HyFlex Overview

The HyFlex Model (short for hybrid flexible) is a multi-modal solution that centers around the student’s choice. A HyFlex course is offered face-to-face and fully online in a combination of the following elements:

  • Face-to-Face (F2F)
  • Synchronously online where set time and day are observed even by students at a distance. They would join class through a program like Zoom or Teams.
  • Asynchronously online where students will work at their own time and place while observing set deadlines. The F2F sessions can also be recorded for asynchronous students to watch in their own time.

The defining characteristic of this student-centered model is that students can choose which modality to participate in on a week-to-week or even day-to-day basis. One day, they could attend class on campus, the next day, they may want or need to join from a laptop and another day, they could forego any synchronous activities to work through content asynchronously. It is the instructor’s responsibility to have a fully developed F2F course and a fully developed online course in D2L. The instructor does; however, get to choose whether to have a synchronous online (Teams, Zoom) component. But it is highly recommended they find some way to incorporate what happened in the classroom for students who attend asynchronously.

HyFlex Trainings & References

    • Students are able to customize their education to fit their needs, whether they need a more hands-on, in-person approach or thrive in an asynchronous online environment where they work more independently.

    • The university benefits from having more accessible courses through multiple modalities.

    • The instructor may see improved participation as students are in control of how they participate in class.
    • This model may require a high amount of support from the university. For instance, if an instructor would like to have the F2F class and a synchronous live online meet at the same time, there are technical logistics to consider that may even need a student assistant to help run the class.

    • Instructors will need to be fully aware of how to engage synchronous live online students at the same time as the students who are F2F.

    • This model requires that 2 fully developed courses be in place, one for D2L and one for F2F learning. The materials will inevitably be the same, but the approach to teaching online is different from teaching in-person. Just putting your F2F materials online is not an effective approach.

  • There is no shortage of places to read about this recent model. Created by Dr. Brian Beatty, Hybrid-Flexible Course Design is offered as an open educational resource (OER).

    7 things you should know about the hyflex course model [PDF] Educause blog.

    How Cambrian College delivers classes using Hyflex [video]

    Hybrid Flexible Class: A Professor’s Guide to Hyflex Teaching at Medium.

  • Beatty, B. J. (2019). Hybrid-flexible course design. EdTech Books.