What are Online and Hybrid Classes?

Online and hybrid classes replace some component of the time- and place-bound nature of face-to-face classes. If a class uses Canvas and other technologies, but doesn't replace seat time with online activities, it's referred to as a face-to-face or web-enhanced class.

Online classes

In an online class, all seat time (about 5 hours/week that a student is in a face-to-face class) has been replaced with online activity. In an online class, students then should have 15 hours of work per week, all outside of a classroom. 

• All activities can be completed without coming to Highline's campus.
• Schedules are flexible: the course will still have regular deadlines, but students aren't required to meet online at a certain time or on a certain day.

A good rule of thumb is that a student could be relocated by their employer mid-quarter, and still complete the class. This doesn't preclude activities like research papers, group projects, or proctored tests, but these will require additional planning to be successful.

See the college definition of online courses for more detail.

Hybrid classes

In a hybrid class, 40-60% of the seat time has been replaced with online activity, in a structured and consistent way. Most often this is accomplished by reducing the days of the week that a class meets. For instance, a Mon-Fri class might meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with online activities replacing the class time on Tuesday and Thursday. Instead of meeting in class about 5 hours/week, students may meet in class for about 3 hours/week. The 2 hours subtracted from in-class time would be added to the outside time students are expected to work on the course making the total out-of-class time to 13 hours. 

• The schedule is consistent throughout the quarter. In other words, classroom days are the same throughout the quarter.
• Students can accomplish the online tasks without visiting campus, and with some flexibility during the non-classroom days (and preferably over the course of the week).

Hybrid courses allow students to compress their on-campus obligation into fewer days of the week. For instance, a student could take Tuesday-Thursday classes, and be able to go to work or take care of family on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

The key challenges for instructors in a hybrid course are:

• Determining which classroom activities are most effective face-to-face vs. online, and
• Setting clear expectations for students about the performance of the online work.

See the college definition of hybrid courses for more detail.