1 Designing the HyFlex World Dr. Brian Beatty Instructional Technologies San Francisco State University AECT 2006

2 Hybrid, Flexible Courses for All Students Hybrid – a mix of face to face and online activities Flexible – students can choose their method of participation… weekly All courses within the ITEC program (potentially) Why is this important?

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5 State 150 graduate students pursuing Masters degree Courses –Approx. 24 courses –Class size ranges from 8-20 –Time slots: 4-7, 7-10 PM All students and instructors commute; from 2 to 60 miles

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7 Traveling to campus for class can be inconvenient, difficult or absolutely impossible!

8 Who are SFSU students?

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10 ITEC Students Most work full time –Teachers and Library / Media Specialists –Educational Software Developers –Trainers –Instructional Designers Many in career transition Many with families at home

11 Helping people in education, business and communities learn … Teaching and Learning with technology is our business!

12 What is a HyFlex course?

13 HyFlex Course Principles 1.Learner Choice: Provide meaningful alternative participation modes and enable students to choose between participation modes weekly (or topically). 2.Equivalency: Provide equivalent learning activities in all participation modes. 3.Reusability: Utilize artifacts from learning activities in each participation mode as “learning objects’ for all students. 4.Accessibility: Equip students with technology skills and access to all participation modes. Note: these are universal principles - generally applicable to all HyFlex courses.

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15 Sample Week

16 Standard Class Session

17 Online Participation

18 Sample Media Files Instructor Audio – Listen Presentation with Instructor Audio – View media\801_wk10_usability.mp4 media\801_wk10_usability.mp4 Student Group Discussion Slides with Audio - View media\wk2_history_itec801.mov media\wk2_history_itec801.mov

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23 Technology Online delivery system (we use Moodle) Content Development/Presentation –PPT, Word, Acrobat, Camtasia, Dreamweaver, Audition, Podifier –Streaming video connection Client content (plugins and players) –Web browser, PPT Viewer, MP3 player, podcast player (iTunes), Quicktime, Acrobat Reader Internet connection

24 Creating Your HyFlex World 1.Identify learning goals 2.Develop instructional objectives 3.Create (or gather) content 4.Select instructional activities (SIO tool)SIO tool 5.Create (and communicate) clear instructions 6.Prepare learning supports

25 Questions … How is this different than what we are already doing? How much more work is this for the instructor? … for the students? How do students respond? Do students take advantage of the flexibility?

26 Student Comments: in-class I found the time interacting with the professor and classmates to be extremely helpful. I don't think that you can replace the value of this time with online instruction. I enjoyed attending [class name] to interact with my classmates, especially for the peer review and case study activities. Class time was when questions got answered or clarification was given. Even though we could read the info in the textbook or handouts, the in- class sessions seemed to be when the information ultimately got cemented for me.

27 Student Comments: online Very useful & convenient when scheduling conflicts occurred - but added value was the fact that you were still listening to the face-to-face interactions from the class. Attending class online was a valuable alternative for me when I was otherwise unable to attend in person. I appreciated having access to materials online that simulated the in-class experience. I liked the flexibility and not having to commute to the school campus.

28 Student Comments: online A lot of writing! The online sessions were rigorous, that's for sure. It was almost "easier" to attend class. But on the flip side, all the online material for [class name], especially the recorded live lectures, was very useful. There weren't any exercises or resources that didn't add to the learning. Make sure an audio file compatible with the ipod is available every week. This was one of the most valuable offerings on ilearn. Lectures could be listened to over and over again. I must have listened to the instructional objectives lecture five times to and from work that week. It was great for review and clarification of things I missed during the lecture.

29 Survey Results (1) Face to face instruction was useful Strongly Agree - 85% Agree – 15% Online instruction was useful Strongly Agree – 43% Agree – 57%

30 Survey Results (2) Preference for face to face only: Neither Agree nor Disagree - 28% Disagree - 57% Strongly Disagree - 14% Preference for online only: Disagree - 43% Strongly Disagree - 57%

31 Survey Results (3) I prefer to choose my own blend of online and face to face learning experiences. Strongly Agree – 29% Agree – 57% Disagree – 14%

32 Research? Do students learn more effectively? Do students prefer to create their own blend of learning activities? Does a HyFlex course require more effort from the instructor? (How much more? Where is extra effort expended?) Does a HyFlex course require more effort from students? Which courses, instructors, and students (content, learning goals, values, etc.) are candidates for HyFlex design?

33 SF State This semester: 5 courses in ITEC Masters program –Informally assessing student preferences, instructor load, technical support requirements –Recruiting additional instructors on campus Spring 2006: 7 courses in ITEC program, others? –Formal assessment of participation patterns and student performance, instructor load

34 Contact Dr. Brian Beatty HyFlex Design (DRAFT) HyFlex Presentation