What Are Student Needs for Flexibility?
In many schools, the Fall 2022 term is now more than half completed; midterms are finally over! We still see these patterns around participation planning for Spring 2023: 1) students are asking for more online sections so they can either avoid commuting or manage their complex lives better and 2) administrators want to bring more and more classes back fully on campus (with little or no flexibility).
What we are seeing now are reports of studies exploring the needs and desires of students in more detail. One recent report released by the Gates Foundation (Sep 28, 2022) - "Exploring the Exodus from Higher Education" reports the results of spring 2022 focus groups and a large survey (n=1,675) of high school graduates who either decided not to attend college or stopped out of a 2-year or 4-year college. The report describes a higher education marketplace that has shifted in many ways and is well-worth reading by administrators, legislators, faculty, and staff. You can read a summary of major findings from the report - Where Are the Students? at https://usprogram.gatesfoundation.org/news-and-insights/articles/gates-foundation-probes-college-enrollment-decline
In the study, students were asked if ten (10) additional supports would be helpful to them or not, should they choose to return to school. Two of these supports are associated with course modality. When asked if "Knowing that all of your classes will be in person" would be helpful support, only 44% of students expressed this as an extremely helpful (23%) or helpful (21%) factor. When asked if "Having more flexibility in programs to fit your life" would be helpful support, a remarkable 76% of students expressed this as an extremely helpful (45%) or helpful (31%) factor. This was the highest percentage of helpful/extremely helpful responses of any support, including "Being able to get more education without additional debt."
Amazing.
EDUCAUSE recently released its 2022 Students and Technology Report: Rebalancing the Student Experience. One of the seven focus areas is "Modality Preferences". Figure 3 in the report shows the percentage of students preferring fully or mostly face-to-face learning decreased from 65% pre-pandemic to 41% in 2022. Conversely, the percentage of students preferring fully online or hybrid (50% or more online) learning increased from 29% pre-pandemic to 47% in 2022.
https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/2022/students-and-technology-report-rebalancing-the-student-experience/modality-preferences
Related, an upcoming webinar sponsored by Instructure (parent company of Canvas LMS) is hosting a webinar focused on the needs of higher education students. "Higher Ed is Changing: Students Need Flexibility, Equitable Access & Employable Skills. One of the topic focus areas is “Students’ need for convenience and flexibility between in-person, online, or hybrid courses” (Register at: https://www.instructure.com/landing/webinar/Student-Needs-In-HigherEd)
The times are indeed changing rapidly toward flexible learning. Is your institution accepting this change and learning how to meet the growing need? Are you?
Recent Podcasts Addressing Flexible Learning
Several podcasts may be interesting to you if you want to hear more discussion about teaching in flexible modes such as HyFlex.
1. Teaching Here and There (THAT) by Dominic Pates, Dr. Ivan Sikora, and James Rutherford. This is a series for exploring the emerging practices in hybrid teaching in higher education. You can find the THAT podcast on common podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple podcast.
2. Balancing the Shift - a new podcast by Dr. Julie Lindsay and Dr. Lisa Jacka; the first episode (13 min) provides an introduction to HyFlex learning and teaching from their perspective with ideas for effective practice. (Podcast webpage with show notes: https://create.usq.edu.au/edtech/conversations/balancing-the-shift/). Available on Spotify and Apple podcast.
3. Lecture Breakers (Barbi Honeycutt) Episode 120: Case Study Episode: Let's Take a Look at a HyFlex Course. Listen to a deep dive into one professor's course (Dr. Andrea Brus) and her journey into HyFlex and how her role as a teacher has changed. Episode page: https://lecturebreakers.libsyn.com/120-case-study-episode-lets-take-a-look-at-a-hy-flex-course
HyFlex in the News/Blogosphere
Gathering (Webinar) This Week: Friday, October 28, 2022
Topic: HyFlex Teaching in Unbalanced Classes
Our next gathering event (webinar) is happening soon - October 28, 2022, 9 am – 10:30 am PDT (GMT/UTC -7) to discuss teaching challenges and solutions when there is a substantial imbalance among the modes of a HyFlex course. Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hyflex-learning-community-gathering-october-2022-registration-428109225217
Two HyFlex Workshops Beginning Oct 31 - Open for Registration
1. HyFlex Course Design Workshop October 31 - November 9, 2022
Our last HyFlex Course Design workshop for this calendar year is happening Oct 31 - Nov 9, 2022. This fully online workshop is hosted on our own LMS site and consists of five optional 90-minute synchronous sessions (10/31, 11/2,11/4, 11/7, and 11/9), supported by online resources and asynchronous discussion activities each day. Fully asynchronous participation is also supported. Participants can earn up to two HyFlex Learning badges for workshop activities and the completion of all assignments. Learn more here: https://www.hyflexlearning.org/workshops/
2. 3 Steps for Transitioning to HyFlex Workshop October 31 - November 5, 2022 (90 second promo video: https://youtu.be/_21lcOd-M_4)
Discover the difference between HyFlex course design and the blended or the flipped classroom while crafting your own HyFlex lesson. Intentionally designed HyFlex courses are engaging and successful learning experiences. While the HyFlex Learning Community’s foundational workshop, “HyFlex Course Design” is a high-level overview of HyFlex for getting started, this workshop drills down to the lesson level – the structure and flow of a HyFlex lesson. Start now transitioning your class for HyFlex course redesign one lesson at a time in advance of your next academic semester. Learn more here: https://www.hyflexlearning.org/workshops/
For a full description and the opportunity to enroll in either workshop, visit https://www.hyflexlearning.org/workshops/ If you'd like information on how to register groups, pay for registration other than with a credit card, or arrange a cohort workshop for your own faculty and designers, please contact us at hyflexlearning@gmail.com.
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