One form of digital teaching is called hybrid teaching. Hybrid teaching can be designed in different ways, but what is common is that there is interaction between physical and digital learning environments. This interaction can happen asynchronously at different times or synchronously with students both on campus and online at the same time.

Working with hybrid teaching can be a way of dealing with situations where students are not able to attend campus teaching, but also a way of opening up to broader recruitment and participation.

Hybrid teaching places special demands on achieving effective and equal communication for all students, so it is important to plan well for this type of teaching.

Below we have compiled some advice and tips to help you as a teacher in a hybrid context.

  • Inform students who will be attending remotely of the location of the digital meeting, while indicating in the schedule the room where the teaching will take place.
  • Plan for online teaching and convert to campus version.
  • Digital materials are a given in hybrid activities
  • Think in advance about the structure of group work. Campus-campus, distance-distance, campus-distance?
  • When collaborating between on-campus and distance students, tools in the digital environment are preferable.
  • To facilitate communication with distance students, it may be helpful if students in the classroom also connect their digital devices to the current Zoom room (important that they have microphones turned off and volume turned down to avoid crosstalk and echo).
  • Think through the challenges and possible hassles that may arise during the session, and plan so that you know what to do if problems arise.
  • Same start time for both groups. Start the digital meeting at the same time as you start the class in the room.
  • Keep the time! For online participants, it is particularly important to have set times.
  • Appoint one of the students on site to help with reading and compiling chat posts, for example.
  • Stay online after the class/seminar so students can comment or ask about things they don't want to take in a large group. Talking about these possibilities in advance will give students extra reassurance.
  • Sound quality is very important to the experience of those participating online.
  • Recommend head set for those participating online for better experience.
  • As a teacher, make sure you feel comfortable with the technology. Test the equipment well in advance of the teaching session and practice the different functions.
  • Have a back-up plan in case something doesn't work. For example, switch to your mobile phone temporarily if the sound or images don't work in the classroom.