IT & Library Services - IT Guides

HyFlex is short for hybrid flexible - an approach that combines online and on-campus learning. HyFlex is an example of our commitment to deliver an inclusive educational experience using technology-enhanced learning. Each HyFlex class is offered in-person, synchronously online, and asynchronously online. 

What is Full Hyflex?

Full Hyflex teaching mode enables teaching to take place online and on campus simultaneously. The room will look fairly similar to a standard teaching room. You will find a second screen in the classroom, which you can use to display the MS Teams call so that you and the in-person students can see the students participating online.

If you will be teaching in a Full Hyflex-enabled classroom, it is recommended that you take some time to familiarise yourself with the equipment available in the classrooms, for example ceiling mics which (if selected) can pick up the speech of everyone in the room.

The Rooms Inventory in our IT and Library Supported Classrooms guide can be filtered to show Full Hyflex-enabled rooms.

What is Basic Hyflex?

Basic Hyflex teaching mode also enables teaching to take place online and on campus simultaneously however, as the name suggests, the technology is more limited. The microphones in Basic Hyflex rooms are supplied with additional echo cancellation capabilities, so that in-person and remote participants do not disturb each other. The room will be almost identical to standard teaching room, as there is no additional screen.

If you will be teaching in a Basic Hyflex-enabled classroom, it is recommended that you take some time to familiarise yourself with the equipment available in the classrooms.

The Rooms Inventory can be filtered to show Basic Hyflex-enabled rooms.

• An AV system touch panel with a similar Graphical User Interface to the design used in other university teaching spaces, providing familiarity for staff but also control for the additional ‘Hyflex’ equipment.
• Dual Screen monitors on the teaching podium, replicated by two student facing display screens. Having a dual display allows you to show presentation content on one screen, and MS Teams (in video conference mode) on the other screen. You can also present content whilst being able to review what is happening in the MS Teams application (chat, hand raised etc.)
• Local monitors that support interactive touch, so that digital annotation can be provided using PowerPoint or MS Whiteboard.
• A presenter-facing PTZ (pan, tilt and zoom) tracking camera. This can be selected via MS Teams (webcam). By default the camera will frame the teaching zone at the front of the room. It can also be manually controlled or set to auto tracking (which means it will follow the presenter smoothly like someone using a tripod) via the touch panel.
• A student-facing camera – this can be selected via MS Teams (webcam) and be used to show student discussion.
• A ceiling microphone – this can be selected via MS Teams (microphone) and has the capacity to capture the speech of anyone in the room without having to wear a radio microphone. It can be controlled via the touch panel to allow the following modes to be selected:
  • Teacher With Students (default) – Microphone will prioritise the teachers voice over the students. When the teaching stop talking the microphone will capture the student’s voice
  • Teacher Without Students – Microphone will only capture teacher’s voice
  • Open Discussion – Microphone will capture all speech without any prioritisation
• Audio DSP with AEC (Digital signal processor with Acoustic Echo Cancellation) hardware. MS Teams is not designed to deal with this requirement in a live environment, meaning that the sound of the person speaking will come out of loudspeakers at a high volume, so all the participants can hear. This sound would then get send back to the presenter via the microphone, causing confusion and disruption. The hardware is designed to deal with this issue and allow discussions to take place freely in-room or remotely
• Document Camera USB – The documents camera/ visualiser has been connected to the system via USB (In addition to HDMI), so it can display within the MS Camera App and be shared with MS Teams.
• A Rise/ Fall teaching desk. Where possible we have included a rise/ fall desk to provide better accessibility.

Please refer to the latest teaching and learning guidance which includes information about our Hyflex spaces at all campuses.

Some key points to note are:

• Only Hyflex spaces can support teaching on campus and online at the same time. This means sessions held in other teaching spaces should be taught on campus with recordings shared via Panopto afterwards.
• The majority of general IT teaching labs do not yet support Hyflex delivery
• Support staff are unable to make non-Hyflex rooms suitable for interactive Teams sessions involving remote participants. Panopto recording or live streaming should be used in this instance. Panopto is designed to allow webcasts to be generated either in advance or on the fly. If you wish to do this, please refer to the ‘How to Create a Webcast URL and a Waiting Room in Advance’ video and instructions.

• All of the rooms in the classroom spreadsheet which have a ‘YES’ in the ‘Hyflex Capable’ column will support Teams calls and hence remote participants: 

The Adjusting to the Blended Learning Environment Moodle page provides self-access resources that you can engage with any time. Hyflex-specific sections include: 

• Essential steps for teaching students on-campus and online simultaneously 

• Considerations for choosing whether to teach on-campus and online simultaneously 

• Tips on accessible and inclusive Hyflex delivery 

If you have any questions about the workshop or the pedagogy of Hyflex teaching, please email the ILS Academic and Learning Enhancement team for support and guidance.

Hyflex Dual Screens: How to set up PowerPoint

To set up the display so it shows your PowerPoint on screen 1 and Teams on screen 2, follow the instructions below:

1. Open PowerPoint slideshow
2. Select ‘Slideshow’ tab
3. Navigate to Monitors
4. De-select ‘Use Presenter View’
5. Set Monitor to ‘Primary Monitor’
6. Drag MS Teams window to 2^nd screen