Hello Formats & Modalities crew!
I will keep this dispatch brief, since we are still focusing on topic #1 and it looks like most folks still need to dig in. At the bottom of this post, I have included last week’s suggestions for engaging, plus a new suggestion to find a resource from the choice list that piques your interest. This week, I’m thinking about taking a look at “Our HyFlex Experiment: What’s Worked and What Hasn’t”.
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to teach a HyFlex course… recently, I’ve had this idea of providing students with a “menu” of activities and lectures and then scheduling them according to student interest. Students would then identify the class periods they planned on attending. It would be kind of like a “build your own course syllabus/ schedule.” I think this would work best for project-based classes because when students scheduled which classes they planned on participating in, they could choose those topics most relevant to their project.
On the other hand, I worry about students missing out on interesting/ unexpected connections they might make exploring a topic they previously thought to be “irrelevant;” having this amount of choice could potentially strip students of one of my favorite parts of learning — those magical moments when something that previously seemed irrelevant elucidates a significant concept, connection, or realization. The “OH, I never thought of it that way” moments. Perhaps this “choose your own adventure” type of HyFlex could be utilized for a portion of a class. I’m not sure. I hope to continue unpacking this idea through our module content!
Happy engaging!
- Topic: Start at our Topics page, which includes a short blurb and video. First the first half of June, we will focus in on “Affordances & Possibilities.” Estimated engagement time: 10 min.
- Resources: Explore the readings on the Resources page, starting with “The Landscape of Emerging Realities.” Estimated engagement time: 30 min.
- Choose another reading to annotate on the Choice Resources list lower on the Resources page.
- Questions: As a way for us to come together as a community and share our experiences with various modalities, answer What do you like/ dislike about teaching in [insert modality]? Estimated engagement time: 15 min.
- Activities: Complete the Imagining Classrooms Activity either in your workbook or on the DF website! Estimated engagement time: 20 min.