HyFlex courses are student-centered course offerings that give students the option of attending the course in person, synchronously online, or asynchronously online. Students have the ability to choose their mode of attendance with flexibility each week and are not locked into the same format over the course of the semester.

The purpose of this project is to investigate and assess the efficacy of videoconference software tools in the delivery of HyFlex courses to better understand faculty use of these tools and how that impacts student experience. The 55 faculty participants from 20 different SUNY campuses were asked to select one of four video conferencing tools (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Class, or Engageli), received vendor training on their selected tool, as well as training on how to design and deliver HyFlex courses with support from a dedicated instructional designer.

The goal of the research project is to see if there are any notable differences among faculty and students using different videoconference tools. Specifically, we want to learn whether more generic tools like Zoom and Teams are just as effective as tools specifically designed for teaching and learning like Class and Engageli. The faculty participants completed pre and post surveys and participated in focus groups; the students received post-course surveys and their attendance modality and overall course grade were tracked anonymously. The results of the study will be made available in summer 2023.