Course Content
Intro
This module aims to equip practitioners with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to facilitate hybrid sessions with stationary and remote participants at the same time in a variety of different contexts and settings. As was mentioned in a previous module hybrid learning offers plenty of benefits: more flexibility for teachers and users, accessibility for the various groups of potential learners, or affordability to enumerate the most important ones. At the same time facilitating workshops in a hybrid space can be challenging – in fact, the facilitator needs to conduct two parallel meetings – one for the face-to-face learners and one for an online group. It is worth underlining that hybrid spaces are not only about the technology that we use but also about communication between people, their behaviours, engagement, and motivation.
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SCOPE OF THE MODULE 2
Teams in Hybrid Spaces
This session aims to introduce you to team management in hybrid spaces. Safe Space: what is it? How to create a safe space in a hybrid environment? Informal communication – how to extend informal communication into hybrid spaces? How to integrate two ways of communication in hybrid spaces? How to transfer non-verbal communication in hybrid spaces?
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THEORETICAL PART
Safe spaces: how to create safe spaces in hybrid classrooms
Informal Communication – how to extend informal communication into hybrid spaces
Moderating Hybrid Activities
The aim of this module is to equip facilitators with the knowledge, competencies, and skills necessary to conduct hybrid meetings. In the previous module, you could learn about the importance of preparations and the power of communication. In this module, you will have to deal with three major challenges related to working in a hybrid space, such as maintaining motivation, engagement, and visibility.
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Moderating Hybrid Activities
Motivation
Engagement
Visibility
Monitoring Hybrid Collaboration
The aim of this module is to present the tools and good practices that will enable you to monitor activities and collaboration in the hybrid environment as well as create and read teams. It refers you to the previous modules and the content related to building and maintaining motivation and engagement. You will also get familiar with the term of the organizational culture which is the crucial element of the monitoring activities.
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Monitoring Hybrid Collaboration
Draft Lesson
Reading the Hybrid Room
What do we miss?
When teaching in a hybrid space, you will need to devote your attention to many different aspects and not lose sight of the main purpose of the meeting. This means that you may miss some important details.
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What do we miss?
Activities
Extra materials
Self-assessment
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9 questions to test your learning level
Engagement and teamwork in hybrid spaces
About Lesson

What is a safe space?

The term safe space is older than the Internet. It was used for the first time in 1983 by the YMCA – a worldwide youth organization that aims to put Christian values into practice by developing a healthy mind, body, and spirit. From its beginning, the term safe space refers to the same values and indicates a place that intends to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations. Nowadays, a safe space is not only a place but also a virtual environment where each person can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm (Oxford Dictionary). In the Internet era, with social media and the possibility of all-to-all communication, the creation of safe spaces has become even more necessary than before. 

We may think about safe space when we feel safe and this is, of course, the subjective experience of each individual. At the same time, it is possible to identify the elements that are necessary  for the creation and functioning of the safe space. What is important in the case of a hybrid space is to take into account both elements of the real world and the virtual environment. Accordingly, these will include: 

  • Physical dimension – activities take place in a space designed in such a way that participants feel comfortable in it. Note that it is not always possible to provide such
    a space. An extreme example of this situation is that of Ukrainian students. Due to the war, they are unable to attend classes in a stationary manner, as it is impossible to provide them with a safe learning space. 
  • Psychological dimension – a given learning environment is safe if the participants are not afraid to actively participate in classes, ask questions, participate in discussions, disagree with the instructor, and receive but also provide constructive feedback. They feel partners in the process and know that their voice matters. 
  • Emotional dimension – participants feel valued and respected in their diversity and expression. Working with extroverts and introverts may be a good example here as it is a common challenge. Teamwork, group presentations, and numerous interactions are sometimes challenging for introverts. When designing activities, it is worth paying attention to the specific needs of this group. 

 

How to create a safe space? 

  • Policy and procedures – the most important principle here is ‘do not harm’, whereby this also means protecting participants from unwanted contact and content, and not allowing participants to hurt each other. As a facilitator, you can simply announce the rules, but it will be more effective to develop the rules together in mixed (online-in- person) groups. The starting point should be to jointly agree on the rules for the event and to consistently follow the agreed rules in the future.
  • Equality and inquisitiveness – we are all equal and everyone has the same right to share their opinions and be heard – both online participants and now at the event venue (note that adequate technical support is needed to enforce this right). Everyone has a role to play and they are not more or less important. If there is no presenter – there will be no event, if there are no participants – there will  be no event either.  
  • Be flexible and adaptable to change – group events are highly dynamic. Be prepared for changes and challenges, and be prepared to renegotiate your contract. Remember that creating a safe space is crucial in the process of building trust and rapport, factors essential to team building. 

A key tool in the process of creating and maintaining a safe space is collaboration and communication. You will read more about these in the next chapter.

 

Case study

Participants in one of the training courses were asked to participate in an ice-breaker in which sample questions were: have you ever let your loved ones down? In what way? What question have you never dared to ask a loved one? Are you a believer?

Do you think the questions were chosen correctly?  Why yes? Why not? Is it possible, and if so, how can this exercise be carried out in such a way that it does not violate the safe space of each participant? Discuss it in  mixed groups. 

ACTIVITIES:

 

Activity #1 Chit-chat!:

Duration: 15-20 minutes  

You are running a week-long team-building training for a large organisation. Some employees have come to the training centre to attend in person, others are participating remotely. The participants have decided to set up a shared chat room where they share materials, photos, and important information from the training. On the third day, in-person participants upload photos of their team-building very late in the evening  to the chat. Online participants complain the next day that their safe space has been violated. The stationary participants cannot see  a problem. 

Discuss in groups: who is right in this dispute? Are you, as a facilitator, in a position to adjudicate it? What information do you need?

 

Activity #2 – Checklist: the contract 

You agree on the rules for working together. However, it is worth bearing in mind the following elements: 

  • speaking on your own behalf
  • not generalising 
  • active participation, including active listening (online participants turn off their microphones when not speaking stationary participants remember to stay within camera and microphone range); 
  • right to refuse to answer 
  • we do not judge
  • we refer to the behaviour, not to the person
  • what happens here, stays here – pay attention to how it relates to offline elements (no outsiders join the meeting – e.g. the boss, and how it relates to online elements (e.g. a shared chat that is not shared with others). 
  • the attentive here and now principle – we focus on the activity 

 

Activity #3 Say it with a song

Music soothes. Did you know that music can be part of creating a safe space? It can reduce tension and encourage interaction. Together with the participants, you will try to introduce yourself with a song. The braver ones can sing and others can use popular apps. The next step could be to build your own playlist for learning/working/training. 

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