Interaction in HyFlex Courses

Whole-Class Feedback

Whole-class feedback is a time for the instructor to pause the lecture and assess understanding of all students present. Instructors can:

  • Ask students to explain certain points of the lecture
  • Ask students to summarize certain points of the lecture
  • Ask students to discuss how their professional or practical experience relates to the lecture

Make a point to include virtual students in the discussion. Specify whether they contribute via chat or microphone (microphone is recommended).

Blackboard Announcements

Announcements in Blackboard are one-way messages from the instructor to all students.  They are great ways to check in with students between classes to share feedback, advice for assignments, reminders for due dates, etc.

Discussion Boards

Creating a Discussion Board Forum in Blackboard is a great way for all students to interact with each other and their instructor.  Because this task takes place in Blackboard, outside of the live course schedule, there is no risk of a divide between online and in-class students.

Tips for writing Discussion Board prompts:

  • Make your prompts open-ended, allowing students to fully explore their thoughts
  • Ask students to provide substantive responses to at least two classmates' posts
    • Create a rubric with expectations and grade descriptions

Small Group Work

Small group work allows students to work as a team, independent of the instructor's direct support.

  1. Create small groups of students (2-4).
  2. Provide a question sheet for in-person groups to record answers. Groups made of virtual students need their own shared file so that they can collaborate on the same document (a Word Doc on OneDrive is recommended for this)
  3. After allotted time, one member from each group reports back to the whole class.

Approaches for HyFlex small group organization:

    • Separate Groups for In-Class Students and Virtual Students

      • The most direct approach is for in-person students to have their own groups and virtual students to have their own groups.  Virtual students can be sent to Zoom breakout rooms. They should be encouraged to turn their microphones on to discuss the task while collaborating on a shared file.

    • Groups Combining In-Class Students with Virtual Students

      • HyFlex courses should allow for interaction between all students, regardless of their location.  In this approach, in-class students are logged in to the Zoom room, and they use the chat function to communicate with virtual students and collaborate on a shared file.
      • In this scenario, all in-class students would be expected to bring their laptop computers.
        • To speak with the virtual students, all but one in-class student would have to have their mics muted to avoid feedback.