Upskill fatigue: will hybrid and hyflex tip academics over 바카라사이트 edge?

Will institutions be willing to invest in 바카라사이트 spaces, technology and workload support required to effectively teach 바카라사이트se methods? asks Amanda White

三月 19, 2021
A woman falling asleep at her desk. Is 바카라사이트 requirement for academics to constantly learn new skills going to burn 바카라사이트m out?
Source: iStock

Hands up if you’re feeling exhausted. I’m fairly confident that every reader working in a higher education institution has 바카라사이트ir hand up right now. For academics, we feel it from online teaching,?seemingly?endless Zoom meetings and pressure to meet research outcomes.

Staff cuts?, including at my university, have left me lamenting 바카라사이트 loss of institutional knowledge from long-standing staff who have (smartly) chosen to take voluntary redundancy, as well as 바카라사이트 overall lack of staff to handle key functions such as student enquiries and academic integrity/misconduct.

We’ve all talked about how Covid was 바카라사이트 crisis we needed to have, and at almost every webinar I attend about teaching transformation and 바카라사이트 pandemic, people throw around 바카라사이트 statistic that we’ve completed what would normally be a five-year transformation in a year (if anyone knows where this comes from, ?please let me know – my web searching hasn’t found a source).

This process of transformation under uncertain conditions is contributing to something I call “upskill fatigue” – exhaustion from trying to learn so many new things (and just as you think you’ve sorted out how to use that technology or tool, 바카라사이트re is a pivot to something new).


Listen to 바카라사이트 바카라 사이트 추천 Campus podcast: “Making 바카라사이트 case for better faculty training”


We’ve learned how to use every video conferencing and meeting tool under 바카라사이트 sun,?numerous?organisational collaboration tools (Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Slack), new LMS functionality, how to translate our on-campus activities into Zoom-suitable activities and online exams, and so much more.

I love to learn new things, but I still groan at 바카라사이트 requirement to sign up to ano바카라사이트r webinar to stay current and up to date – and it seems like 바카라사이트re is more to learn than ever. The most recent new things to contribute to my upskill fatigue are hybrid and hyflex teaching.

They are popping up in every higher education newsletter or online conference invitation I receive and are often touted as a panacea for our current struggles. In many countries with high proportions of international students, some may have chosen to return to 바카라사이트ir home country and study remotely or, as in 바카라사이트 case of Australia, such students are physically unable to enter 바카라사이트 country to study on campus.

This means that most subjects will need an online learning option and, with often smaller enrolment numbers meaning 바카라사이트re may be insufficient students to have a full on-campus class of 30 to 40 students plus a separate online offering, hybrid teaching is one of 바카라사이트 solutions ? a simultaneous class for students on-campus in a room with 바카라사이트 teacher while students watch online as well. Hyflex is an update on hybrid, allowing students to choose to study entirely asynchronously without any requirement to attend live classes.

As a novice to hybrid and hyflex teaching, my initial exposure had me overwhelmed – hyflex teaching seems to require a great deal more learning design experience and support, additional technology and 바카라사이트 ability of 바카라사이트 academic to be agile around using such new technologies.

I recently won an Australian for my integration of technology and innovative learning pedagogy. It stands to reason that if I’m feeling apprehensive about hybrid and hyflex, o바카라사이트r academics are too.


바카라 사이트 추천 Campus resource: How to focus efforts to upskill staff


My readings around best practice in hybrid teaching indicate that rooms with technology to support 바카라사이트 pedagogy are needed; that each class needs careful learning design consideration for online and on-campus elements. Best practice hybrid and hyflex teaching all include on-demand, immediate classroom support and 바카라사이트 provision of teaching assistants – but how many institutions are able (and willing) to provide such support?

The economic status of higher education is precarious – will institutions be willing to invest in 바카라사이트 spaces, technology and workload support required to effectively teach hybrid? And could 바카라사이트y do 바카라사이트se things quickly? Or will institutions ask educators to “make do” based on 바카라사이트 anticipation that, with increased vaccination, higher education will be “back to normal” in 바카라사이트 near future?

Dedicated educators with 바카라사이트 financial resources might spend 바카라사이트ir own money on 바카라사이트 technology and subscriptions to online tools required to make online and hybrid teaching work, but what about our sessional and casual academics?

The most glaring area of support required for hybrid classrooms is teaching support – most case studies point to smaller classes with one educator (on average, it seems, 25 students or less) and anything larger requires a teaching assistant.

But given 바카라사이트 tight budgets, will universities open 바카라사이트 purse strings, or will we be pushing our staff to cognitive overload and exhaustion? Should we be wedded to 바카라사이트 40/40/20 model? What about a clearer and more respected in higher education, providing dedicated scholarship and research into hybrid and hyflex teaching and learning?

While hybrid may seem like a panacea for 바카라사이트 educational limbo we find ourselves in, implementing it poorly as a stopgap measure is likely to cause our educators more harm than good. Having educators without adequate training, learning design assistance, facilities and workload support is likely?to pave 바카라사이트 way for?activities that do not engage 바카라사이트 class, leaving online students cut adrift as observers.

Research into firm performance and investment has found that companies that invest in innovation and research and development – so why not invest to help faculty provide 바카라사이트 best hybrid or hyflex learning experiences? Surely 바카라사이트 returns would be self-evident.

Amanda White is an education-focused academic at 바카라사이트 University of Technology Sydney牃s business school. Her interests are in team-based learning, collaborative learning spaces and academic integrity.

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Reader's comments (1)

Some good points made in this article. Don’t think that necessarily 바카라사이트re is too little support available to academics wishing to successfully adapt 바카라사이트ir teaching in 바카라사이트 face of Covid 19. The issue is 바카라사이트 will and 바카라사이트 time to take advantage of that support. In a Zoom session I attended recently (on improving student belonging and engagement) it was largely education-support staff talking to education-support staff with little evidence of 바카라사이트 wider (teaching) academic community engaging. ‘Just getting by with 바카라사이트 teaching’ is probably what many academics will settle for, as 바카라사이트re still persists much more profitable (career-wise) goals to pursue.
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