Moving Hybrid into the Future

Tain Barzso, Director of Technology Strategy & Services at Stanford University

The Divide Between the Real and the Ideal in Hybrid Education

Hybrid education struggles with a divide between the real and the ideal. Ideally, institutions embrace a custom engineered HyFlex model that is well-supported by instructional designers and IT, taught by a savvy instructor who deftly navigates the complexities of their classroom. Schools could roll out a true hybrid ‘best of both worlds’ approach that meets everyone's needs while enhancing outcomes. 

The real situation is more challenging. It involves classrooms of nonstandard equipment, fluctuating budgets, a range of student audiences with myriad learning preferences and personal situations, instructors with tech skills on a continuum of tech savvy to nontechnical, administrative and faculty politics and perhaps most importantly, the real or perceived value of in-person, remote and hybrid delivery.

Institutional Identity and the Value Proposition of Hybrid Learning

This value proposition is at the heart of the schism. The mission of an R1 university with a powerful brand and rich research funding is radically different from a community college system with the mandate to serve learners across all socioeconomic groups and geographies. While some institutions have managed to navigate this space and strike a balance, offering both rich on-campus and remote experiences, many universities and students alike may see remote or hybrid as dissolving quality, value and their school’s brand gravitas.

Executive business schools and MBA programs largely embrace remote and asynchronous learning, offering fully online programs with live, in person anchor sessions on weekly, monthly, or quarterly schedules. They can reach hundreds of students per cohort and charge tens of thousands of dollars per student. In this case, remote and hybrid learning speak straight to the bottom line. 

Many other schools aspire to offer almost the entirety of their course content online. This opens the door to serving a broad range of traditional and nontraditional students and allows them to have broad missions to serve all the learners in their state - or beyond. Hybrid and remote education, then, act as barrier breakers and innovative forces to democratize knowledge and upskilling.

"Unless we truly understand the first two items—what problem we need to solve and what is the root cause—we can’t hope to deploy solutions that provide value."

AI in Education---A Solution in Search of a Problem

Of course, no discussion about the future of education can happen without mentioning AI. Both AI education startups and legacy players today are ubiquitous and while many offer the nascent promise of strengthening student outcomes, a large percentage are still the proverbial tail wagging the dog. By this, I mean they share the same problem of most AI-centered products in today’s early, innovative tech soup; they are a solution seeking a problem. If education startups can identify the real needs and problems they need to solve, namely improving student outcomes, easing instructor burden and meeting students where they are in their own on-the-ground innovation, they will find success. 

AI powered or not, opportunities remain. Hybrid solutions must be straightforward and seamless, integrated into remote learning platforms (choose your solution) and offer value in time saving, expanding upon course content and connecting conceptual dots. For instructors, they must be simple to use, needing minimal setup and ideally integrated with lecture capture, course materials and the LMS. We need one click to record, transcribe, summarize, find key points, connect to slides, log quiz answers and embed in the LMS of choice. Few instructors have time to kick the tires on a new tool, let alone commit to using one with intention for a semester. The technology needs to be nearly invisible, yet offer opportunity for impact - all while allowing orchestration between in-person and remote participants. It’s a tall order. 

Bridging Engagement Gaps in Hybrid Learning

Aside from raw technological solutions, the most common challenge I hear is that it’s difficult to engage both the in person and remote students. This is true across administrative settings, corporate meetings and other hybrid gatherings. The instructor ‘in the room’ can engage with students who are physically present, while remote students require additional energy and focus. 

Some corporate learning professionals and college systems alike have flipped the hybrid model; rather than one instructor behind the curtain pulling all the remote and face to face levers, the instructor is in a core space - an engaged sage on the stage - while satellite spaces have live, orchestrating facilitators to stoke the conversation. These facilitators manage both in-person and fully remote, at-home learners, reducing cognitive burden and boosting engagement. Merged with smart, responsible AI-based tools, this could be a winning future state. 

Admittedly, that is only one solution out of many possibilities - again, governed by location, funding and technical knowhow. I learned a simple maxim leading a product education vertical in industry that may help both ed tech companies and university innovators move forward---- What problem do we need to solve, what is the root cause and how do we create a solution? Unless we truly understand the first two items, we can’t hope to deploy solutions that provide value. And ultimately, the future lies in this value - and our own flexibility in meeting the needs of both instructors and students.

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