Colleges across Ontario, including Durham, are eagerly pushing a new model of teaching called HyFlex, which involves in-person instruction that is also streamed to student’s homes and recorded for later viewing. Durham College is calling it “Flexible” delivery in its fall delivery announcement, but it amounts to the same thing.
For those who have already experimented with this delivery method, some have found it a useful solution to remote-only instruction in classes where hands-on demonstrations are needed. But for others, this approach adds a further level of technical complexity and additional work for the instructor. Essentially, flexible/HyFlex teaching means delivering to three separate audiences. You have some students in person, others watching live at home and a third group that might only view the recording. Trying to juggle and engage three different audiences at once can be a real challenge and take away from the teacher’s ability to connect with any one group.
The recorded aspect of flexible/hybrid delivery is also concerning for faculty who worry about intellectual property and owernship of their materials. If a course if fully recorded, including hands-on demonstrations, what’s to stop an employer from offering those as online classes?
This recent article linked below details one professor’s experiences and concerns with this delivery.
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/teaching-hyflex-its-a-genre-problem/