101 What does a “hybrid course” really mean? with Erica Halverson – 02.15.2018

In the February 15, 2018 Active Teaching Exchange, Erica Halverson shared lessons learned in transitioning a face-to-face course to an online medium and pedagogical approaches to creating a model for a hybrid course.

Takeaways:

• In a hybrid course, students meet both online and in the physical classroom.
• Erica presents material as podcasts, and uses a podcast format to structure content. Erica does guest interviews with experts on the week’s topic.
• Uses audio cues to make the podcasts engaging and help students hone in on important information. Erica’s podcasts have a theme song at the beginning and sounds that play when key terms are mentioned.
• Includes text versions of podcasts to help students who want to refer back or prefer written communication.
• Revises the syllabus so that it’s more structured than a typical face-to-face class. Includes suggestions for how students should be using their time throughout the week.
• Builds student relationships in the digital space. Creates an assignment in which students have to get to know one another, assign weekly leaders in discussion groups, and keep the same discussion groups throughout the semester.
• Uses the Canvas peer review tool to foster accountability.
• Helps students understand what it’s like to represent others and be represented by others with a Google sites gallery assignment.

See the session’s livestream recording below for more details.

Active Teaching Exchanges are held Thursdays from 1-2pm in room 120, Middleton Building (1305 Linden Dr.). Check out the upcoming Exchanges or read the recaps from past Exchanges.

Like the Active Teaching Exchanges, Active Teaching Labs feature instructors sharing their teaching experiences with tools and techniques, but also provide time for hands-on exploration of tools. Labs are are held Fridays from 8:30-9:45am in room 120, Middleton Building as well as some Wednesdays from 12:30-1:30pm in room 302 Middleton Building. See the full calendar of both events. Stay informed about upcoming Labs and Exchanges by signing up for regular announcements by sending an email to join-activeteaching@lists.wisc.edu.