WRAC Hybridization Project

 

In the summer of 2019, the department of Writing Rhetoric and American Cultures (WRAC) began the process of transitioning approximately 20% of their face-to-face first-year classes to a hybrid format.

Some of the reasons for the transition to the hybrid format included:

  • An increasing demand on classroom space
  • A desire to expand course offerings to ensure student access
  • A larger departmental initiative to think about and plan for online and hybrid instruction

In order to help assist and train faculty members during this transition, the members of the WRAC hybrid transition team, along with the CAL Academic Technology team, produced a series of short videos using Camtasia to highlight hybrid teaching resources. The videos served were both informational and served as models of how to create and deliver content to students.

Throughout the process, the team learned several important lessons. Namely, the production process revealed the need to pay close attention to:

  • The planning and designing of each individual video and how each video relates to the other videos in the series.
  • The demands and needs of the audience.
  • The importance of making both the content and the videos accessible (closed captioning, fonts, contrast, etc.) to the audience.
  • The collaboration process, both within each individual team and across teams.
  • The balance between disciplinary best practices and hybrid and online instruction best practices.

 

Check out the videos below

Overview of Hybrid Teaching and Learning

Hybrid Teaching Best Practices

Hybrid Teaching Mythbusing/Troubleshooting

Effectively Organizing and Designing Hybrid Courses

Planning for Community and Making the Most of Student Interaction in a Hybrid Course

Accessibility in the Hybrid Classroom