Mike Boecherer shows Cynthia Eaton how he uses the document camera in the Orient 201 Sufflex room. (photo by Cynthia Eaton)

Sufflex.

It is a space not to be confused with an annex, duplex, multiplex, apartment complex or the Googleplex.

Everyone's been calling this modality Hyflex but we cannot do that. Hyflex courses refer to a specific modality developed over a decade ago at San Francisco State Univerity by Dr. Brian J. Betty. In Hyflex classes, students can decide—even week by week or class by class—whether they want to attend their Hyflex class on campus or via videoconferencing software such as Zoom or MS Teams.

We do not offer Hyflex classes at SCCC. But we do offer a variation on the theme. So we are going to call these Sufflex classes, following the model of other colleges and universities like SUNY Binghamton where their version is called Bingflex.

Held in specially designed classrooms on each campus, during each class meeting the on-campus students and professor are in the classroom, while the remote students come in via Zoom. Sufflex classes have two CRNs so students can enroll either in the on-campus or the remote portion of the class. They cannot switch, however, which is why these are not Hyflex classes. Students in the remote portion always come in via Zoom, and students in the on-campus portion attend on campus. Two cameras—one in the front and one in the back of the room—make sure that the remote students can view the professor, their classmates or both throughout each meeting.

Three Sufflex sections were offered at SCCC for the first time last fall, all at the Eastern Campus. One was in nursing, one was Dr. Michael Boecherer’s English Literature I and the third was my The Art of Poetry (Honors) course. To teach successfully in this modality, you’ll need to learn the technology and think through your pedagogy, specifically how to engage both on-campus and remote students to develop a sense of community between and among them.

The technology: Attend the training—and then practice

First and foremost, you will absolutely need to attend the training. The computer on the podium has two monitors so you can manage both the Zoom screen and the other screen, such as if you want to show students your class website, a course assignment, a web resource, etc. If you’re unaccustomed to using two monitors at once, you’ll need to figure out the little “tricks,” such as dragging applications between monitors or learning what to do if your mouse doesn’t seem to want to slide from one monitor to the next (hint: scroll over from the other side of your screen).

You will also need to master the remotes for the front and back cameras in addition to the projector and, in some classrooms, the mounted screen above the podium (e.g., Orient 201 has a flatscreen mounted above the podium but Shinnecock 206 only has the main projector screen). The front camera is mounted in a way that shows the faces of the students sitting in the classroom, while the back camera is mounted in a way that shows your face if you’re standing at the podium along with the backs of their classmates’ heads. You’ll need to learn how to switch cameras and zoom in and out, so the remote students can see who is talking.

The Sufflex rooms are also equipped with a document camera that enables you to easily show a textbook, worksheet, reading material or a notepad on which you can write. Since it’s beamed onto the big screen, students both in the room and on Zoom can follow along. You will need training on how to use these document cameras too.

After the training, the key is to go into the Sufflex room and practice, practice, practice. A colleague or two on laptops can act as remote students. It will take a bit of time to get used to the technology, but there’s really no better way than to learn by doing—and you definitely do not want to waste valuable time learning on the fly during your actual class.

The pedagogy: Talk to experienced colleagues

Mike and I spent hours last fall comparing notes, since we were both teaching English courses for the first time in the Orient 201 Sufflex room. Mike is a power user of the document camera, while I greatly prefer to screenshare course readings right from web. Mike adeptly switches back and forth between cameras, while I mostly use the front camera and sit right down with my students in a semi-circle so the remote students see us all at once.

Mike and I are both teaching Sufflex again this semester and continue to adapt our approaches based on the course content and the students enrolled. So while we’re both still new at this, we can share a sense of some things we’ve learned thus far.

One thing I love about Mike’s approach is his use of the document camera. Mike’s the teacher who writes all over the board, then erases furiously to add more. In his Sufflex class, the document camera has made this easier. “I use the document camera both with the textbook and my notebook,” Mike says. “I’m writing constantly and flipping back and forth. Writing in my notebook is great so students both in Zoom and in the room can see it—just like they would on a chalkboard.”

Using the document camera for the assigned readings is incredibly useful too. Not only does it keep the text right in front of the students but Mike also annotates the margins which models exactly the kind of habits we want them to adopt. Mike adds, “And it’s a JEDI technique because if a student forgot their book that day, they can still participate in the class conversation.”  

I’m not a big user of the document camera. Instead, I do a lot of screensharing, as so many of my materials are loaded right into my Blackboard class websites. When I type notes, I do so in Word via screenshare, then I can paste the text into the chat (such as when I offer my “provocations” for the next assignments) or into the class website for students to access (such as with a whole class review for an exam or project).   

Mike and I are both big fans of the chat feature in Zoom. In Mike’s literature classes, participation is 30% of the final course grade, so he offers as many ways as possible for students to share their good ideas and thinking. “If they have their video and audio off, I need to know they’re engaged. So I’ll put several questions in the chat periodically throughout the class, give them some time to reply and then I can skim them and read some aloud to spark further conversation.” Mike takes attendance based on their chat postings too, so they cannot get away with logging in, turning off their camera and taking a nap.

The chat is an invitation to interact for me too. The on-campus students simply talk aloud as in a traditional on-campus class, and the remote students either raise their hand, just jump in or post their ideas in the chat. It might sound distracting, but it actually works—and Mike and I have both noticed that students seem to take this all in stride. In my Gender and Humanities class this semester, for example, one student started responding to a question while looking at me, paused and said, “Oh! I’m forgetting my classmates,” pivoted slightly and spoke directly to the camera. I was impressed by how quick, smooth and natural that gesture was for them!

I had another major realization about the cameras last fall too. For the first week or so, I had been keeping the front camera mostly on, since if everyone was on campus I would have had the chairs in a circle and we’d all sit facing one another to engage in literary analysis. It just seemed natural to me that students should be seeing their classmates, and I’ve never been very concerned about whether they are looking at me. Upon checking in with the class, however, they said if I was at the podium and started speaking, they couldn’t see me on the front camera and the disembodied voice felt uncomfortable—like some omniscient narration coming at them out of the ether.

That’s when I started sitting with the on-campus students so the remote class could see us all at once. Using my laptop and logging in to Zoom, I can still check the chat area and keep a close eye on who’s participating. I still periodically move back to the podium to navigate through course materials, check in with groups when they’re in breakout rooms, etc., but the students say having me sit with classmates works best.

Mike and I are still learning this semester, of course, and we look forward to comparing notes with our colleagues who are teaching Sufflex for the first time. Contact Mike or me if you’d like to chat about this newest learning space on campus. We'd be happy to meet with you in one of the Sufflex rooms!