Plan hybrid activities

When designing activities for a hybrid class, plan for online students first. Think about how students who can’t be in the classroom will participate in class activities.

Provide class instructions or resources in advance. Share these somewhere easily accessible on Canvas or Teams. These could include any links to readings, slides, or online activities you want students to access in class.

Preparing and sharing clear instructions in advance helps both students and tutors save time and be on the same page about the goals of the class. It also supports students to better prepare, and gives them important context if they are absent for any reason.

Plan for the unexpected and have other options ready in case something doesn’t work.

Backup options might include:

• Uploading activities and resources in Canvas for students who can’t make it to class
• Sharing a summary of the class in Canvas, alongside any slides or resources used
• Recording the class
• Asking students to make collaborative notes during class

Be flexible about your capacity to use different technologies during class. Ideally, you might find a co-tutor or assistant to help you manage the session. If not, think about how simple you can make the technology for yourself during class, and be prepared to try different strategies over time.

One minute paper as a hybrid activity

One minute paper is a class writing activity that asks students to reflect on the day’s lesson. It provides valuable feedback to the teacher about the student learning experience and potential issues to address in the following lesson. Typically students are asked to respond to the following reflective questions:

1. What stuck the most?
2. What was the muddiest point?
3. What was interesting to you but left unanswered?

In a hybrid class, use Microsoft Forms or Mentimeter to collect anonymous open text responses from both online and onsite participants. Use the questions above as a starting point, or ask students specifically about the hybrid aspects of the class (for example, Could you see and hear everything in class? Could you communicate with other students on-campus and online easily?).

Think-Pair-Share as a hybrid activity

Think-pair-share is a popular group discussion activity that requires:

1. The teacher to pose an initial question for students to THINK about on their own.
2. Students to PAIR up with a class mate for a brief discussion about their thoughts.
3. Student groups to SHARE back to class about their collective thoughts.

When delivering a Think-Pair-Share activity in a hybrid class, try the following methods to be inclusive to all participants:

• During the THINK phase of the activity, consider displaying the chosen topic or statement on a Powerpoint slide or Canvas page, ensuring that you are sharing your screen via Zoom or MS Teams. Specify the time limit for the THINK phase of the activity on that slide/document as well e.g. 5 mins.
• To facilitate the PAIR phase of the activity, pair up on-campus participants with each other. Pair up online participants using a breakout room feature on either Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Again be sure to specify a time limit for the PAIR phase of the activity before sending participants off into pairs. Once the PAIR phase has completed you may call onsite participants back to their desks and online participants can be recalled back to the main online meeting by closing the breakout rooms.
• The SHARE phase of the activity can be facilitated with both the on-campus and online participants. On-campus participants may be called forward to speak into an in-room microphone when they present. Online participants may also be called upon to share with the class. The facilitator will ask an online participant to unmute when they are about to present and ensure the room speaker volume is at an appropriate level for participants in the room.

Rapid discussion as a hybrid activity

Rapid discussion is an ad-hoc discussion using a collaborative medium to break down hierarchies within a group (Köppe et al, 2018). Start by posing a question to the whole class, then direct students to a shared space to record their responses.

In a hybrid class, a shared space could include:

• A Mentimeter poll
• A shared online document, like an online Word document.
• A digital whiteboard, like Miro or MS Whiteboard.

After quick sharing of opinions and ideas about the prompt, the teacher facilitates an ad-hoc discussion among online and on-campus participants. This kind of discussion requires active moderation to ensure on-campus participants are being heard on the in-room microphones. You will also need to ensure the room speakers are set at a suitable volume to allow the online participants to be heard in the room.