Definitions: hybrid/hyFlex

In his book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2007), explores the societal impact of extreme events such as climate emergencies and global economic meltdowns. He focuses particular attention on the global financial crisis that started in 2007. Since the book was published, another Black Swan event, the Covid 19 pandemic, has befallen the world and challenged it in unprecedented ways.

For Higher Education, coronavirus and its consequences for access and mobility have uniquely tested universities’ capacity to maintain learners’ access to education. One way that HE institutions have achieved this is by upscaling existing and innovating new models of delivery. Arguably, the most important example of this is the hybrid/hyflex model that the University of Sydney’s Associate Dean of Education, Professor Peter Bryant, explains in this video. As you watch, pay particular attention to what Peter says about:

• his conceptualisation of hybrid learning
• its main challenges
• the spatial and technical considerations
• how to design for hybrid learning
• the reasons why hybrid learning is controversial.

Share your reflections, understandings or thoughts on any of these issues in the ‘comments’ below. Remember to like any comments you find helpful or particularly insightful.