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Centre for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
Centre for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
Centre for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
Blended and HyFlex learning are flexible course design approaches that intentionally combine in person and online learning to better support diverse learner needs.
While HyFlex design requires more planning and coordination, both approaches are supported by tools and services at College of the Rockies, including Moodle, Teams, and Kaltura, along with instructional design support from the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. This page introduces the core ideas behind Blended and HyFlex learning and points you to resources and supports to help you decide what level of flexibility best fits your course and your students.
Blended learning is an approach to course design which intentionally combines elements of face-to-face learning with online components. The most common example of a blended learning experience is the 'flipped' model where lectures are delivered virtually prior to the face-to-face class and learning assessment is conducted during the in-person session.
Please Note: This broader concept of Blended Learning is different to the Blended Delivery classification of hybrid online and face-to-face courses at College of the Rockies. In most cases, Blended Learning design assumes that students are experiencing the course similarly. For differentiated student experiences, please refer to our Introduction to HyFlex Learning below.
Through various supports such as the Kaltura video service, Teams integrations, and various Moodle Tools and activities, College of the Rockies provides numerous supports for implementing blended learning course designs.
If you are just getting started with Blended Learning in your Classes or would like a refresher on combining online and f2f components in your courses, we recommend the Blended Learning Module developed by the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning at the University of Calgary. They break down options for Blended learning into four modules and suggest some ideas and approaches you may not have considered previously.
Coming soon! Watch this space for more guidance and information on how to use College of the Rockies tools to better implement your blended learning experiences.
“HyFlex courses are class sessions that allow students to choose whether to attend classes face-to-face or online, synchronously or asynchronously” (Beatty 2019, ch 1).
HyFlex Course Design builds responsive and equitable courses with a high degree of student agency and choice. Students are able to elect into online or in-person course content and participation at any given point in the course delivery. As a result of hy-flex best practices such as delivering live synchronous classes in-person and via Teams meetings which are recorded and posted online, or providing online forum alternatives to in-class participation activities, students are not locked-in to an online or face-to-face model at any point in the semester.
The provision of highly flexible (Hyflex) strategies in your courses aligns directly with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the provision of "Multiple Means" of Engagement, Representation, and Expression. For example, by providing lecture materials both through in-person lectures and via online videos with readable transcripts you are both creating a HyFlex delivery environment while providing multiple means of engagement and representation for students. Or, by designing participation activities that can be conducted either in-person or via online tools, you are creating multiple means of engagement and expression.
A fully HyFlex course delivery is not a light undertaking and frequently requires a full reconsideration of a course. However, there are also opportunities for adopting and integrating ad-hoc HyFlex practices into existing Course deliveries. Some examples of HyFlex delivery options include:
The College is invested in providing Faculty with the tools and skills to design and deliver successful hybrid-flexible courses and the eLearning team and Teaching and Learning Specialists at the CITL are equipped to help you with both a complete HyFlex re-design or adopting HyFlex practices in your current course delivery.
If you are just getting started with understanding HyFlex Course Design, we recommend the following Open Learning resource developed by instructors across several Canadian Colleges: HyFlex Course Design and Teaching Strategies