Text CITL How Do I Decide What Goes Where?

In-Class or Online?

On the surface, it may seem like all of your learning activities should be either fully online or fully face-to-face. But upon reflection, you'll begin to discern different facets of each activity that make it more suitable for one modality or another.   

Think about the strengths and challenges of online and in-person learning. When trying to engage with learners in either medium, you'll want to create activities that play to the strengths and limit the challenges. For asynchronous (online) portions of a hybrid course, it works very well to create instructional activities that can be completed individually and that give students more time for completion. Online activities like watching lecture videos, reading, participating in discussion boards, taking quizzes, and completing projects and papers allow students to master content more slowly and build a foundation for the faster-paced work they will do later.

In-person or synchronous learning activities usually involve collaboration between students which can be slow to build, but has a shorter time frame for completion (typically one class period). The energy and excitement of in-person activities, like bouncing ideas back and forth, helps students apply and remember course content more effectively than studying alone. By interacting and exchanging information with peers, in-person activities like brainstorming, simulations, role play, and debate help students engage directly with ideas and build confidence in themselves.

The following table lays out different course activities and what makes them more or less suited for online or face-to-face deployment. Don't worry if you have course activities that don't fit neatly into either category. Many things can be accomplished equally well in both modalities. You can always try something one way during the first run of your course and then change it later if you are unsatisfied with your results or simply wish to explore another option. The important thing is what will be best for student learning, and how their learning efforts will be supported.

Online Activities	Face-to-Face Activities
Requires activities be completed individually. Requires feedback, but not immediate. Has a longer timeline for completion. Benefits from student interaction and collaboration that does not require immediate collaboration. Requires multiple forms of media to engage with or complete.	Requires immediate feedback. Has a short time-frame for completion. Benefits from back-and-forth real time student collaboration. Benefits from a strong social and/or behavioral component. Requires interaction with real-world components.