Finding Flexibility with HyFlex: Teaching in the Digital Age

Abstract

Teachers knew in the summer of 2020 that the next school year would be a new venture in education. After experiencing a rapid shift in delivery of their classes in the spring, teachers across the country sought the best ways to engage students meaningfully in a variety of modalities, knowing that shift might continue to happen in the coming year. As summer gave way to fall, teachers returned to their schools with great anticipation and a bit of uncertainty. Some teachers returned to their classrooms in a virtual environment with all of their students online. Others returned with all of their students in person. Still others returned with a blend:some students online and some students in person. For those classes that have a blend of online and in-person students at any given time, a flexible approach is needed, a hybrid-flexible or HyFlex model of teaching is the answer, particularly if the students have choice in how they attend and engage in class and they have access to the necessary technology (Beatty, 2019; Ferrero, 2020; Nave, 2020).