Blended or hybrid learning is a popular course delivery model in higher education. Blended courses typically combine traditional face-to-face classroom learning with online learning. This blending model gives students the opportunity to explore and learn in a much broader field, with a larger variety of resources.
But are these blended courses “flexible”?
What is Flexibility?
When I talk about flexibility, I’m not talking about flexibility for the faculty member. [“Let’s not meet on Fridays and have an online session instead.”] I’m talking about the flexibility to meet students where they are in their crazy lives.
Do our hybrid or blended courses meet the needs of our students, many of whom are working adults who have family responsibilities and other demands on their time? Do our hybrid courses meet the needs of students with disabilities? Do our courses meet the learning needs and preferences of students by offering a variety of learning modalities — classroom vs. online; video vs. text; or synchronous vs. asynchronous?
I believe flexible course design should be a critical feature of blended courses in today’s changing educational landscape.
One Size Does Not Fit All
There are many different ways to approach flexibility in online and hybrid courses.
Last April I had the opportunity to participate in a panel presentation at OLC Innovate. The topic was “Hybrid Flexible Course and Program Design: Models for Student-Directed Hybrids.” Each of the panelists presented a different approach to flexible hybrid course design. You might want to check out the extended abstract to learn more about each of the flexible concepts.
An online search for ‘flexible hybrid course design” will yield a variety of flexible hybrid models, course designs, and flexibility features. So there are many ways to construct a flexible hybrid course. Instructors and designers need to give a lot of thought as to how they will accommodate students, without driving themselves crazy trying to manage the course, or doing double the amount of work.
Your Concept of Flexible
What does your concept of flexibility in hybrid courses look like?
Does flexible mean individualized, self-paced? Does flexible mean giving students choices? Does flexible mean the instructor can make on-the-fly decisions about attendance, participation or other course components?
I believe the flexible hybrid course design model takes into account student needs and preferences, and seeks to
eliminate as many barriers for the student as possible, while still maintaining the highest standards of course quality, rigor, and outcomes.
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