[music playing]

OTAN, Outreach and Technical Assistance Network.

Jia Sun: Hello, everyone. Welcome to our presentation today, HyFlex model, Recommendations for Student Access and Success. My name is Jia Sun. I work for San Diego College of Continuing Education. I currently serve as the ESL digital literacy coordinator. I also teach a beginner level conversation class. I've been in the area for almost nine years. Again, thank you so much for joining our presentation today. Now, I'm going to hand it over to Monica.

Monica Cueva: Hi. Hi, everyone. Thank you for coming today. I'm Monica Cueva. And I am also at San Diego College of Continuing Education. I'm currently teaching an intermediate high vessel class online. So that includes synchronous and asynchronous instruction on Canvas and Zoom.

And I also am serving as our ESL technology coordinator. And so in that role, I'm also-- I've been supporting our HyFlex faculty and classes with Jia. So for today, we would like to-- we have quite a bit to cover. But we'll start off with a short brief overview of what HyFlex is and an explanation of why continuing education and why our program decided to move forward with this modality of learning, as well as share some information about our HyFlex pilot and some of the hardware options that we've used.

And that could be options for you, as well as some technology recommendations and information about the support and the professional development that we've provided, and also share some HyFlex strong practices from our ESL faculty in our program. And we want to first start out with a Zoom poll just so we can know how many people here know about HyFlex and have actually taught HyFlex.

Or if it's all new to you, we would know better how to gauge our pace or presentation. So I'm going to go ahead and launch this poll. There are two questions for you. The first question is single choice. You just have one option. And the second question, you can select as many that apply. So let me launch this. And you should see it on your end now.

Has completed the poll. OK, great. So let me go ahead and end the poll. And I'll share these results with you just so you can see as well. So it seems like most everyone knows what HyFlex is but has not taught at a HyFlex class. So you're in the right spot to learn more about how a HyFlex class is taught and what are some of the practices that you can use.

And a couple of you have actually taught a HyFlex class. And for the second question, it seems like you're here and want to learn as much as you can. So technology seems to be number one. We'll definitely be reviewing some of those options for you as well. OK, thank you for responding to that. OK, so I'll just briefly go over this since it seems as many of you already know what HyFlex is.

But HyFlex includes two components, an asynchronous and synchronous. And for us, for the asynchronous instruction, students go to Canvas. That's our LMS. And students will complete all their assignments, and do activities, and review the content in Canvas. And then in addition to that, they have their synchronous instruction, which they can choose to either join via Zoom or in the classroom.

And these are-- usually in HyFlex, these are broadcast simultaneously. So the teacher is not just instructing one group of students. The teacher is in the classroom and instructing two audiences. So they have students on Zoom and in the classroom during each session. But students get-- they don't have to choose which modality they want to learn study in at the beginning of the semester.

This is something that they can decide day to day, session to session. One day they might feel like joining Zoom, or they're busy, and that's their only option. The next day, they might have a little bit more free time, and they would like to be in the classroom. This is also great flexibility with the students work schedule, family schedule, transportation. So all around, it provides a flexible option for students.

And why HyFlex? So our program, as with many-- actually, all of continuing education, as I'm sure you all have experienced, we had a significant decrease in the number of-- many of our students but significantly our beginning level students. Once we transition to remote instruction, we lost a lot of those students. So HyFlex allowed for us to provide an opportunity for those students that we lost to come back to campus.

And it also allowed for us to keep those students that were studying successfully online in those classes as well. And then, of course, it's the flexibility. It's great for our students in how unpredictable their lives can be, how busy their lives can be. So this is really a great modality for that. And also, we've used HyFlex as a sort of soft launch for reopening. And this allows us-- the flexibility that HyFlex offers allows us to support the changing COVID restrictions that we have and has also allowed us time to prepare any technology updates that might have been needed after two years of not using any of our equipment.

So that's kind of the background information of why we decided to move forward with our HyFlex course offerings. And our HyFlex pilot really started Summer 2021. And that's when we started field testing technology. We've received some OWL devices that we started testing.

We also then tested-- in the summer, we also tested using laptops and tablets with microphones for HyFlex instruction. We provided some demonstrations of a HyFlex model for faculty. And we also provided training for our instructional assistants and faculty over the summer, moving closer to fall 2021. And all of this allowed us to successfully launch 39 ESL HyFlex pilot classes in fall 2021.

So those were just ESL classes. We have 39, which was a significant pilot launch. So then our total enrollment for fall 2021 was 1,348 students. And that's increased a bit. And I can just highlight that for you. So this was our fall 2021 enrollment. And then our spring 2022 enrollment has increased a little bit. We're now at 1,370 students. And we're still continuing to add some additional HyFlex classes throughout the semester. So that number will likely increase. OK. And we'll pass it over to Jia.

Jia Sun: OK, thank you, Monica. So I'm going to show you three different HyFlex hardware setups. The first one, as you can see here, is just to bring your laptop to the classroom. You can use the laptop built-in webcam and microphone. Or here in this image, our HyFlex instructor Ingrid Greenberg added a microphone for better sound quality. The advantage of this option is that it's easy to get started, does not require the school to provide any special technology equipment.

It's budget-friendly. Everyone can start a HyFlex class just using a laptop. The problem in the first option is that the instructor is pretty much tied to the podium or the laptop. If the instructor moves around in the classroom, Zoom students won't be able to see or even hear the instructor. And the second one, you can see, is the OWL camera.

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with this device. It's a 360 degree camera, mic, and speaker. It's the combination of the three. The camera automatically tracks the active presenter. When there are additional in-room speakers, it will automatically start a split screen view to include all speakers. So the advantage of the OWL is that the camera follows the instructor so Zoom students won't lose teacher presence.

The disadvantage of the OWL camera is that the microphone will reliably pick up audio within a 12 to 18 inch radius. So that doesn't give the teacher much flexibility to move around the classroom. And another concern was the second option is student privacy. With the current COVID situation, everyone is wearing a mask in the classroom. So it's not a problem.

However, if the teacher decides to record a HyFlex session, we'll have to keep in mind to provide the students' privacy. There is a way that you can lock the camera using an app on the smartphone. But since the teacher is busy teaching, so it will probably require a second person, like an instructional assistant to control the app.

OK. And the third option, smart technology with ceiling mic and wall camera is what SDCCE ESL program is currently using. As you can see in the picture, there are two ceiling microphone panels, a camera that is installed on the back wall of the classroom. The camera has three presets that you can set up to focus on different parts of the classroom. It requires a desktop hub, classroom computer, and an additional laptop.

On the podium, there is a touch screen control panel and a content box that teacher will use to control what content to share on Zoom. So teacher will host a Zoom meeting using the laptop and present the content on the classroom desktop. So this set up provides the best audio quality. Teacher and students can be heard clearly wherever in the classroom .

The quad camera with the three presets also allows the teacher to move freely in the classroom. The disadvantage is that as you can see, this set up includes several parts. In this additional professional development, it takes time for teachers to get familiar with the system. Also, if any tech issue happens, troubleshooting is not as easy as just one device.

OK so, these are the three technology setups our program has tested and used. OK.

Monica Cueva: There is just a question about the cost of number three.

Jia Sun: Well, we don't know the exact number, but we've heard it's very expensive. Yeah. OK. OK, so HyFlex technology recommendations. So our first recommendation will be test the audio. In fall 2021, HyFlex faculty survey 70% of the faculty and 63% of the instructional assistant wanted more support in troubleshooting audio.

So one of the common issues is that when multiple devices during the same Zoom meeting in the same room, it creates a feedback. So you need to make sure that only one device is connected to audio. Another thing is that if the instructor is using a laptop or the OWL device, the Zoomers may not be able to hear the people in the classroom.

So one solution is what we call the talk to the OWL. So the instructor will invite volunteer students to come to the front and speak right in front of the OWL camera to be heard by the Zoom students. So our recommendation is that whatever technology set up you will use, always make sure that you double check the audio quality before the class.

OK. Teacher presence. So here, you can see a screenshot from a Zoom meeting. This is what we call ghost the speaker. The presenter left the podium, and the Zoom students cannot tell who was speaking. So we definitely do not want this to happen to our students. Using the OWL device will increase teacher presence, because the camera follows the active speaker.

The HyFlex smart classroom set up also have three presets to enhance teacher presence. So the instructor just need to remember to change the presets before he or she moves from the podium. And our last recommendation for technology is to arrange for IT support during class sessions.

So if the technology is not working, it can be really frustrating for both the teacher and the students. So we recommend IT support during class sessions. Monica and I provided some on-site tech support for the first two weeks of school to just troubleshoot. But we will recommend professional IT group to provide that support.

So SDCCE ESL HyFlex support. Well, HyFlex is new, and challenging, and requires more work for both the students and our faculty. So our ESL program made sure that our students and faculty had enough support to begin the pilot. The first one is the HyFlex orientation for students. Monica and I designed orientation in which students will learn what is HyFlex, what a HyFlex schedule looks like, how to use email to communicate with their teachers, how to use Zoom and log into Canvas.

So before students go into a HyFlex class, they have some foundational knowledge of what this is. Online learning skills class. Our program offers those classes at different levels so students can learn the skills they need to participate in online and HyFlex learning. Instructional aide training.

Each SDCCE ESL HyFlex class has an assigned instructional assistant to support HyFlex instruction. We provide a training for the IA so that they know what they can do to support the instructor. They learn some Zoom basics, how to spotlight, mute, unmute people, how to create breakout rooms. Later on, Monica will tell you more details about what the IAs can do.

We had technology training for the OWL and the smart classroom. The top left picture, you can see as the OWL training, Monica was showing everyone how to use the Meeting OWL app on their smartphones. Yes. Thank you. And next one, outside support troubleshooting is really important, especially at the beginning of the semester.

Monica, and I, and several other faculty in the leadership team provided that support for our HyFlex instructors so they're not completely on their own. Monica has been providing weekly ESL tech mentoring for all HyFlex and online instructors. Teachers can get help with questions about Canvas, Zoom, and other online tools.

We also have monthly HyFlex meetup. Our HyFlex instructors communicate, share ideas at these meet ups. It's a great way for them to collaborate and support each other. The bottom left picture is a screen of our HyFlex meetup. So now, we want to show you what HyFlex looks like in the SDCCE ESL program.

We have included some strong HyFlex practices shared by our instructors. And we put them into three categories, engaging to audiences, working with instructional assistants, and building class community. I will share the first one, engaging two audiences, and Monica will show you the rest two.

So one of the challenges we hear a lot from our HyFlex instructors is divided attention to the two audiences. We want to share some great activities that could bring the two audiences together. So the first step, one I would like to share is a writing activity created by our level one HyFlex faculty Rawya El Malt.

She creates a writing assignment. Thank you. She's creating or writing assignments on Canvas discussion and asks Zoom students to respond to the prompt on Canvas during the class time. She projects the writing assignments on the classroom screen and asks classroom students to write with paper and pen.

She will help with the students on Zoom and have her IA to help the students in the classroom. Thank you. To review and give feedback, she will screen share on Zoom the Canvas discussion board for everyone to see. And she will use the document camera to show the paper submissions. So this allows all students to see each other's work.

And they also work together to correct the writing errors. So the second activity is shared by our ESL level one HyFlex instructor Johanna Gleason. Here's a picture of Johanna and her instructional assistant Rizza and her HyFlex students. Instead of me explaining how she used the information gap activity to engage both roomers and Zoomers, she currently created a video to demonstrate the activity. So Monica, can you please play that video for us?

Monica Cueva: Yes. Let me just make sure I shared computer sound.

[video playback]

- Hi. This is an activity that I do with my level 1 English class. We're learning about jobs. They know the names and duties of a number of jobs. I ask one student at a time to come to the front of the room and choose a piece of paper. Just ripped up pieces of paper. They can't see what's on the paper.

And we choose a piece of paper. They look at it and don't show anyone. And all of the students in the class, both in the room and on Zoom, call out yes/no questions until they can guess what the job is. So for example. And we've learned, we've practiced all of these questions and all of this vocabulary.

And when we first start the activity, I actually have this on the projector so students can see it. So after we've done that a few times, then I tell all the students in the room to sit down. And I turn the projector off. So the students in the room can't see the image, but the students at home on Zoom can.

And then I put a word and an image on the screen for the students at home to see. So the students at home will see what you see. The students in the room don't see anything. And the students in the room have to call out the yes/no questions. And the students home on Zoom have to answer the yes/no questions until the students in the room can guess the questions.

So they'll look at this and maybe ask questions like, do you count money? Do you serve food? Do you sell clothes? Until finally, do you clean buildings? Yes, yes. OK. So we'll do that a couple of times with those questions. And it's a lot of fun. Typically, the students really enjoy it. They laugh a lot.

And I enjoy it. And I think it's transferable to other types of vocabulary activities too. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.

[end playback]

Jia Sun: Yeah, thank you, Monica. So we think-- well, as you can see from the video we think this is really a brilliant way to engage both audiences. The Zoom students and classroom students all have to participate and work with each other to get the correct answer. So yeah. So thanks to Johanna who shared this great activity with us. Now, I'm going to hand it over to Monica.

Monica Cueva: Thank you, Jia. So now, I will go ahead and share some of the amazing ways that our instructional assistants are helping our HyFlex classes. We really could not have gone through the fall semester of HyFlex and our current semester of HyFlex without the help of our instructional assistants.

They have provided support for students in so many ways. And so we reached out to ESL faculty member Ingrid Greenberg, who taught an ESL level one class in the fall semester. And we asked her how her instructional assistant Ju had supported her HyFlex class. And she gave us a long list of all the ways that her IA had supported.

And we've just listed a few of those ways. But as you can see from Ingrid's introduction here, the HyFlex model is very demanding on the instructor. So she says, while I was busy micromanaging technology in order to teach two student audiences during my HyFlex ESL level one class, my PA or IA, instructional assistant, assisted with the following.

So that is a challenge. The teacher is very busy, working with the technology, trying to work with two groups of students. And the IA can just help facilitate that. And so some of the things, as you can see, we have them listed here. And there is a lot more.

But some of them are-- the IA would check for COVID-19 clearances as students came into the classroom. They might help by registering students for following semesters. We have a textbook loaner program. So the IA helped students sign up for that program and get their textbooks. They might also help students purchase textbooks that they might need for the class.

They distribute handouts in class. Excuse me, sorry. They also-- so the instructor has logged into Zoom from their podium computer to be able to teach the students in the classroom and on Zoom. So while the teacher is there, the instructional assistant is in the classroom as well on their laptop. And they've logged into the Zoom meeting as a participant.

And they are changed to co-host so that they can help admit student if there's a waiting room. They can also alert the instructor if there are any problems with their audio, or video, or maybe if students can't see what the teacher is sharing in Zoom. So they're able to really help with the quality of the Zoom meeting for the remote students.

And they also can help facilitate Zoom breakout rooms as well and maybe answer any questions that might come through in the chat. And also, Ju was able to help provide tutoring to help students with Canvas and Zoom. And there were so many other ways that Ju provided support in the HyFlex class.

And next, I'll also share how students or how the teachers helped build class community. And there are many ways that this is done by our amazing faculty. And we'll just share a couple of these ways. So the first is from our ESL level one HyFlex faculty member Elissa Claar. She teaches at our Cesar Chavez campus.

And you can see from this image that she has this really nice table set up in the class to welcome students as they enter. So they sign in. They grab the handouts that might be needed for the class session. They have the class calendar. They can write their name on a name card and display it on their desk.

She also has the clean and dirty pen set up for students, hand sanitizer. So it's just really welcoming for students as they come into the classroom. Another thing that Elissa does is that she recreates what already happens naturally in our face-to-face classes during break time, especially at the beginning levels. During break time, our students tend to congregate with other students that speak their same L1, their same native language.

So she has recreated that in her Zoom breakout rooms during their break time session. So she has a two-hour Zoom session, a Zoom HyFlex session. So they have a 10-minute break time. So she ends up creating same language breakout groups for students so they can join for those 10 minutes and speak with their classmates in their native language, ask questions about the class that maybe they missed or didn't understand, and just to help them feel a little bit more comfortable with their classmates to help encourage persistence in the class.

So we thought that was a really great idea. It's not directly related to instruction, but it does help with building class community. And we have another example from Johanna Gleeson about how she built class community with her level one HyFlex class. So she creates a Google Slides presentation.

And she will have put students photos in this Google slide presentation of themselves or their family members. And she uses it for grammar practice. And this allows students to get to know their classmates and their families a little bit more and help build that class community. And you can see here, this is an example of a Google slide presentation, where they are learning more about Diana's family.

So Diana shared these images of her family, and the students will work together as a whole group, so both Zoom students and in-classroom students. They'll work together to create sentences about Diana. So they know that this is Diana son, that her son has a dog, that she has a daughter-in-law. And it just is really helpful in inspiring that classroom conversation.

And she said even that students after they do these activities that they'll continue to ask questions about each other's family members and see how everyone is doing. And for level one, some students are actually able to add their own images to the Google Slides presentation. But for students that can't, then they just send the images to Johanna, and she adds them to the Google Slides presentation. But she has done this for several other grammar activities as well.

And that is what we have go over for the HyFlex strong practices that we wanted to share with you. Some of the amazing things that our faculty are doing. And we have so many more, things that our teachers are doing in the classroom and the ways that our instructional assistants are helping out as well. And I think we are now moving-- let me just move through the slides.

And we are now at our questions and answers for you. So we wanted to open it up for some questions that you might have about HyFlex and what we are doing for HyFlex. And we see Barry. You have your hand raised.

Speaker 3: Yes, thanks. So this is sort of related to what I asked in the chat a little bit, about that third option, the totally asynchronous students who only access activities through the LMS. And I see that we have the esteemed David Rosen in the audience who has written quite a bit about the HyFlex instruction.

So what I'm sort of wondering is, you did mention that there's a lot more work involved for the instructor in terms of dealing with the two audiences. And I think that's because you said you don't have that many asynchronous-only students. But in reality, if it's a HyFlex program in the way that David Rosen describes, there really are three audiences, correct?

And so that's actually another audience. Who's dealing with that? And then as a second question-- a second part of that question is, if everybody is recognizing that these are increased duties and responsibilities on the part of the instruction, is there anything in the way of compensation for your instructors who are doing this type of instruction? Or is it, well, we're just doing it, because we need to keep up the numbers of students in our classes and that's our compensation? That's the question.

Monica Cueva: Thank you, Barry. Jia, I don't know if you want to respond to that.

Jia Sun: OK, I can respond to the second question. So for the compensation, we do have-- currently, the agreement is that each HyFlex instructor will get one hour as their non-classroom teaching rate. So our leadership feel like that's just not enough for the professional development they have participated, the extra work they have been.

So we have proposed another for the next school year. So we are trying to request for 10 hours of professional development for a new HyFlex instructor and additional five hours the next semester. So Yeah. And can you remind me the first question?

Monica Cueva: The first one was that we technically have three audiences for HyFlex.

Jia Sun: Correct. Correct. The only thing is when we piloted these HyFlex models, we started from beginning level, beginning level one and two. That's our target group. So the majority of the students for their level, it's very challenging for them to only participate asynchronously.

But if it's a higher level, yeah, there should be three audiences. And yeah.

Monica Cueva: Yes. So we are still trying to get those lower level students to complete the Canvas activities. But that is the same instructor. So the instructor is developing the Canvas portion of the class, as well as teaching the synchronous portion of the class. And then they're dealing simultaneously with those two audiences when they are teaching their synchronous sessions.

And I see another-- there's a question in the chat. How is the IA funded? Is this something that can be or will be continued post-pandemic? So yes. We had IAs prior to the pandemic. We've increased the number of IAs that we have. And because they were going above and beyond their regular job duties, we did change most of our IA positions to project assistance so that they are getting paid at a higher level, and so that they are getting recognized for all the work that they've been doing to help us.

And they don't only support us in our HyFlex classes, but they support us for our ESL registration, as well as for cost testing and EL Civics as well. So they support us in many ways. And I think David Rosen has a question.

Speaker 4: I do. Can you hear me?

Monica Cueva: Yes, we can.

Speaker 4: OK, great. Thank you. And hello, Barry. And thank you. First of all, this is a very impressive presentation. It seems like you're doing a terrific job. And this is what I would describe as a fully HyFlex model in the way that it was described by the inventor of HyFlex, Brian Beatty at San Francisco State about a decade ago.

He and his graduate students developed this model. And it's reached our field really only within the last two years. And as you probably know, some of you know, people only have two modes, the roomers and the Zoomers. I love that. I hope to use that maybe even in my presentation coming up here.

But the question I have is since this is really a very faithful to that design, and really part of this is providing maximum flexibility, where a student can switch modes literally day by day. And it sounds like you do that. So I'm interested in what you may have discovered in terms of patterns.

The most students switch everyday? Do very few students switch everyday? Are any students just using the asynchronous mode and really basically doing distance learning? What are you finding in terms of what the students are actually doing?

Monica Cueva: Jia, I'll let you respond to that.

Jia Sun: OK. I will say from what I've heard from the HyFlex instructors, very few students switch day-to-day. One of the reasons could be we-- for the students to be able to participate in the classroom, they need to have their vaccination proof. And when the instructor really look at their roster, some of the class have-- even 50% of students don't have that proof.

That means those students cannot participate on campus. But for the students who are participating on campus, some of the students do enjoy the flexibility. Because sometimes, they do have other obligations that they cannot attend on campus. So they join the Zoom meeting.

And I also heard from one instructor that one of the students, I guess is because of the bus schedule or something, but the students join the class first using the smartphone on the bus. And the second part of the class, here arrives at school then participate on campus. So that's a very fun way to use the flexibility of this model. Does that answer your question?

Speaker 4: Yes, it does. Thank you. I have another question, but I want to see if there are other people who want to ask questions.

Monica Cueva: Thank you. I do see in the chat that we have a question about, how will attendance be counted when the pandemic is over? So I believe we'll continue. counting attendance as we are now even once it's over. Because still, we're basing attendance for this class as an online course. So we are using census dates for attendance.

So we have two census dates for each class. And that's the same formula that we are using for fully online courses as well. So a student is awarded attendance based on their participation in the asynchronous or synchronous portions of the class. And then I see the question, will the state of California recognize all of these different student engagement modes in their funding formulas?

I don't have the information about that. But I imagine that's where we are headed. OK. And would this model be at all feasible for schools that are not lucky enough to have IAs? How many students in a class would be feasible to serve with this model? I would just strongly encourage that schools really advocate to have that additional support in the classroom as much as possible.

You would-- I think there are schools out there currently that have adopted the HyFlex model without IAs. So I would say it can be done. But advocate as much as you can to have them in the classroom. How many students in a class would be feasible to serve with this model? Right now, our caps are-- our class maximum is-- is it 40 for HyFlex, Jia?

Jia Sun: Yes. 40.

Monica Cueva: Yeah. So ours are capped at 40. And then we don't allow any new students after our first census date, which is usually maybe about four weeks into the semester. OK. OK. Yeah, and Barry just followed up saying, they are still looking at funding formulas for the state.

OK, and I think David had a question.

Speaker 4: I did. I do. I'm very interested in what kinds of data you might be collecting on your Flex models. And particularly, I'm interested-- it is claimed that Flex models are very likely to increase retention, of course, completion, and learning gains. And so I'm wondering if you're collecting data on that and are seeing any patterns in that.

Monica Cueva: So we are currently not. But we always can make the request to our team to retrieve that data. So I think as we get further along with our pilot, that's definitely something that we will request to look at. We also have our distance education online coordinator Ingrid Greenberg, who is assisting with HyFlex instruction.

So that's something that we will probably communicate with her, that that would be of interest to look into that.

Speaker 4: And that'd be great. I'd love to hear about that once you have the data. Thanks.

Monica Cueva: Yeah, of course. Thank you. And yes, we will be sharing our slides. And I can actually do that right now. And I see Barry also said, at the beginning of the pandemic, when we went to all online instruction, it was decided that attendance could be counted based on work performed. And that period ended with the return to in-person instruction. It's not clear. OK.

Yeah, I just know for us that we're continuing, and we continued with our online classes prior to the pandemic and during the pandemic to go by recording attendance through census dates. And we've continued that now. And I imagine for online and HyFlex courses, that will continue after the pandemic and shutdown any closures that we have.

And I'm going to get the link for our slides and share that with you in the chat. OK. So I put that in there. And I think did we have anything else, Jia?

Jia Sun: I think that's it.

Monica Cueva: OK. Well, thank you everyone.