Online education: Hybrid education

“Hybrid education works best when it is interactive”

In the past year, and largely spurred by the forced transition to online education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities have begun to explore the possibilities of hybrid education. In hybrid education, one group of students takes the course on campus, while another group takes the course remotely from a location of their choice (Butz et al., 2016; Hastie et al., 2010). Recent research suggests that hybrid learning environments offer flexible and engaging learning opportunities, but also present many pedagogical and technological challenges (Raes et al., 2020).

The course Literatures of the Modern Middle East (FGw) was taught using a hybrid approach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Student Janneke Bosman indicated that student activity and participation was greater in this course than in other online courses. Although she had never been on location for this course and took the class online, she felt fully involved in what was happening on location. What made the hybrid approach to this course successful?

Experience of lecturer Djûke Poppinga

Djûke Poppinga is since 2010 lecturer in Arabic language and culture (UvA), since 1985 literary translator Arabic-Dutch for several Dutch publishers, advisor to several organizations including Literary Festival Writers Unlimited, until January 2021 chair of the board of Cinéma Arabe of the Foundation for Education East Africa, lived in Syria and Egypt.

 

Fellow lecturer Yaniv Hagbi (not present at the interview) is a lecturer in Hebrew language and culture and the initiator of teaching this course using a hybrid approach.

More information about Yaniv Hagbi

Diving straight into literature

There are two of us teaching the course Literatures of the Modern Middle East. Yaniv Hagbi focuses on the Hebrew – and I on the Arabic side. Yaniv and I are both practitioners. We have both read a lot. I have translated over fifty books, and Yaniv is a writer of Hebrew literature in addition to his full-time teaching job. Above all, we want students to read a lot and to enjoy reading. Therefore, the focus of our course is on reading literature, theory comes into play when necessary and relevant. The literature comes first and from the literature we generate more context and knowledge. The subject consists of interactive lectures: students in our course have to read contemporary novels, poetry and short stories from different countries of the region, discuss, give presentations, write reviews and submit a paper. We cover a different theme each week, such as “gender” and “love,” but more abstract topics are also covered, such as “space” and “time.” We always get the feedback that students like being able to dive right into the literature rather than having the theory first.

As much interaction with the student as possible

We were already teaching this course before Corona. Back then, we also focused on having as much interaction with the student as possible, and we wanted to maintain that online. In my opinion, you have to make contact with the students. You do that by looking at people, by asking questions, by doing assignments with small groups and then coming together again with the class, by discussing and by giving students preparatory assignments. Hybrid teaching turned out to work well because of that interaction, which was already present in our lecture format. In discussions, we did not differentiate between students in the classroom or online. Online students could also respond to students in the classroom and vice versa. As an instructor, you try to facilitate that as well. To ensure that students were prepared, we gave them assignments prior to class. For example, they had to formulate and mail us beforehand questions about the texts so that we could take them into account during the lesson. We also asked them to look something up online that was related to our topic so that we could discuss it further in class. That is nice for us as teachers, because you don’t have all the wisdom at your disposal and you get surprised by the interesting visions students bring in and which you can use in your lessons. This is also nice for the students, because in this way they have the opportunity to contribute to shaping the lesson.

Initially I was reluctant to do hybrid teaching

At first, the idea was to teach the course entirely online, but then Yaniv came up with the idea of hybrid teaching, because he thought it would be nicer to have some students face to face. At first I was reluctant and not very enthusiastic with this idea. I’m a bit older – I’ll be retiring soon – and, I am afraid I am not that handy with the technical stuff. I thought ‘oh dear, I already have to convert five courses to online classes and now a hybrid course as well’.  But Yaniv is a lot younger, he was very enthusiastic and that took me along. Luckily we had a student assistant who helped with the camera and set it all up for us. There is always little time to do something like that, because you also have to get a lot of other things ready just before class. It is so nice to have someone do that for you, it saves stress and it took away my reservations.

Engage a student assistant if you have the ability to do so

I really recommend having a student assistant.  Our student assistants – we both had one – stayed for the whole lecture. Not only did they set up the camera, but they also helped with technical things like dividing the groups into breakout rooms and they helped with coaching the different groups. Since attendance was part of the grade, we also had the student assistants keep the attendance records. They did this twice per class at unexpected times to ensure that people were present throughout the lecture and not just turning on their cameras. They were also the ones who regulated who was present online and in the classroom. Students signed up with the student assistants to be present in the classroom. They even helped review the papers, though always in collaboration with us. I couldn’t have done it without the student assistants.

Hybrid teaching is exciting because you have to pay attention to different impulses

I am an old-fashioned teacher who loves teaching in a classroom with students in front of her. Therefore, I would have liked teaching on site with the full group more than hybrid, because having students online in the picture is a bit more abstract and static. Still, I did find that hybrid teaching has advantages over online teaching. Hybrid teaching is more close to the on campus experience than online teaching. I also like hybrid teaching more than online teaching because it allows for more interaction. It is quite exciting because there are different impulses in multiple places that you have to pay attention to. In the classroom, 15 students were allowed to be present and the rest, about 45 students, had to follow the class online. It was very intense for me to watch in those different places, while also doing your best to finish your curriculum properly. Anything new takes effort and I found it quite difficult in the beginning. I came home in the evening completely broken after teaching. It is perhaps even more intensive than ‘just standing in front of the class’, but fortunately you get used to it and after a while it is becomes normal. It is also very nice to notice that what you do comes across well to the students and that they like it. Still, some people have dropped out, but that may have to do with other reasons as well.

You can be more yourself in hybrid classes than online

We are pretty mobile teachers and that was possible with hybrid lessons, while it was more difficult with fully online lessons. It is nice in hybrid teaching that you can be yourself more. In the classroom, the online group was projected onto the whiteboard behind me, so I couldn’t see them when I was looking at the students in the classroom. I would sometimes make the mistake of turning around to look at an online student, but then they would see the back of my head. That was very difficult, but it is very sweet how students help you to remember. Everyone did their best to make the lesson run smoothly, everyone is helpful and shows solidarity to make the best of it together.

TIP  FROM DJÛKE:

“When teaching online, a lesson can quickly become formal, while it should be informal. That’s when students and teachers loosen up. So make sure your lesson is interactive. Be creative and think of fun assignments. The golden touch is when students can contribute something to the lesson, a lecture in which everyone has something to say. As a teacher, you will benefit greatly from this as well. Furthermore, a good collaboration between teachers is essential. That is certainly the case with Yaniv and me.

Student experience

 

Picture made by Eric Bosman

Student Janneke Bosman

Third year BA Dutch language and culture with the minor Middle East studies (within which the course Literatures of the Modern Middle East was given).

 

Reading literature instead of just theory was particularly nice

I chose the Middle Eastern Studies Minor because I think it is important that when I study Dutch language and culture I also learn about cultures that have an influence on our society and the world. I went in with zero knowledge and learned an enormous amount from the subject and my fellow students. It was nice to be able to read so much literature instead of first a lot of theory and then some literature. Literature from the Middle East region is very different from Dutch literature, so that made it extra interesting. I was curious and wanted to read everything to know more about it. It was very nice that the teachers were open to what the students had to say about the texts they read. They emphasized that there is no right or wrong and they wanted to hear what we thought about it, which made it more of a conversation and the threshold to participate was low. In itself, this is not necessarily related to online teaching, but an open atmosphere does ensure more participation, even from students who participate online.

Teachers start teaching more vividly when they are in front of a live audience

After 1.5 years of online and hybrid education, this was the first course where I thought ‘this way of hybrid education works well’. I was never on location during this course and never met a fellow student, but despite the distance from behind my screen, I felt fully engaged with the course, the instructors, and my fellow students. In other online or hybrid courses, I did not have that feeling or it was much less. It seemed that because the lecturers were also in front of real audiences, they were more engaged and inspired. The lecturers told very vividly and enthusiastic stories. I could see from their posture and facial expressions that they were completely into it and then there is immediately a kind of spark that ignites. I also think it is much nicer to be in front of real people instead of sitting behind your screen in front of a camera telling your story to a group of tiles.

Varied forms of work

In my opinion, online education only works if students can participate. A lecture where the teacher just talks and talks, and where you as a student only have to listen and occasionally ask a question, doesn’t work online. It is tough enough to listen to a monologue for hours in the lecture hall, but to listen all the way to a lecture from behind a screen is even harder  after half an hour you give up. This course was very varied in terms of learning activities. There were readings, small group assignments and class discussions. As a result, there was more involvement in this hybrid course with about sixty students than in other courses I took entirely online with only twenty fellow students.

Being seen

What these instructors also did well was to ask questions of both students who attended on-site and those who attended online. As a result, a discussion was not just held in the classroom, but with the entire group. The instructors really went out of their way to engage everyone, so everyone was actively involved with the course material. In this way, as an online student, you also feel fully involved in what is happening in the classroom and you feel part of the group. I also felt free to ask questions in between lessons. By the way, it seems quite intensive for the teacher to have to watch 2 locations at the same time, but it really has added value when the teacher does that and actively involves both groups in the lesson. Students then feel more noticed.

Preparatory discussions create engagement

In this course, short assignments were regularly given that were discussed in small groups both in the classroom and online. After working in small groups for a while the assignment was discussed again with the whole class. Because you have just discussed the assignment in a small group, you are immediately involved in what is happening in class. I have often experienced that students did not dare to participate from behind their screens, but because of the informal preparatory discussions in smaller groups, the ice was quickly broken. You have practiced it casually and you know that your group can support you when you say something for the whole class. Then you do your best for each other. The discussions really got going because of this. That interaction makes you as a student want to pay attention and do your best for the subject. Moreover, because the camera turned towards the person speaking, you could see who was speaking. This allowed me to focus well and got to know the students who were on location. I never regretted for a moment that I was at home behind my computer. The people in the room made me feel like I was there too.

TIP  FROM Janneke:

Everyone prefers to be in a lecture hall, but if that is not possible then hybrid lectures are a good option. Hybrid lectures get everyone more excited than online lectures, so if it is possible, I think that is the best choice. Interaction is what makes the hybrid lecture work. As a student, you are then more engaged and do your best. I would also recommend lecturers to take a break. I have noticed at other courses that lecturers often forgot to take breaks when teaching online. While you may need them even more online, because taking classes from behind a screen feels more intense. In this class we kept the usual structure: three quarters of an hour lecture, fifteen minutes break (sometimes ten minutes) and then another three quarters of an hour lecture. During that break the lecturers stayed online for some questions and also before the lecture you could log in fifteen minutes earlier to ask questions. I also recommend that lecturers actively let you know how and when the lecturer can be reached for questions. Is that by email, or can you hang out after the lecture? With online or hybrid classes, that informal contact with the teacher often seemed to disappear. It is also nice if the teacher explains at the beginning of the lecture series how questions will be handled during the lecture and how an online student can make his or her question known during the lecture. In this course, it was soon clear that you could email questions at any time. The response was always very quick – which was great. In addition, during the lessons there was enough room to ask questions. During the last lecture there was still more than an hour for questions about the essay.

 

Comment Djûke

I agree with Janneke that of the online options, hybrid is the best. I do indeed hear that about forgetting breaks more often, but breaks are essential. I can imagine that it is important for students to know how and when they can approach the lecturers with questions. For a very long time, we set up that we were still available for half an hour after lecture for questions in the classroom and for students online. I did the same with all of my online courses, either getting there earlier or staying even longer in Zoom, even if it wasn’t used that much.” 

Read more about Hybrid Education:

The article below describes, for different teaching situations, how to organize synchronous hybrid teaching on location, and what to look out for. The second article is about the use of the so-called owl camera (OWL), which rotates along to the person who is speaking.

Hybride education situations (Dutch only)

OWL in education (Dutch only)

Series of examples of online education during COVID-19 in practice

This story is part of a series of inspiring case studies of online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged during focus group discussions within the research project ‘Online and blended education at the UvA’. This research project offers insight into the experiences of lecturers and students with online (aspects of) education and the strategies lecturers have used to stimulate (online) learning. The stories and reports from this project can be found on the project page: https://tlc.uva.nl/en/article-category/research-and-knowledge-sharing/?faculty=26 

Butz, N. T., Stupnisky, R. H., Pekrun, R., Jensen, J. L., & Harsell, D. M. (2016). The Impact of emotions on student achievement in synchronous hybrid business and public administration programs: A longitudinal test of control-value theory. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 14(4), 441–474.

Hastie, M., Hung, I. C., Chen, N. S., & Kinshuk, (2010). A blended synchronous learning model for educational international collaboration. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 47(1), 9–24

Raes, A., Detienne, L., Windey, I., & Depaepe, F. (2020). A systematic literature review on synchronous hybrid learning: Gaps identified. Learning Environments Research23(3), 269-290.