{"id":991,"date":"2021-06-21T11:13:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T11:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/digitaleducation\/?p=991"},"modified":"2022-01-10T09:22:52","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T09:22:52","slug":"reflexions-on-hyflex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/digitaleducation\/reflexions-on-hyflex\/","title":{"rendered":"ReFlexions on HyFlex"},"content":{"rendered":"

In<\/span> 2020<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>we used\u00a0<\/span>HyFlex technology<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in our Research Skills in Pharmacology workshops to recreate the interactivity of class discussions.\u00a0<\/span>It allowed students in the classroom to interact with\u00a0<\/span>students thousands of miles\u00a0<\/span>away, but<\/span>\u00a0couldn\u2019t fully recapture the\u00a0<\/span>dynamics of small group discussions with\u00a0<\/span>everyone<\/span>\u00a0in the same place.<\/span>\"HyFlex<\/p>\n

My colleague Susan Duty and I co-<\/span>organise<\/span>\u00a0the Research Skills in Pharmacology module.\u00a0<\/span>We designed this module to\u00a0<\/span>improve<\/span>\u00a0training in research methodology\u00a0<\/span>and practical skills\u00a0<\/span>for our students before the<\/span>y start on\u00a0<\/span>professional placements or final year research projects.\u00a0<\/span>Workshops to allow small group discussions between students are a<\/span>\u00a0key element of the module<\/span>, so we were concerned that social distancing and students choosing to study remotely\u00a0<\/span>would greatly disrupt our ability to\u00a0<\/span>run\u00a0<\/span>them<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>HyFlex<\/span>\u00a0approach with remote students joining classroom sessions via Tea<\/span>ms<\/span>\u00a0and a camera<\/span>\u00a0\/ microphone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>covering the room\u00a0<\/span>sounded promising\u00a0<\/span>as a means to<\/span>\u00a0allow our usual\u00a0<\/span>discussions to take place.\u00a0<\/span>Our module was one of the first in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine<\/span> to try this approach, but despite a warning\u00a0<\/span>that we should be prepared for failure while trying to make\u00a0<\/span>HyFlex<\/span>\u00a0work we were reasonably happy with the outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

We found that running HyFlex sessions was much easier with 2 members of staff in the classroom. One would lead the session as normal, whilst the other dealt with the technology and monitored Microsoft Teams for contributions made by students on there. We found that we could allow the group of online students to discuss their ideas by muting the classroom microphone and turning down the volume on the computer audio. However, with up to 20 students online it was too easy for some to hide and not participate in the chat. The breakout rooms function that has recently been introduced to Teams should help with that problem, as splitting students into smaller groups will make it harder for them to avoid contributions. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Running a single\u00a0HyFlex\u00a0session took less time than duplicating the session, once in the classroom\u00a0and once online. However,\u00a0I don\u2019t feel that\u00a0is an effective replacement for sessions designed to run wholly online or wholly\u00a0on campus.\u00a0Constantly having to shift focus between the physical and virtual classrooms was mentally draining.\u00a0Socially-distanced\u00a0students\u00a0wearing masks in the classroom found it difficult to communicate with each other and students online struggle to hear them through their masks.\u00a0Although being able to meet our students in\u00a0College\u00a0was\u00a0a positive experience, with a focus purely on the educational value of the sessions I think they would have worked better\u00a0if they had been held entirely online using breakout rooms to\u00a0allow mall group\u00a0discussion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

HyFlex<\/span>\u00a0technology\u00a0<\/span>allows students in the classroom and those working remotely to be part of the same\u00a0<\/span>teaching\u00a0<\/span>sessions,\u00a0<\/span>but\u00a0<\/span>social distancing means that the physical classroom\u00a0<\/span>is not as dynamic whilst the interface between the virtual and physical classrooms\u00a0<\/span>makes communication more difficult than in an online-only session.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Useful Links:<\/strong><\/h3>\n