(6/14/22) While COVID temporarily altered the way many groups offered services, one Anoka-Hennepin Schools Community Education program learned that some students benefited from the unexpected change and found a way to make it permanent.
Metro North Adult Basic Education (ABE) was fully online during the pandemic — offering all classes virtually. When the program re-started its in-person classes in October 2021, teachers found that many students were requesting to stay online for various reasons, namely transportation and child care issues.
That’s when supervisors put their heads together and used technology that would allow them to offer Hybrid-Flexible or HyFlex classes. This model of class delivery integrates in-class instruction and in-person students with online synchronous teaching through video conferencing. It requires extra planning and can be more challenging for teachers, especially when offering ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, but it provides additional flexibility for students which they say they currently need.
The HyFlex classes are effective because a camera on a robotic rotating platform uses tracking, and line of sight technology to follow the instructor throughout the room. This means that whether students are watching online or in-person, they are getting a similar classroom experience.
