Hybrid teaching experiences

Hybrid teaching tips

• Tip 1: Proper preparation is half the battle

  It was interesting that those teachers present who already had experience with hybrid teaching, generally had positive experiences. These instructors did prepare themselves to some extent for hybrid teaching. How they had prepared varied:

  • Participation in the hybrid teaching workshop in August provided by the VU Education Lab (given by Sjirk Zijlstra, LEARN! Academy, and Birgit van Berlo, junior lecturer Movement Sciences)
  • Participation in one of the several practice hours organised by the VU Education Lab
  • Practising in a hybrid lecture hall prior to the lecture, the instruction manual in the hall was a great help
  • Studying the hybrid teaching page (including a short video about how to use the equipment)

  Many people have used a combination of the options above.

• Tip 2: Disable the chat and use the Raise Hand feature

  The chat function within Zoom is experienced as very distracting, both for the teacher and the students. Students post a lot of questions and remarks, and you as a teacher have to read them constantly, which takes up a lot of time. Reading the chat and listening to the teacher are also hard to manage for the (online) students. Some teachers have therefore chosen to turn this function off completely and they said it made all the difference.

  Of course, students online should still be able to ask questions and make comments. The raise hand function in Zoom is a good alternative. If the student clicks on the raise hand button, the window of this student jumps to the front and a hand symbol appears on the screen. That way you can see which online student would like to say something. The student unmutes himself and everyone can hear the student.

  One of the students who attended the meeting also had experience with this and was very positive about it. He felt much more involved in class by being able to say something out loud. He indicated that this was more valuable for him than using the chat.

• Tip 3: In large groups, use the moderator function in Mentimeter

  The raise hand function mentioned in tip 2 can be scary for students in large groups. Then a more accessible way is desirable. This is possible with Mentimeter, was mentioned during the session.

  Mentimeter features a Q&A moderation option that few people know about, but is very useful when it comes to hybrid teaching. Upload your presentation to Mentimeter and turn on the Q&A function. Students can now submit questions for each slide. A small counter will appear in the bottom right-hand corner, indicating how many questions are currently unanswered.

  In large groups, this can lead to a multitude of questions and remarks, in which case a second person, a moderator, should keep track of these questions and decide which ones are made visible to the teacher and the students present. This is exactly what the moderation function in Mentimeter is intended for. The idea is that only the most important questions are visible, so the teacher can choose when the questions are answered and no one will be distracted by chat messages.

• Tip 4: Use your own laptop as a second screen

  If you only use the computer in the room for your lecture, you will only see your own presentation shared in the Zoom meeting. One of the teachers said she did not like this, so she always brings her own laptop to lectures. She uses it as a second screen on which she can see the students at home. This makes her feel more connected to the online group.

• Tip 5: Now and then stop sharing your Powerpoint

  The difficult part of hybrid teaching is connecting the online and offline students. The teachers have been looking for ways to make this work. For example, one of the teachers occasionally stops sharing her Powerpoint in Zoom. The result is that the online students can be seen on the classroom screen. Also, the teacher turns the camera in the lecture hall from time to time, so the students at home can see the students in the hall. If the camera cannot be rotated, you could use the camera in your laptop. The students of this teacher confirmed that this was nice and that it gave a feeling of community.

• Tip 6: Prevent echoing

  Several teachers remarked that there can occur an echo or even ringing in the auditorium. Through trial and error, they learned how to prevent this. The best way, they agreed, is to mute the audio on all computers present, except the permanent computer in the lecture hall.

  It is not recommended to use a different computer than the one in the hall for audio, because the main computer is connected to the speakers within the room. These allow the students at home to be heard clearly. Please share this tip with the in-hall students so that they do not turn on the audio on their computers.

• Tip 7: Writing on the blackboard

  In most VU lecture halls, it is not possible to write on the blackboard in such a way that students at home can also easily read it. Teachers have been looking for solutions.

  In the smaller workgroup rooms there is a portable camera. The camera can be placed right in front of the blackboard, so that the writing is clearly visible for the students at home. Another lecturer used a personal second camera that he placed right in front of the board. The DPJ junior teachers' video in which they explain the best ways to write digitally, was also discussed. The video explains two methods: using your own tablet and using the Wacom that is installed in the lecture halls of the NU building.

• Tip 8: Be kind to yourself

  Perhaps the most important of all the tips that have been shared. We are all in the process of implementing a new form of education. Nobody expects everything to be perfect right from the start. Making mistakes is okay. Students will understand.