What is mixed mode teaching
Mixed mode teaching is not a new concept and although not widely spread it has been the reality in a range of institutions simply because there was the need to accommodate both students on campus with students online without necessarily separating them in special classes/tutorials. In 2018 I visited Macquarie University to learn first-hand how they combined live (face to face) lectures with remote (off campus students) simply to resolve the issue of accommodating large cohort of students (over 1000). Covid19 has made this mode of teaching come to the fore as many institutions around the world grapple with the issue of keeping social distance during classroom activities and/or provide different ways for students to access education depending on their situation or the situation of the institution they study with. In examining the possible organization and delivery of mixed mode in a Covid19 situation it is important to understand that while there will be a tendency to focus on the technologies and support needed to ensure a good outcome for such a type of delivery it will be the need to observe and maintain the social distancing and safety aspect that will be more difficult to understand and manage.
Mixed Mode – Scenario 1
Before describing a possible delivery of mixed mode for the scenario of this cheat sheet let’s look at some basic understanding of some aspects of delivering a mixed mode course:
Why mixed mode? Simple question but especially in the Covid19 environment it is important to describe clearly what activities will be undertaken by the on–campus cohort that will adhere to social distancing measures. For example, the idea of group work needs to be envisaged very differently from a pre-Covid19 time. You will not be able to have a group of students huddled around a table sharing a small space to discuss ideas nor would you be able as a tutor/lecture walk around the class in close proximity to students to engage in one to one or one to group discussions, neither would students. The idea of sharing equipment or resources it is also problematic so some practices will have to be re-imagined to ensure that student and teachers can do this safely. This will make very active session quite challenging to manage. So, what is the compelling reason of having mixed-mode in the first place?
How mixed mode? How it will be determined who will be participating on campus? How rooms/technical arrangements will be set up to ensure the cohesion of the two cohorts? How will the activities/interactions be planned to ensure active participation of both cohorts? How will you manage/enforce social distancing and hygiene protocols?
The suggestion on how to manage Scenario 1 is a modified version (Covid19) of a hybrid (mixed-mode) document I wrote earlier this year.
Scenario 1 – interactive seminar – total cohort about 300 students, on-campus facility for a group of ~60-80 with the rest to participate remotely. The tech will comprise of a computer with mic and camera that would allow you to zoom broadcast (or similar) to the remote students. It will also assume that all the on campus students will bring a laptop or other device to participate in activities with the remote students (since it is an interactive seminar).
For this scenario we will assume that the room is large enough to accommodate a group of 60 to 80 students with the appropriate social distancing. The seminar session will be conducted using either Zoom or ECHO360 Live Stream or a combination of ECHO360 Lecture recording and Zoom (for the live part). Thus, the interaction can happen via the lecturer using Zoom and Zoom tools like chat and polls for interaction as well as Socrative or Polleverywhere and/or Padlet, ECHO Active Learning or shareable whiteboards. The room will need to be equipped with a good camera and microphone that can capture the entire room and a big screen.
Due to the number of students and the importance to adhere to social distancing some activities will require more planning and testing so a couple of possible ideas, implications and execution:
Group Activities
If group activities are part of the delivery these will need to be devised as virtual only not only to ensure that off campus students can participate but also to facilitate/ensure that students in the room can maintain the appropriate distance.
To ensure that off campus students are included and active in the session it is important to “pair up” with a buddy system on campus and off campus students. So, assuming that (room permitting) a group of 60 students are on campus and the remainder (240) are off campus it will mean that either you have one on campus student grouped with 4 remote students or a larger group with 2 on-campus for 8 remote. The combination will depend on the activities that will be done as a group/individual. The logistic is also challenging with such a large cohort of students as even with the bigger group it will still mean 30 breakout rooms. As audio and video will need to be used in the group activity issues with sound feedback noises or issues with students breaking in and out of discussion will be a problem and this aspect needs to be fully tested ahead of time.
Seminar presentations
Some of the same things from the group activities applies when you have mixed mode seminar presentation, here the aim is to ensure that the presenting person/s (student, academic, guest) have the space and set up that will allow all the remaining people (students on campus and remote) to participate with questions, using the chat in Zoom or with some of the tools already earlier on or use of sharable whiteboards or the big screen and Zoom for voice/video questions. As the active part of this type of delivery is the one to one interaction between presenter and participants many of the group activities challenges can be minimized. However, the challenge here is to ensure that the people who are not presenting will not be passive spectators and will simply “switch off”. The other challenge (similar to above) will be the audio and video interaction and possible sound issues.
Delivering:
Technologies to use
Zoom or ECHO360 Live Stream or a combination of ECHO360 Lecture recording and Zoom, Zoom and Zoom tools like chat and polls for interaction, Socrative or Polleverywhere and/or Padlet, ECHO Active Learning or shareable whiteboards
Some links that can help you:
Hybrid teaching – https://www.codlearningtech.org/PDF/hybridteachingworkbook.pdf