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.
In this module, we will focus on challenges related to managing teams in hybrid spaces. You will understand: the concepts of safe spaces, online body language, and informal communication in hybrid spaces, you will identify: the positive habits that facilitate moderation and monitoring of hybrid activities and you will develop: some strategies that enable you to maintain engagement and motivation in hybrid teams.
The module is divided into four sessions presented below. Each session has its informative and theoretical parts, we have also included some activities and resources for you to explore concepts covered here in more depth.
All the sessions are addressed to the self-learners: teachers, trainers, and facilitators interested in conducting meetings or workshops in a hybrid environment. You can learn and train on your own.
Activities on the other hand can only be conducted with the groups in the hybrid environment.
SESSIONS
1. Teams in Hybrid Spaces
Content: Safe Space: what is it? How to create a safe space in the 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?
2. Moderating Hybrid Activities
Content: Motivation and Engagement. How to keep a hybrid classroom engaged? Setting the goals and selecting the right tools. Tips to keep online participants engaged and offline participants online. Visibility – how to include participants especially those not so IT advanced? Important role of a co-facilitator.
3. Monitoring Hybrid ActivitiesContent: Creating Hybrid Teams – how to create teams and what to consider. Reading the Hybrid Room: ups and downs moments. Group activities.
4. What Do We Miss?
Content: Tips, Conclusions, and Suggestions.
5. Activities
6. Extra Materials
Content: useful links and research studies collected to enable you to learn more about hybrid spaces.
ACTIVITIES
recommended to implement in a hybrid environment:
Discussions – an interactive activity where participants talk with each other about a central topic, problem, or concept (sometimes, but not always, to find a consensus or solution).
A discussion is the exchange of ideas by 2 or more people related to a central topic or problem.
Group work/ cooperative learning – refers to learning experiences in which participants work together on the same task. Group work can help build a positive and engaging learning community through peer learning and teaching.
Brainstorming – a way of making a group of people all think about something at the same time, often in order to solve a problem or to create good ideas (Oxford Dictionary).
Games – Game-based learning occurs when facilitators use competitive, interactive, and entertaining activities to encourage participants to engage in hybrid learning. They involve elements that are engaging and competitive and offer participants immediate rewards.
Lecture – a talk given by the facilitator to present a particular subject.