UTRGV Hybrid Academy,
It is evident that the demand for online and hybrid courses continues to grow. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, more than 6million higher education students were enrolled in some type of distance education courses in the year 2017. As the demand for hybrid courses increases, senior leaders are focusing on the quality of hybrid delivery. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, as Hispanic Serving Institution, has developed and implemented Professional Development called Hybrid Academy that provides faculty with the knowledge, skills, and exposure to resources necessary to design, develop, and facilitate hybrid instruction. The professional development goes over national standardized best practices, current research, and instructional design principles
Technologies
The Hybrid Academy Professional Development was created completely in UTRGV official learning management system, Blackboard. It consists of 7 Modules that are all required components of the Hybrid Academy. Each module contains lessons and assessments created in SoftChalk Lesson Builder, Faculty Videos for Micro-Lectures, Discussion Forums and Reflective online Blogs. Also, weekly live sessions are conducted using Blackboard Collaborate and Zoom web conferencing.
Explain project results
In the initial implementation of the professional development, 10 faculty were officially certified to teach hybrid courses at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Faculty successfully designed and developed 10 hybrid courses utilizing different pedagogy and technology innovations in hybrid teaching. Hybrid strategies implemented in the course, helped faculty to engage students, retaining them and completed the course successfully. All technologies utilized in the course made the course more appealing for the new generation of Hispanic students allowing them to succeed in the course.
Why it should be considered best practice?
The Hybrid Academy Professional Development Project is designed for faculty to join the best features of in-class teaching with the best features of online learning to promote active independent learning and to reduce class seat-time. Using computer-based technologies, instructors use the Hybrid model to redesign some lecture or lab content into new online learning activities, such as case studies, tutorials, self-testing exercises, simulations, and online group collaborations.
Highlights of your proposed presentation and lessons learned
• Obtained feedback on the professional development for future offerings
• Courses were developed maintaining the highest standards of quality and academic rigor
• Exposed faculty to use of innovative pedagogies and emerging technologies
• Exposed Hispanic students into new technologies in the classroom and online
• Engaged Hispanic students in courses, retained them and successfully completed courses