, but not quite as much flexibility as trimodal (HyFlex) courses. ByFlex course design provides the flexibility students need, while HyFlex course design may be providing more than students need or will utilize, at a higher cost, with few additional benefits in comparison to ByFlex. ByFlex may not have as many challenges as HyFlex because it removes the dual delivery of two synchronous groups of learners at the same time. Due to some of the inherent challenges with HyFlex, many colleges and universities only offer one or two courses within a program in HyFlex delivery mode, the remaining courses are offered in less flexible delivery modes (i.e., online, in-classroom, hybrid/blended).
(Note: This list of sources used is NOT in APA citation style instead the auto-footnote and media citation features of Pressbooks were utilized to cite references throughout the chapter and generate a list at the end of the chapter.)
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During COVID colleges and universities rushed to provide online options for students to attend classes because the in-person restrictions would mean that institutions could end up in a very risky situation. Now that the world is on the other side of the pandemic, institutions wonder how they might continue to provide flexible learning options for students.
Institutions recognize the need students have for flexibility due to the many obligations students have beyond their academic studies. Students deal with many demands and stresses in life which may cause them to miss a class or two throughout the duration of a course. For example, some learners have jobs and families to manage, some live far from campus or out of the province/country, and some may become ill from time to time.
Colleges and universities continuously seek to increase enrollment because students come, graduate, leave the institution, and go out to work (or come back sometimes), and then more students are needed in order to keep operations going. Offering flexible options for student attendance and participation support institutions in their recruitment efforts.
David Rhoads is the director of teaching excellence and digital pedagogy at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif., and has been teaching and leading in the areas of educational technology and hybrid pedagogy for over a decade. Here is what David says about the HyFlex model, “I wholeheartedly believe that HyFlex is the future of higher education, but I also believe that many professors are intimidated by the time required to learn, design and build these types of courses efficiently and effectively. Faculty can get overwhelmed at the prospect of learning how to use new technologies in the classroom — and trusting that those technologies will work during their classes. The additional time required to design and teach a HyFlex course that meets learning objectives for up to three different sets of students at the same time — live on-campus, live online, and asynchronous online — must also be considered.”
Johnny Lee, a learning technologist, at Ravensbourne University, London shares some of the institutional benefits of the HyFlex course model.”As a way for higher education institutions to extend their reach to diverse learners all over the world, hyflex teaching overcomes the limits of physical classrooms, particularly for smaller institutions such as Ravensbourne University London, which offer courses like fashion, design and architecture that need plenty of space for hands-on work. The hyflex model also facilitates partnerships with industry by allowing busy academic experts and leading industry figures worldwide to share their experience with our students online. This helps students build their networks with industry and equips them with the core knowledge employers and society seek.”
Educause published an article in 2022 discussing the importance of incorporating flexible learning into higher education. “Although HyFlex seems like a simple concept, it can be extremely complex to implement successfully. Executing a HyFlex model involves much more than embedding videoconferencing equipment and network and internet connectivity into an existing physical classroom. HyFlex merges the dichotomy of in-person and online learning. The goal of HyFlex is to make the online and in-person experiences equal for students. Participation in the class is necessary regardless of where and how students attend. The online experience should not be a lesser version of the in-person experience; it should be an alternative to it.”
There are several types of flexible course models and institutions need to determine which types they can support and maintain best based on institutional resources. They also should consider which types of flexibility their students value most. Educause published an article in 2022 about the importance of higher education staying relevant. “Higher education can remain relevant only by adopting new technologies and teaching strategies that provide the most flexibility to students. If colleges and universities choose to adopt a HyFlex strategy, they should plan on investing time and money in its implementation. After everything that has happened over the past two years, can higher education institutions and educators afford not to invest in doing things a bit differently? Today’s workforce is more flexible than ever because of the pandemic, and teaching and learning should be in alignment with workforce needs to prepare students for their professional lives.”
Refer to Table 2.1 below for a description of the types of flexible course models.
Hybrid | Blended | HyFlex Classroom (Synch/Asynch) | Bimodal (Synch) | ByFlex Classroom (Synch/Asynch) | ByFlex Online (Synch/Asynch) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hybrid classes replace a portion of traditional face-to-face instruction with online activities (such as video lectures, online discussions, or projects). Online interactions can be synchronous or asynchronous. | Blended learning combines in-person classes and interaction with supplemental online educational elements. Online learning materials are not intended to replace face-to-face class time (unlike hybrid courses), but instead, materials are designed to build upon what was covered in class. | Hybrid-flexible, or HyFlex courses, integrate face-to-face classes with an online learning experience. HyFlex courses differ from hybrid and blended courses in that students are given the choice to attend classes in person, on campus, via video conferencing, or asynchronously online and can switch between these options from class to class. Educators are teaching two groups of learners while providing equitable learning resources and experiences for three groups of learners within the learning management system (LMS). | Students participate in synchronous learning for each class, either in person, on campus, or via video conferencing from anywhere in the world. Educators are teaching two groups of learners at one time. Ottawa University has offered this course model. | Students participate in each class either synchronously in person, on campus, or asynchronously online. Educators are teaching one group of learners while providing equitable learning resources and experiences for both groups of learners with the learning management system (LMS). | Students participate in each class either synchronously via video conferencing or asynchronously online. Educators are teaching one group of learners while providing equitable learning resources and experiences for both groups of learners with the learning management system (LMS). This course model may also be referred to as bichronous online learning. |
Table 2.1 is adapted from Dhami, H. (2021, July 14). Hybrid, blended, or HyFlex: Which is the right fit for you? Top Hat.
A hybrid or blended course is a type of course that combines face-to-face and online learning. It means that some class sessions are held in a physical classroom, while others are conducted through web-based platforms (e.g., video lectures, online discussions, or activities).
Blended courses are a form of blended learning, which is any learning model that integrates traditional and virtual methods. These are the third most flexible course models for students and have been available for some years.
Trimodal is often referred to as HyFlex and is a hybrid course that permits flexible student attendance. Students may attend fully online, either synchronously or asynchronously, or attend on campus, in person. Usually, students are permitted to vary their choice for attendance from week to week, session to session. This is the most flexible course model for students available today.
ByFlex is a hybrid course that permits flexible student attendance. Students in an online course may attend fully online, either synchronously or asynchronously, while students enrolled in an on-campus course may attend fully in person or online asynchronously. Usually, students are permitted to vary their choice for attendance from week to week, session to session. This is the second most flexible course model for students available today. Refer to Figure 2.1 for a comparison between the HyFlex and ByFlex flexible course models.
Learning at a scheduled class time (either online or on campus, in a classroom), guided by the professor.
Learning at a time the student prefers, self-guiding through the course materials and objectives.
There are a few things for institutions to consider when planning for HyFlex course delivery.
Budget: It is expensive for institutions to install the required technology in classrooms in order to facilitate concurrent in-person and virtual synchronous sessions. There are costs involved with training faculty and ongoing costs as new faculty are onboarded. There are costs to having the IT team support the educator in the classroom when technology fails. There are costs in maintaining the equipment and costs of obsolescence and replacing technologies going forward.
There are a few things for institutions to consider when planning for ByFlex course delivery.
Below is a list of some of the benefits institutions may experience from offering flexible courses. Both HyFlex and ByFlex are good course models. The institution needs to determine which course model is doable given the current resources, strategies, and goals.
(Note: This list of sources used is NOT in APA citation style instead the auto-footnote and media citation features of Pressbooks were utilized to cite references throughout the chapter and generate a list at the end of the chapter.)
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Delivering any course with a flexible design requires more consideration and work from the educator. Institutions need to consider their educators and whether or not their faculty have the skills to teach flexible courses, and if not, determine what type of training may be required. The administration would also need to consider how educators might perceive being asked to teach a flexible course.
Managers should approach this with a change management lens because not everyone accepts change readily. If educators do not have the skills or are against the concept, flexible courses may not run as smoothly as hoped and students may end up having a negative experience.
Watch the video below by Husan Aldamen, Associate Professor of Accounting, to hear his considerations for HyFlex learning options as they pertain to institutions, educators, and students. Transcript for “Hyfllex Learning” Video [PDF–New Tab]. Closed captioning is available on YouTube.
The College received 147 responses from educators who were surveyed on HyFlex teaching and learning. There were four takeaways from the HyFlex survey results. First, most faculty respondents had an interest in a 2-in-1 version of HyFlex, but not in the original 3-in-1 model. Second, faculty identified several areas of concern regarding working conditions: increased compensation, in-classroom IT support, and faculty well-being and choice. Third, faculty interested in the HyFlex modality identified three top professional learning areas: preparing course content, using technology in the classroom, and managing a classroom across multiple modalities. Fourth, faculty shared several areas of concern regarding academic and professional matters: examples of effective teaching need to be shared, more research is needed on student engagement and retention in HyFlex courses, and faculty in disciplines should decide what makes pedagogical sense.
“Since it was developed at San Francisco State University, the HyFlex model has been adopted at institutions around the world. Cambrian College in Ontario offers HyFlex courses for graduate programs in business analytics, crime analytics, and community and health services navigation. The University of Michigan offers courses including a statistics course in the HyFlex format. Delgado Community College in New Orleans has been working to incorporate HyFlex into its curriculum.” Many of these and other institutions have studied the pros and cons of the HyFlex course model and have gathered and compiled insights gained from educator feedback. Below is a brief summary of some of the challenges experienced by educators.
What did educators find challenging about their HyFlex course experience?
Below are some quotes from educators about their experiences with, or feelings toward, HyFlex (trimodal) course delivery.
“Honestly, I’d rather do totally online or totally face-to-face. Having some students in person and some students online is a literal nightmare in a class that’s focused on discussions, group practice, and readings. I had to do it last semester and it was like pulling teeth to get the online students involved. Also, having to divide my attention equally between online and in-person students was insanely difficult since I naturally tend to want to concentrate on the people in front of me. We also couldn’t walk around the classroom or anything while lecturing because the camera was static. I had to lecture behind a podium and I’m usually super animated while lecturing.” Reddit User 1, 2021
“I’m currently teaching intro levels courses in the Hyflex format. It certainly presents more work from a tech perspective because I have to launch Zoom from the terminal, make sure the camera and microphone are working, join Zoom from my iPad so I can use that as a de facto “board”, and remember to record. On top of that, I’ll have to switch screen sharing back and forth between the terminal and my iPad depending on what program I’m using. That being said, it really doesn’t seem to have changed the experience that much. Yes, all exams are now in take-home format but the actual in-class teaching is largely the same. Some students are actually more likely to ask questions over in chat than in-person.” Reddit User 2, 2021
“Literally everyone I know who has taught following this model has hated it and felt like it was a ton of additional work. Plus in all cases, the majority of their students stopped coming to class after a few weeks so they were showing up to teach in person for just a couple of students. Everyone else was black squares online or not there at all because they were relying on the recording. Sounds like a nightmare and I am glad I was able to keep my classes fully online.” Reddit User 3, 2021
“Given that you are definitely not being paid 3x as much, I think it’s a bad idea. I think in this case quality of instruction method trumps quantity.” Reddit User 4, 2021
“Managing in-class teaching plus live streaming plus recording sounds like an anxiety attack in the making. How can genuine teaching and learning happen when our attention is so split?” Reddit User 5, 2021
“Hyflex has changed the way I work – with respect to flexibility and equity. The beauty of the Hyflex model is that it provides choice for learning preference and equal opportunity for every student to participate, which opens up opportunities for learning and connection. Many of our students learn differently; some need more one-on-one attention and some prefer to work independently. By giving these different options of being in class with the instructor or being in the comfort of their homes, we can provide for these learning opportunities.”
While many educators today work tirelessly to design learning materials and activities that will engage students and support their learning journey, some educators may be fearful of the rapid encroachment of technology taking over the classroom. Some educators may be resistant to change, or fear losing their job to a robot (e.g., AI, automated systems, LMS). Resistance is futile because technology will continue to advance and educators will need to either keep up with the times or become obsolete.
If we take a look at what history has taught us, companies that did not embrace new technologies or failed to innovate went out of business or lost a lot of money but then pivoted and made a come-back (e.g.., BlockBuster, Polaroid, Tower Records, Compaq, Victor Company (VHS tapes), etc.). Colleges and universities also must innovate in order to keep up with societal changes in order to stay in business. For example, many people today no longer have a home phone, instead, they use cell phones. Many people today have home computers or laptops which we did not have in the 80s or early 90s then with the proliferation of the Internet, people started connecting to information online. Today most people expect to use the Internet to connect with friends, work, and school. If institutions do not allow students to do that, learners will seek out other ways to learn or invest their money at other institutions that will allow them to learn in the course delivery mode they prefer. “At some point, you will see a revolution in education like you will in everything else.”
“During the early days of the pandemic, ‘people stood up Zoom classrooms’ and ‘they put a lot of video lectures up online,’ said Jeff Borden, the chief academic officer for D2L, a company that creates online learning software. ‘That’s fine. That was important to get people through.’ Now, however, Borden stressed, colleges and universities have the opportunity to move beyond these makeshift models. They can work to build more durable online learning platforms that meet the needs of a range of learners who must access coursework at different times and in different formats to suit their particular goals and lifestyles.”
Many educators already offer students some flexibility in assignment design, attendance, and assessment proctoring, which means it would only be a small shift to move fully into ByFlex delivery mode. Some educators already use the asynchronous LMS design even when teaching on campus, in the classroom, which allows their students to access the learning materials at the times they cannot attend class due to illness, appointment, or such. Offering flexibility to students, supporting their needs, and allowing students to make choices (UDL) is what the ByFlex course model is all about.
It is important for institutions to support educators in designing and delivering bimodal (ByFlex) or trimodal (HyFlex) courses. The University of Windsor, Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) appears to do this well, “HyFlex teaching provides choice to learners in their mode of engagement with the learning. Learners have the choice to attend classes in face-to-face or online modalities. The University of Windsor provides over 20 classrooms with live-streaming capabilities and 15 mobile HyFlex units. This site is a joint project between the Office of Open Learning, the Centre for Teaching and Learning, and IT Services, who are supporting HyFlex instructors and students”.
Seneca College’s Teaching and Learning Center provides courses, support, and resources to educators who are designing and developing flexible courses. “If you are going to be teaching a Flexible course, the best place to start is with the next offering of the professional development course, “FunFlex: The Fundamentals of Flexible Course Design and Delivery.” This is an online, asynchronous course, meaning that you can complete the three course modules on your own schedule, at times that work for you. The course is facilitated by a member of the Teaching & Learning Centre team, and also connects you to a Community of Practice on Microsoft Teams where you can share resources with colleagues.”
Many educators in higher education are seeking ways to make their courses more flexible. You are not alone. The HyFlex course model has been around since 2005 when Brian J. Beatty first coined the term and he has continually improved the model over the years incorporating advances in technology. It may be that your institution has decided to move ahead with HyFlex delivery and you will become a part of that. To prepare yourself it would be wise to connect with the Teaching and Learning Center at your institution, take a course, read some articles, watch some videos, and then practice with the classroom technology.
It may be that your institution determines that HyFlex may be too expensive or too difficult to implement on a large scale and instead decides to move forward with the bimodal, ByFlex, course model, or a combination of both models. It may be that in the absence of a formal institutional plan, and after you (the educator) have researched and practiced delivery, you decide that HyFlex is too much for you to manage; although, you would like to offer some flexibility to students in how they attend and participate in your courses. If that is the case, then consider if a bimodal, ByFlex, delivery will be enough to support your goals and meet your students’ needs.
Educators may receive the following benefits from delivering bimodal flexible (ByFlex) courses.
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McKinsey & Company surveyed more than 7,000 students in 17 countries to find out which elements of online higher education they value most. “All students we surveyed had moved to online classes during the pandemic, and almost 65 percent of them said they want aspects of their learning experience to remain virtual. Even in France, which had the lowest share, more than half of students said they wanted some learning elements to remain virtual.”
Survey results indicate that overall students appreciated the flexibility and convenience of online learning. “Our survey found that what students value most in online learning did not vary significantly across age groups, field of study, or level of education (undergraduate versus graduate). Online attributes that are expensive to implement, such as virtual reality (VR), simulations, and sophisticated visual content, are not ranked highly by most students. Students in 16 of the 17 countries said that having a very well-organized online course with a clear path and a step-by-step guide to achieving their goals was among their five most important elements. Students identified the top three learning features that should remain or become virtual: recording classes and making them available to watch later, easy access to online study materials, and flexibility that enables students to work and study. Some students still hesitate to enroll in fully remote programs and the top three reasons identified include fear of becoming more distracted by studying online, getting bored if the learning experience is not motivating, and lacking the discipline to complete the online program.”
At a public, 4-year, open-access university, 876 students were given a choice of how they would like to attend class, in person, online, or live stream, and all 876 chose in person, yet were provided attendance flexibility due to the pandemic. “This unique situation provided a research opportunity to explore the self-regulatory, motivational, and contextual factors that affected students’ attendance choices as well as their academic outcomes (pass/withdrawal) and perceptions of satisfaction. Results showed that 70% of students took advantage of the opportunity to flex and strongly valued the convenience, choice, and time savings. They were satisfied with connections to instructors. They were less satisfied with connections to peers, fluency between attendance modes, and technology performance. Generally, students performed well in the HyFlex courses with pass rates and withdrawal rates of 88% and 2%, respectively, for both Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 terms.”
An article published by Taylor & Francis with the results of an undergraduate student survey which included 305 students, assessed technological strategies, instructional strategies, and student perceptions about the HyFlex courses students attended during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Students indicated that most of their classes during the Spring 2021 semester were a mix of in-person and online, and professors used Google Meet for classes, and the learning management system (LMS) for assignments, syllabi, and rubrics. Student perceptions about their HyFlex classes indicated that they felt challenged in their classes and that course materials were available to them “during” and “after” class. Students also felt a lack of “connection” with other students in the class and were unsure if HyFlex improved their learning. Two open-ended questions generated comment themes with students indicating the need for classroom flexibility, classroom engagement, instructor communication, leveraging technology, and minimizing distractions.”
“Another study of MBA students published in The Interactive Learning Environment examined student outcomes in a Hyflex course. This study found that Hyflex classrooms effectively closed the achievement gap between online and in-person students. Traditionally, students who attend in-person classes outperform online students by 9%. The researchers concluded that students in Hyflex classes who chose in-person learning performed just as well as they did in traditional classrooms, and students who chose the online option performed significantly better than they did in fully online classes.”
“A study published in The Journal of Teaching Social Work found that students stated that they preferred the face-to-face model for learning; however, they actually participated in the asynchronous model more than they predicted they would. Despite their stated preferences, only 17% of students participated only in face-to-face classes. Surprisingly, no students chose to participate in the synchronous model.”
Many higher education institutions have studied the pros and cons of the HyFlex course model and have gathered and compiled insights gained from student feedback. Below is a brief summary of some of these findings.
What did students like about their HyFlex course experience?
What did students find challenging about their HyFlex course experience?
Kerri Shields (author) has been a professor at Centennial College for more than 20 years and has gained much experience in designing, developing, and delivering courses for various modalities (online, hybrid, and in-classroom). Professor Shields ran a pilot study offering bimodal (ByFlex) courses to students enrolled in two different courses during the winter 2023 semester. There were no comparisons done regarding course withdrawal rates in this pilot study. There were comparisons done on course failure rates between the ByFlex courses delivered in winter 2023 and the same courses delivered over the previous five years in other modalities, and the failure rates were about the same.
Course 1: There were 38 students enrolled in a Microsoft Excel course (2nd semester, undergraduate), and the class sessions were scheduled to meet two hours per week in a computer lab on campus plus two hours per week online synchronously. This was already a hybrid course format with fully synchronous sessions, but to make it even more flexible, the option for asynchronous attendance and participation was provided.
Course 2: There were 18 students enrolled in a Management Information Systems course (5th semester, undergraduate), and the class sessions were scheduled to meet online for two, two-hour sessions each week (fully synchronous online). To make this course more flexible, the option for asynchronous attendance and participation was provided.
A survey for student feedback was sent out to all students to capture student satisfaction, delivery mode preferences, and student likes and challenges. There were 10 students who responded from course 1 (38 enrolled), and 8 students who responded from course 2 (18 enrolled). Surprisingly, both groups, 2nd-semester students and 5th-semester students responded similarly.
What did students think about their flexible course experience?
70% of the 5th-semester respondents said they prefer taking an online course to an on-campus course.
Although students were asked at the end of the course to complete a feedback survey on course delivery not all students completed the survey. Some students provided comments rather than, or in combination with, answering survey questions.
Watch the “Asynchronous Learning: How to Make It Work” YouTube video below to hear from one student, Brooke Wolfe, from Grand View University who provides tips for students taking online asynchronous courses (or courses with flexible options for asynchronous participation). The message this student shares is not only good advice for students but also provides educators with some insight into what works for students. Brooke shares the strategies to stay organized and to meet course learning objectives. The benefit of hearing student feedback is that it allows educators to consider ways in which they might make it easier, clearer, or more engaging for students in asynchronous courses. Transcript for “Asynchronous Learning: How to Make It Work” Video [PDF–New Tab]. Closed captioning is available on YouTube.
Students may receive the following benefits from enrollment in a flexible course.
(Note: This list of sources used is NOT in APA citation style instead the auto-footnote and media citation features of Pressbooks were utilized to cite references throughout the chapter and generate a list at the end of the chapter.)
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What do administrators need to do in order to offer students bimodal flexible courses?
Check Scheduling System: Ensure there is an option, such as BFX, to represent the bimodal flexible delivery of a course. Once updated in the scheduling system, ensure that the change appears in the registration system for students. If the scheduling system doesn’t do what you need it to do, then revise the scheduling system. Institutions should not be altering processes or operational goals in order to fit within the limitations of an outdated scheduling system, instead, institutions should be modifying or replacing outdated systems in order to support the processes and tasks that need to be done. Updating the system may require collaboration with the IT department, Scheduling Department, Registrar’s office, and/or the President’s office, as specific to the institution’s organizational structure.
The Center for Teaching and Learning will support educators in developing courses. A course development team usually consists of one, two, or three people, each bringing specific, yet different skills and knowledge to the team. A course development team might consist of a Subject Matter Expert (SME), Curriculum Specialist (CS), and Instructional Designer (ID), although these titles may vary. The team may be one person, when/if the one person has all the skills necessary to do the job. Refer to Figure 5.1 for a brief description of the role of each team member. If too many people are on the team, it may slow progress. If the people on the team do not have the right skillsets it may result in a sub-standard course being developed which may not work well for educators or students. It is a challenge to build quality content for online asynchronous and on-campus, in-person, delivery because if the online asynchronous option is seen as less effective or engaging than face-to-face classes, online asynchronous students will be disadvantaged and that delivery option will become underutilized, and students may provide negative feedback about their experience. Therefore, educators and institutions must ensure that both delivery approaches are equally effective and easy to access.
If the educator is working alone, then a great place for educators to start is to connect with the Center for Teaching and Learning within the institution. Often there are best practices, tutorials, and staff available to guide educators through the process of designing flexible options within courses.
The LMS should be designed with asynchronous learners in mind, with the understanding that this type of design will support all learners (both synchronous and asynchronous).
Refer to the Quality Matters Rubric for guidance on what should be included as a best practice. “Who uses this Rubric? The Higher Ed Rubric is intended for use with courses that are delivered fully online or have a significant online component (hybrid and blended courses). Course Designers use the Rubric to aid in the creation of courses designed to meet Standards from the outset. The Rubric is also used to assess the level to which a course meets Standards and highlight areas for improvement. A score of 85% (with Essential Standards being met) qualifies a course to receive a QM Certification for quality course design*. QM Members using this Rubric include Individual Faculty and Instructional Designers, Four-year Accredited Colleges and Universities, and Community Colleges.”
The eight General Standards of this Rubric are:
Watch the “Synchronous & Asynchronous Delivery Explained” YouTube video from Wichita State University below that shares some considerations for designing synchronous and asynchronous components within a course. Transcript for “Synchronous & Asynchronous Delivery Explained” Video [PDF–New Tab]. Closed captioning is available on YouTube.
There are three core principles of UDL:
Some of the key benefits of using UDL in the class:
Below are a few examples of Universal Design for Learning as they may be applied in a higher education course.
Watch the “Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education” YouTube video from Humber College below that shares some considerations for universal design for learning (UDL) within course design. Transcript for “Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education” Video [PDF–New Tab]. Closed captioning is available on YouTube.
(Note: This list of sources used is NOT in APA citation style instead the auto-footnote and media citation features of Pressbooks were utilized to cite references throughout the chapter and generate a list at the end of the chapter.)
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As many institutions moved courses online during the COVID pandemic course development teams utilized technology to support the delivery of course learning activities and assessments.
Nate Horowitz, Dean, School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design at Centennial College describes how technology helped support course delivery during the COVID pandemic (below).
“Counter intuitively, our Art and Design Fundamentals program, a completely experiential hands on class and studio-based program found that of three sections, two in-person and one virtual; the virtual one was the most successful for the faculty and the students. Those particular students, from all over the globe, loved their virtual classes and studios.
Students also used design software with integrated simple AI to help set up the pre-visualization of tv and film lighting and camera shots and scenes.
Performing Arts’ students used recordings of themselves using Zoom to dance or act or play music separately and record each of themselves at the same size scale, particularly in Dance and then the many individual performances were visually combined.”
Concordia University describes how educators were able to deliver a Genetics and Cell Biology Laboratory course throughout COVID. “While we were authorized to offer in-person labs, we had to cut the contact time dramatically to minimize the COVID-19 transmission risk. This was a huge challenge for us. Our lab procedures are, in a sense, like cooking instructions. There are many specific procedures that need to be shown to the students before they can carry out the tasks.” Prior to this term, these procedural instructions were given by a teaching lab technician and teaching assistants during the lab, but this would need to change. “We came up with the idea to give these instructions entirely online. Then, when the students come to the lab, they can focus only on their lab work. You can think of it as ‘flipped’ instruction. The result? A series of 20 slick, engaging videos including embedded quizzes and activities. We wanted to make sure that the students are actively engaged while watching. Feedback from the students has been great.”
During the pandemic, many studies and research were done around flexible course design. In 2020 research findings indicated that possibly flexible course design was beneficial to students, educators, and institutions, but that some courses may not be well aligned for flexible delivery. Educause stated, “Students who must work and/or take care of family can benefit from true HyFlex course designs because the asynchronous pathway can enable them to maintain progress toward their academic goals. The model requires students and faculty alike to rethink their approach to learning and teaching and the role that technology can play. Meanwhile, HyFlex might not be the best fit for lab classes, programs that require synchronous participation, or certain disciplines, such as theater or ceramics. As more institutions implement HyFlex courses, these and other questions will be explored and answered.”
During the pandemic, some institutions may have reduced tuition fees, moved courses online, and offered flexible participation options to students in order to maintain operations. Coming out of the crisis we see that many institutions are continuing to offer online and flexible participation options for students as a competitive strategy. “A number of elite institutions — such as Princeton University, Williams College, Spelman College, and American University — have substantially discounted tuition for their fully online experience in a historically unprecedented fashion, highlighting pricing pressures and opening up Pandora’s box. This comes after a decade of growth in postsecondary alternatives, including “massively open online courses” (MOOCs), industry-driven certification programs, and coding boot camps. This moment is likely to be remembered as a critical turning point between the “time before,” when analog on-campus degree-focused learning was the default, to the “time after,” when digital, online, career-focused learning became the fulcrum of competition between institutions.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic is also likely to have a lasting effect on lesson design. The constraints of the pandemic provided an opportunity for educators to consider new strategies to teach targeted concepts. Though rethinking of instructional approaches was forced and hurried, the experience has served as a rare chance to reconsider strategies that best facilitate learning within the affordances and constraints of the online context. In particular, greater variance in teaching and learning activities will continue to question the importance of ‘seat time’ as the standard on which educational credits are based — lengthy Zoom sessions are seldom instructionally necessary and are not aligned with the psychological principles of how humans learn. Interaction is important for learning but forced interactions among students for the sake of interaction is neither motivating nor beneficial. The flexibility and learning possibilities that have emerged from necessity are likely to shift the expectations of students and educators, diminishing further the line between classroom-based instruction and virtual learning.”
As observed during the COVID pandemic, higher education institutions can be nimble and pivot course design in reaction to an urgent need. Some educators liked the new course designs developed during COVID, and many continued offering flexible options for students even after they returned to campus. Some educators viewed the online courses developed during COVID as a make-shift, temporary, or stop-gap effort that filled a need at a specific time and they may not have viewed these courses as “well” designed, as some development was rushed and things may have been overlooked or there may not have been enough time to build all the features requested.
Now, imagine how much richer, more engaging, and more effective courses could be if institutions worked proactively and deliberately, rather than being forced to work reactively, in order to provide students with flexible options for how they attend and participate in courses. The institution’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the instructional designer, and the curriculum specialist can support the educator in exploring ways technology can be used to make learning more flexible for students.
When offering ByFlex courses the institution should provide students with delivery mode expectations before they enroll in the courses. ByFlex courses DO require students to be accountable for their decisions. Institutions should provide the participation model and explain the options for attendance with expectations as well as the technical requirements to students. For students who wish to benefit from the online synchronous and/or asynchronous options, they will require good time management skills, self-motivation, some technology skills, and the ability to self-direct through the learning modules. The online option (either synchronous or asynchronous) requires students to have personal technical resources (i.e., a laptop, and possibly a webcam and audio headset) to participate and complete assignments.
For ByFlex courses there are two options, within two options.
Students choose session to session to attend either on campus, in person, or attend online asynchronously. This will require students to have access to a device (i.e., computer/laptop) and an Internet connection to work asynchronously. There may be specific technical requirements for the device based on the course learning objectives (e.g., the course may be teaching software that needs to be installed). For on-campus attendance and participation, students use the institution’s classrooms and labs and these are usually set up with the software required for learning. If there will be proctored assessments in the classroom, on campus, then students need to be aware of this before they register for the course so they can plan accordingly, but if they do not live nearby the campus, they might choose an online ByFlex course instead. If there is only one section of a course offered and it is ByFlex on campus, the student who cannot make it to campus, might discuss with the department manager and course educator whether or not it is feasible to study asynchronously and have the proctored assessments done online instead of in the classroom.
Students choose session to session to attend either online synchronously or online asynchronously. This will require students to have access to a device and an Internet connection. There may be specific technical requirements for the device based on the course learning objectives (e.g., the course may be teaching software that needs to be installed). If there will be proctored assessments online students need to be aware of this before they register for the course so they can plan accordingly (e.g., work, children, etc.). Of course, the educator may offer flexible options for proctored assessments in order to make the assessments accessible to all learners.
Within the Learning Management System (LMS) students should be able to see assessment due dates for the entire duration of the semester along with the assessment proctoring type so they can plan ahead and ensure they are in-person for the assessments that will be proctored by the educator. Due dates should be displayed on the Assignment Dropbox folders, within the Orientation documents, and within the Course Calendar. This makes it clear to students how many assessments there are in the course, when each assessment is due, and whether or not the assessment is proctored (and if it is proctored, whether or not it is proctored by the educator, another live agent, or a computerized automated service). All due dates apply to both synchronous and asynchronous learners.
After each class session, the educator should post a summary of what was taught, activities conducted, and resources referred to during the class, regardless of whether the class was conducted synchronously online or on campus, in person. Session summaries help students stay on track with what is happening in the course and remind them of upcoming activities, assignments, and due dates.
Below are examples of news summary posts for a Microsoft Excel course which was scheduled as a hybrid course with one 2-hour class session per week meeting online synchronously, and one 2-hour class session per week meeting on campus, in person. The course was delivered in ByFlex mode which offered the students an asynchronous online option for each class (except for a few class sessions that contained proctored assessments). Refer to Figures 6.1 and 6.2.
LMS News Summary post after the week 2 online synchronous session for a Microsoft Excel course.
LMS News Summary post after the week 3 on-campus, in-class session for a Microsoft Excel course.
Below is an example of a news summary post for a Management Information Systems course which was scheduled as a fully online synchronous course with two, two-hour sessions per week. The course was delivered in ByFlex mode which offered the students an asynchronous online option for each class (except for a few class sessions that contained proctored assessments). Refer to Figure 6.3.
LMS News Summary post after the week 12 online synchronous session for a Management Information Systems course.
The LMS must be designed with learning modules that direct students to the learning materials and provides the flow of topics for the course. The flow should be the same as that shown on the course outline/syllabus (if there is a flow of topics shown on the course outline). The learning modules may be set up in a week-by-week structure or by topics, or by modules, and the instructional designer as well as the Center for Teaching and Learning can help educators determine which is the best design for their specific course content. Refer to Figure 6.4 for an example of a week-by-week LMS layout.
Within these modules, educators provide key concepts from the weekly lesson, links to resources, videos, interactive games (e.g., Kahoot), quizzes (graded or for self-check), lesson notes (if applicable), slides/presentations (e.g., Nearpod, PowerPoint), etc. as deemed useful for enhancing learning and as needed for providing asynchronous learners accessible content and an equitable learning experience (as compared with the synchronous learners).
The student learning experience is improved when the institution and educators agree on the LMS ByFlex course design and apply it to several courses. This provides a consistent layout/design for students within each of their courses. Gone are the days when the LMS sat empty with just a course outline/syllabus posted; students expect and deserve more than that. The Center for Teaching and Learning, the instructional designer, the curriculum specialist, and the Quality Matters rubric can support and guide educators with these decisions.
LMS partial Table of Contents in a weekly format/flow for an online synchronous course teaching Management Information Systems.
Watch the video below where Stephanie Moore who teaches at the University of New Mexico offers insights about engaging students in ways that encourage active learning. Transcript for “Insights on Designing Flexible Courses” Video [PDF–New Tab]. Closed captioning is available on YouTube.
In the past, it may have been too difficult for educators to proctor online assessments, never mind checking photo IDs. Some institutions offering asynchronous online courses felt that the courses were asynchronous and therefore, students did not meet at a scheduled time, so proctored assessments could not be done. This is not true today. There are many proctoring services available whereby proctored assessments can be done at a time that is convenient for the student.
Educators must ask themselves the following questions about proctoring assessments.
Educators providing online assessments may proctor them, or not, may use a camera for video proctoring, or not, and may use a proctoring service such as ProctorU, Examity, or Respondus Monitor, or not. The educator has to ask the questions above to determine if proctoring is needed, and if so, consider the best way to proctor a specific assessment.
Some educators feel that it is important to proctor some assessments throughout the duration of the course in order to validate students’ identities and maintain the integrity of the institutions’ program credentials. When educators proctor assessments on campus, they often take attendance and check students’ photo IDs. This procedure validates that the student taking the assessment is the student enrolled in the course. For equity across course sections in courses with high enrollment, it would seem logical and equitable that if one group of learners (in the classroom) is being proctored, then so should the other group of learners (online).
Some educators are also concerned with bias and privacy issues when using such proctoring services, but many institutions such as Durham College, the University of Toronto, and the University of Waterloo (examples below), to name a few, do use such proctoring services.
The University of Waterloo is using ProctorU to proctor students in online exams, “To accomplish this the University has contracted ProctorU which leverages automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide online proctoring. A live proctor will help you get started with your exam and then will leave while you complete your exam. A live proctor will review your session after you have completed it to make sure the AI did not flag anything innocuous. Then your instructor will review all remaining flags and make any final decisions about issues.” This institution also provides an option for students who may object to the ProctorU proctoring method, “If you object to writing your exam with an online proctoring service please contact your instructor.”
“The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) permits universities to collect, use and disclose personal information necessary for the proper administration of the universities and their programs and services. ProctorU implements a high standard of privacy and security and Waterloo has reviewed this through a Privacy Impact Assessment of the use of personal information by ProctorU and a security review of the protections of the data. Waterloo ensures that processes adhere to all Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FIPPA) guidelines. As part of this, Waterloo has a contract with ProctorU that limits the use of personal information by ProctorU to the purpose of providing the proctoring service. Please also visit ProctorU’s Privacy Policy page which states ProctorU does not use any test-taker’s personal information for any purpose other than for facilitating the proctoring of online exams. We never sell personal information to third parties.”
“The use of proctoring software and artificial intelligence can introduce several types of bias into the test-taking process. Knowing that Waterloo has chosen a multi-pronged approach to minimize these issues as much as possible. No decisions are made by the software: a live proctor is there to begin the exam and verify any identification, a live proctor also reviews any flags of suspicious activity after the exam is written, removing any that are normal behaviour, and finally any remaining flags are reviewed by the instructor or approved Waterloo staff. After that, Waterloo’s normal academic integrity policies are followed.”
“Examity is one of the fastest-growing online-proctoring services. But students aren’t all on board with the widespread adoption of these services, and they haven’t been for over a decade.”
“As a former student instructor for the business school, Makenzie Davis was instructed to use Proctorio while teaching at the Salt Lake Center. She recognized the positive and negative aspects of the system. As a student herself, she was “always nervous a roommate would come into my room unannounced,” but as an instructor, she noticed business school applicants felt it created an equal playing field for future major admissions as it would prevent cheating.”
“These days, many educators are using evidence-based approaches to assessment that eliminate the need for academic surveillance software. Many educators are finding alternatives to a traditional big online final exam. For example: several shorter quizzes throughout a course, online or media presentations, individual or team projects, annotated bibliographies, open book exams — there are lots of alternative and authentic possibilities. One move — removing an online proctored exam — can do so much good: we protect students’ privacy and dignity, and we provide a learning environment based on respect, trust, and above all, LEARNING. Assessment shouldn’t be a game of ‘gotcha.’ It should be about setting students up so they can best show what they now know (and don’t know!) at this point in time.”
With live online proctoring, whereby educators use Zoom or Teams or such, educators can schedule flexible times, such as one session in the day, and one in the evening, or the weekend. With smaller class sizes the educator may allow the students to vote on a day/time for the proctored assessments that best fits their schedules.
Occasionally, when online learners are having technical issues with their devices, educators have offered them an opportunity to join an on-campus course section and take the proctored assessment there. Of course, this only works when the students reside close to the campus.
When there are multiple sections of a course with a team of educators teaching the ByFlex course, students might be offered options to attend proctored assessments, either in an online proctored assessment with another educator (at the time the other course section is completing the assessment) or attend an on-campus proctored assessment with another educator’s section. This proctor-sharing across sections of a course and among several educators is a great way to meet the needs of both educators and students.
Students registered with the Center for Accessible Learning may have specific accommodations such as extended time for exams, or electronic tests as opposed to written paper tests or vice versa, or oral exams instead of either paper-based tests or electronic tests.
Consider software and Wifi access for students. Educators may need to be flexible if students will find it difficult to take an online, timed test on a specific day/time, as stated above, there may be other ways students can take the test or demonstrate their knowledge of the material.
Maintaining academic integrity in an online environment is challenging! Most Learning Management Systems (e.g., Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Brightspace, Canvas, etc.) have some ability to create secure exam conditions (consult with the Center for Teaching and Learning). You might also try some of the options listed below to encourage academic integrity.
The ByFlex pilot projects done by Kerri Shields (author and educator) in the winter 2023 semester with students studying Microsoft Excel and Management Information Systems courses, included proctoring 45%, and 50%, respectively, of the overall graded assessments in the courses.
For the Excel Online ByFlex course, three assessments were proctored, each online. Two were completed using Zoom and proctored by the educator. Student IDs were checked so attendance could be taken, then students opened the testing software, while still in Zoom, and completed the test. Before the actual test date, students were provided some guidelines around what was expected of them during the assessment (i.e., no talking, no other people in the room, and keeping Zoom open). The educator could view students working on their devices for the duration of the assessment. The hands-on testing software, GMetrix, has a timer set for 50-minute tests. It does not lock down the browser, but for this course, the educator was not concerned. Should students spend time looking up answers online during the test they would lose time in the test itself, thereby making it difficult for them to finish the tasks in the given 50 minutes. The educator determined that in the business world Excel users often research how to do specific tasks in the software, and if the student could do that and still complete all the questions on the hands-on test within the time period, then it was acknowledged that the student has achieved the objective of the assessment, which was to complete various tasks using Excel within a reasonable amount of time. The third assessment, an industry exam from Microsoft, was also proctored using Zoom and using Certiport’s online proctoring service (the proctoring tool provided by Pearson Vue Certiport which is used globally to proctor Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) exams). For the on-campus, in-person Excel course, all assessments were completed and proctored in the classroom.
For the Management Information Systems course which was provided fully online with ByFlex delivery, there were two proctored exams weighted at 25% each. These exams were proctored using Respondus LockDown Browser with Camera and students were given one week to complete each exam.
So essentially educators must determine the learning outcomes being assessed on each assessment, then determine which type of assessment works best, then decide whether or not to proctor the assessment, and, if proctoring is needed, then decide which proctoring method works best.
Some educators/institutions may feel that flexible course options for student attendance and participation may not work for all courses in all programs, specifically those that prepare students for face-to-face jobs (e.g., nursing, woodworking, IT networking, performing arts, auto mechanics), yet, with so many simulations and interactive learning media available today, some classes within these types of courses could offer flexible options without impairing the quality of learning or the integrity of the institution’s program credential.
Below are a few examples of tools educators could use to make learning more flexible and engaging. Some colleges and universities have institutional licenses for these tools allowing educators to access them at no personal expense.
“The most famous interactive quiz platform is Kahoot, a free student-response that uses all sorts of gamification techniques to engage students’ participation and enhance learning. With Kahoot, you can both host live quizzes as well as self-paced challenges for out-of-class review. Kahoot games can be played in single mode or in team mode and offers plenty of fun features to stimulate students to play and learn.”
“Use digital exit tickets, a short check-in on the day’s learning, for teachers and learners in all modalities to gauge individual learning, identify common misunderstandings, and determine what questions learners have about the topic. Exit tickets can be made with digital tools such as Kahoot, Google Forms, and Socrative.”
The educator could have the students post a self-introduction using Instagram, Padlet or Flipgrid. Alternatively, after each class session students could post a question about something they did not understand and students could answer each other’s questions (the educator could monitor).
These have been around for many years and can be used for many learning activities. For example, students could form groups and as groups conduct research as an assignment, with different research topics assigned to each group, then post their findings on the discussion board for all students to read. Within the LMS there are often options for setting up chat sessions and activity feeds.
“Use a digital formative assessment tool such as Pear Deck, Poll Everywhere or Mentimeter to assess learning during class. These tools allow learners to respond to diverse types of questions and provide immediate feedback to the learner and teacher.”
“Dr. Mallinson uses Nearpod to design his own lessons and embed important videos and links to enhance his curriculum and keep his students up to date on current events. He uses videos from social media platforms such as YouTube and Nearpod’s weblink feature to integrate URLs from various websites. He found that the tools and features in Nearpod allowed students to freely share and communicate their ideas. He also noticed that Nearpod made it easier for students to collaborate with one another. By allowing students to communicate their opinions and thinking through Nearpod, he found that even his most quiet students were given the opportunity to have a voice in his classroom.”
The educator might ask for a group presentation to be done and then let the students form the groups, and allow them to decide if a) they wish to work virtually in Google Slides or PowerPoint 365 and create a presentation with embedded video and audio, or b) present live either physically in the classroom or online in Zoom/Teams, or c) present in a quiet library room (or in Zoom) and record the presentation then submit the recording.
Educators need to consider the learning objectives for each assignment and then offer a few choices for students to select between. Options might include offering students a choice between creating a podcast or a video to show what they have learned or how they would apply what they have learned in the workplace. If there is a discussion in class, the educator might ask students to post on the discussion board some research about the discussion during or after the class, then also ask the asynchronous learners to do the same, and/or respond to posts from the in-class students. Students might be asked to choose between submitting their work as a report, a comic strip, or an infographic. Finally, educators might consider if a written assignment or test can be done orally instead and if so, offer that option.
Today, there are so many options to offer students, using supportive technology, in order to provide students with flexibility in how they complete assignments. The Center for Organizational Teaching and Learning can support educators with designing flexible assignments.
“H5P content is responsive and mobile friendly, which means that users will experience the same rich, interactive content on computers, smartphones and tablets alike. H5P enables existing CMSs and LMSs to create richer content. With H5P, authors may create and edit interactive videos, presentations, games, advertisements, and more.” For examples visit H5P examples and downloads or H5P Studio at eCampus Ontario.
Below are a few examples of how innovative educators are providing asynchronous content to their students in a variety of subject areas. This may help you envision these types of interactive elements within your own courses.
Many colleges and universities have their own H5P servers and don’t necessarily share the H5P content in the open catalogue. You may discover that your own institution has a repository of H5P content available.
“Some educators are also exploring ways of intentionally incorporating various forms of structured interaction with AI tools into their assignments and learning activities. The use of AI tools may be less relevant when students experience a structured set of steps on the way to a final product, particularly when those steps include learning activities that elicit students’ own thinking, include formative feedback from instructors and peers, and build in drafts and revisions.”
There are many simulations that can be purchased and embedded into courses, such as Interpretive and Market Place business simulations. Simulations add an experiential learning component to courses.
“The Open RN project is funded by a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Education to create five nursing textbooks and 25 virtual simulations. The H5P activities in this collection are included in the Open RN textbooks as formative assessments. The activities include a variety of assessment types such as flashcards, multiple choice, drag and drop, fill-in-the-blank, and branching scenarios. Branching scenarios are used to create virtual simulations that include videos, images, and sounds to encourage the development of clinical judgment as students apply content to patient care.”
This free game allows users to build their own virtual art museums. “Available on gaming platform Steam, the building experience features 2,200 unique architectural elements—including spiral staircases, art deco lighting and stained glass windows—and more than 6,000 artworks ranging from Old Master paintings to contemporary creations. Daisy, an artificial intelligence assistant curator, is available to help interpret users’ collections and suggest works they might enjoy.”
There are virtual reality games and platforms, such as Second Life, whereby students might engage in critical thinking and problem-solving in a simulated virtual world. “A description of one of the projects is included in this series under the title of Border Simulation – Student Learning in a virtual world at Loyalist College.”
The performing arts industry, built on the gathering of bodies, has been able to innovate throughout COVID to find ways that the show can still go on. Listed below are a few examples.
“Learning routines on TikTok has focused me,” says Lutz-Higgins. “All the training I tried to get rid of [in College] is all very pleasurable now. I’m completely reimagining what art and dance are to me.”
““FEAST” has been going live on Facebook through an interface called Streamyard. Streamyard has a broadcast studio where artists can share their stream to the host and the host can broadcast to public platforms. Through this platform, “FEAST” has been able to host artists outside of New York and a new piece to be performed online, and also raise money for the artists through the Indie Theatre Fund.”
“For small gatherings such as Anne Hathaway Mic and the Artist Co-op’s “Cold Read Series,” the simple, secure connection of Zoom has served well.”
“Comics like Marrissa Goldman and Anne Hathaway Mics’ Gabby Jordan Brown are experimenting with parties and improv shows hosted on Google Docs, experiences that cannot be replicated live.”
Utilize the software your institution provides students, such as Office 365. If the institution does not provide this, students might use Google Cloud. There are also many companies that offer free software for academic purposes including Hootsuite’s Student Program and Trailheads’ Salesforce Training. There are also companies that ask the institutions to become members, and then provide educators and students access to learning materials and systems, such as SAP’s University Alliance. You will need to investigate if the type of software you require is offered in a free or trial version and determine whether or not is it robust enough to be used in your course. So much to explore!
There are also many free courses and tutorials online for all types of subjects. LinkedIn Learning, while not free, is subscribed to by many colleges and universities and can be accessed by educators and students at no additional charge. GCFGlobal.org offers free access to various courses. Coursera offers some courses online free of charge, and some paid, but educators could locate a free course that might supplement some of the learning materials within their own courses.
eCampus Ontario and BCcampus online platforms provide free textbooks for a variety of course topics. “The Bridge” entrepreneurship course offered by the University of Toronto is shared free of charge. The Design Thinking course at the Open University, again free access. Khan Academy is widely known for free tutorials in a variety of subjects. When educators select free learning resources to embed into their courses, they reduce financial barriers for their students.
Understandably, not all courses can utilize free software, books, training, etc. because there may be a component, such as an industry certification exam, which may require students to pay a fee (or the institution to pay a fee), although, it is certainly worth investigating.
(Note: This list of sources used is NOT in APA citation style instead the auto-footnote and media citation features of Pressbooks were utilized to cite references throughout the chapter and generate a list at the end of the chapter.)