HyFlex, or hybrid-flexible learning, combines face-to-face instruction with online learning to offer students access to courses and classroom participation that best suits them. They can attend in person, join a live class via videoconference, or check in online after a class session—whichever model of engagement works best for their needs.
Just as HyFlex students have a choice of instructional modes, HyFlex educators now have a choice of technology paths to deliver their coursework. Instructors no longer need to have equipment-intensive classrooms with dedicated computers and shelves of gear. Instead, they too can opt for a HyFlex approach where systems are streamlined, easy-to-use, and more efficient.
Thanks to our history of creating drop-in distance learning systems, HyFlex was not a new concept to TEKVOX.
The coronavirus pandemic didn’t create the HyFlex movement, but it has certainly served to accelerate it in the same way that business and industry has embraced remote engagement over the last two years. The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) model has taken hold in videoconferencing, enabling participants to use their own laptops. It’s all about convenience, simplicity, and delivering a user experience that works best for everyone.
The HyFlex classroom of today doesn’t have to be more equipment-heavy than the non-HyFlex classroom of five years ago. New tools, such as auto-tracking cameras, eliminate the need for complicated control schemes. All the building blocks for HyFlex learning are designed to be easy-to-use and clutter-free.
Thanks to our history of creating drop-in distance learning systems, HyFlex was not a new concept to TEKVOX. We devise systems that HyFlex educators in standard, baseline classrooms would feel comfortable with.
The TEKVOX HyFlex Drop-In classroom (71021-HF1) requires no manual control of cameras and microphones. It features our 1201-MV switcher, an installed PC, laptop connections, and a touchpad at the instructor’s desk. A 180º auto-framing camera captures video of the students while cropping out empty spaces in the video feed. Our ceiling-mounted 4K electronic PTZ camera automatically tracks the instructor as they move around the room. An array mic, also in the ceiling, picks up the voices of everyone in the room, students and instructor alike. HyFlex educators who prefer a wireless environment can substitute the TEKVOX ShareView Wireless PRO for the 1201-MV wired switcher.
[ TEKVOX Unveils ShareView Wireless Pro System ]
Integrators who sell the TEKVOX HyFlex drop in classroom will also install it – a quick and easy process that won’t clutter up the space with equipment. Instructors with no knowledge of how to control an AV system will find that they need to do little more than turn on the system and select a camera. No one is happy with a complicated and unintuitive system, and such a system is not worth the investment. TEKVOX has streamlined the end-user experience, making the system transparent to both remote and local students.
[ TEKVOX Adds 4K Videoconferencing, PTZ Cameras to Line ]
TEKVOX will be deploying several hundred HyFlex Drop-In classrooms, primarily in higher education, during spring and summer 2022. While HyFlex has been largely implemented for higher education, cost-effective, easy-to-use systems make the HyFlex model accessible for K-12 too. Educators who need to continue business as usual during severe weather, health emergencies, or natural disasters will want to consider the TEKVOX HyFlex Drop-In classroom. If COVID taught us anything, it’s that students can and should have access to the classroom at all times, no matter what.
