Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic challenged Higher Education Institutions to offer innovative educational practices. Within a HEI in the east of The Netherlands, approximately 70% of the part-time bachelor students articulated the need for onsite education throughout the lockdown of 2020. As such within the Covid-19 limitations offering onsite courses to all students was not possible. To fulfil students’ needs, hybrid virtual classrooms [HVCs] were introduced, in which students within the disciplines of Economics and (Social) Health Care could alternately attend classes online and onsite.
Supporting teachers in preparing for teaching in HVC
Before the actual implementation of HVCs (Figure 1), three phases were identified: (1) technical preparation (2) teacher briefing, instruction and pedagogical support aimed at working with HVCs and (3) reflection and evaluation of teachers with educational designers and ongoing support. The first phase resulted in a classroom set-up and technical preconditions. The second phase provided teachers with a technological and pedagogical understanding of teaching in an HVC. The third phase was aligned to teachers’ technological and pedagogical need for support. Effective professional development is (also) provided during classroom enactment (Desimone, 2009). Therefore, teachers received support before and during the implementation of HVCs. Ongoing support addressed pedagogical and technical problems teachers experienced (Koehler & Mishra, 2005). Practical tools, examples and teachers’ experiences were shared, and insights in stimulating and motivating students were discussed.
Technical support
Before the start of the academic year, various technical tests were performed to determine under which circumstances sound and video would be optimal. Both are vital for attending online learning, since it sets the stage for proper (online) communication. Once the technical tests were conducted, a special classroom, with the proper setup for sound and video, was arranged, in which teachers could practice. While practicing in the test classroom, teachers got acquainted with the technical elements of teaching in HVCs. They learned which steps to take to initiate the connection with the online group and experienced the added value of a student assistant acting as moderator. Additionally, technical ICT support was available when anything malfunctioned or when teachers had additional (technical) questions.
During the implementation, most support offered in the first weeks addressed technical support. Despite familiarization in the test classroom, some teachers experienced difficulties while working with the hardware. In some HVCs hardware malfunctioned, which took several weeks to resolve.
Technical skills of teachers are one of the most important preconditions for successful teaching in an HVC. Our experiences illustrate that creating a test classroom helps teachers to understand opportunities and limitations of the classroom setup. As Koehler and Mishra (2005) underline, the next step is aligning the technical knowledge with pedagogical (content) knowledge.
Pedagogical support
Teaching an online and onsite group synchronously demands specific pedagogical skills. Most teachers within the HEI had limited experience with HVCs. Therefore, the following support has been developed and offered to teachers for inspiration and guidance:
- A video showing all the ins and outs of teaching in an HVC
The video showed what the classroom setup looked like and how to use it. It also showed the possibilities for interaction between the students online and in the classroom. Several options were explained to cater to the different skill levels of teachers.
- A practical guide with technical and pedagogical tips and examples of different ways of teaching to both an online an onsite group at the same time
In this guide, six learning activities were worked out in full detail. The activities chosen were those most frequently used in our education before the pandemic, for example how to stimulate discussions about the assignments made, how to practice certain skills and how to organize peer feedback sessions.
- Different hand-outs with quick pedagogical and technical tips for various phases during a classroom meeting
In these one-page hand-outs, teachers were able to quickly see the main points of attention for beginning, continuing and completing a class. For example, there were tips about managing expectations of both groups, the placement of the camera and how to pay attention to both groups when discussing an important theme.
- A weekly quick and easy-to-use tip in their daily classroom
Through the Microsoft Teams Channel, weekly tips were offered to the teachers. These tips were derived from good teaching practices from teachers. Additional tips were based on the insights of the educational designers, either from identified issues or (theoretical) insights.
- Kickstart meetings at the beginning of a new term
Using the kickstart meetings, we prepared teachers as best as possible to teach in an HVC. We presented all the ins and outs and informed teachers what support they could expect from both the organization. and from us as educational designers.
- A weekly evaluation guided by educational advisors where teachers could share their experiences and gave each other tips and support
In this meeting, teachers could share experiences with each other and with educational designers.
Based on our experiences, the wide diversity of support offered teachers various opportunities to improve their pedagogical skills for offering in HVCs.
Organizational support
Within the Covid-19 limitations, students were allowed to indicate whether they preferred to follow education onsite or online. Groups were composed based on this inventory, which resulted in an online and onsite group for almost every class. Maximum capacity for each classroom was determined. To minimize the risk of mutual contact between lesson changes, the timetable was altered. Furthermore, organizational support focused on the availability of facilities in all the classrooms and sufficient technical support. Ground rules were determined for recording classes.
Teachers’ experienced support
In order to identify teacher experiences with the preparation of and teaching in HVCs, evaluation and research activities were conducted. Course evaluations, teacher interviews (n=9) and a teacher questionnaire (n=39) were used to gain insights related to student interaction, motivating students and technical issues, and teachers’ self-efficacy regarding teaching in HVCs related to the community of inquiry model. This model helps to design the best possible blended and online learning environment by integrating three important elements: 1) social presence, 2) teaching presence, 3) cognitive presence. The qualitative data were analysed with a thematic coding approach, addressing teachers’ experiences with the support offered and their experiences of teaching in HVCs. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics.
Perceived pedagogical skills
The results illustrate that teachers value support by educational designers in preparing for and teaching in HVCs. Teachers shared their appreciation for the support offered throughout the implementation process. They valued that they could choose which support to use. In general, teachers appreciated the broad range of support. After the first term, teachers felt neutral in offering HVCs (M=3.23; SD=1.11). From a pedagogical perspective, teachers indicate that they select meaningful learning activities for both the online and onsite learners (M=3.59; SD=.81). Additionally, based on the interviews, involving both groups is challenging for teachers, although the questionnaire results suggested that they involve both groups of learners (M=4.22; SD=.61) and actively stimulate student participation in productive (reflective) conversations (M=4.02; SD=.88).
One of the most challenging aspects of HVC is the interaction between both groups of students. Teachers tend to focus on and interact with the onsite group. To overcome this issue, they experimented with various learning activities, including group discussion per ‘location’. In some cases, teachers gave one student the moderator function, to identify questions raised and points discussed online, whereas in other cases teachers did this themselves.
Additional insights on teaching and learning
Some teachers, especially those who offer skills-related courses (e.g., finance in Excel or conversation skills), queried whether their intended learning outcomes were suitable for HVCs. They argued that the HVC affected classroom safety and negatively affected student participation during learning activities.
The results of course evaluations identified that teachers and students see opportunities for more flexibility through offering lessons with HVCs. It offers opportunities for studying at their own place, and when lessons are recorded, their own time and pace. For part-time students, who combine a job, a personal life and studying, HVCs seem an especially fruitful pedagogical approach.
Potential of HVCs
The HVCs were introduced during Covid-19 to offer students the opportunity to attend classes either onsite or online. Since this pedagogical approach was new for the HEI and its teachers, three phases of support were offered. The results of evaluation and research activities underline the importance and value of each of the phases. As a result of the support offered, teachers felt capable of offering courses through HVCs. They search for meaningful learning activities that suit both groups of learners and try to focus on both groups. Yet this is also challenging given the fact that interaction between the groups is hard to accomplish and might have been limited by the classroom setup (both onsite and online).
To fully use the potential of HVCs, additional insights are needed to identify how many students should attend online and offline, whether interaction between both groups is needed and if so, which specific learning activities encourage the interaction between both groups. Based on our support experiences, integrating the additional insights in the current support will even further help teachers to teach in HVCs.
Blog Authors
Anne Lohuis
Educational designer/researcher
Quality Management & Research
Saxion – University of Applied Sciences
Dr Tjark Huizinga
Researcher
Department of Innovative and Effective Education
Saxion – University of Applied Sciences
Joseke Slaghuis
Educational designer
Quality Management & Research
Saxion – University of Applied Sciences
Judith Zwerver
Educational designer
Teaching and Learning Centre
Saxion – University of Applied Sciences
Rosalien Van der Meer
Researcher
Department of Innovative and Effective Education
Saxion – University of Applied Sciences
Dr Margreet Engelhart
Head of Department
Quality Management & Research
Saxion – University of Applied Sciences
References
Desimone, L. M. (2009). Improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development: Toward better conceptualizations and measures. Educational Researcher, 38(3), 181–199.
Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2005). What happens when teachers design educational technology? The development of technological pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 32(2), 131–152.