Definitions of digital teaching
Online, hybrid and blended are modalities of digital course delivery that support more flexible teaching and learning.
Review the definitions to help you decide between teaching your course as a fully online experience, a hybrid experience delivering the same scheduled course to students in person or online, or using blended learning. Find detailed descriptions of what distinguishes these modes of teaching and learning at Concordia.
On this page
Overview of course delivery methods
In-person courses are taught in person on campus in a classroom, lab or auditorium setting. This is the most common teaching mode at Concordia.
Blended learning combines in-person classes with online activities. Students attend in-person class meetings according to the regular course schedule. However, the number of in-person class meetings during the semester is reduced and replaced with out-of-class asynchronous work.
Hybrid learning is a single course that consists of a hybrid in-person location and a hybrid remote online location. Students register to attend either the in-person location or the remote online location using Zoom or Teams. In both cases, students attend the same class as a live synchronous event according to the regular course schedule. Students cannot move between the in-person and remote online locations.
Online learning combines recorded lectures with online activities and assessments which are delivered asynchronously (historically this has been done through eConcordia).
While hybrid remote and online courses are delivered entirely online, some mid-terms and final exams may require in person attendance. This is determined by the instructor and should be noted in the course description and course outline so that students understand these in-person requirements.
Hybrid courses will have two separate student rosters. Students are not permitted to move between the in-person and remote sections. A student's schedule will display the location of the section in which they are registered (i.e., a building and room number for the in-person section, or an online designation for the remote section). Instructors may choose to release the Zoom or Teams meeting link only to students registered in the remote hybrid section.
In person
Classes held in traditional classrooms at SGW/LOY. Sometimes referred to as ‘technology-enhanced’.
The traditional classroom experience. All learning occurs synchronously in-person (“live lectures”) on campus. This includes limited online or technology-enhanced tools to support communication and interaction for course activities using Moodle, PowerPoint, and recorded lectures using lecture capture for example.
Explore more
Blended learning
Combination of online and in-class class meetings. All students attend the in-class and online meetings
A mix of in-person (“live lectures”) and online where some of the course activities are delivered online, either synchronously or asynchronously. This mode of delivery requires the student to come to campus for the scheduled in-person class meetings on pre-determined dates. However, this format reduces the number of in-person class meetings because it shifts a significant amount of the work from in person to outside of class as asynchronous activities.
Hybrid
Courses offered through synchronous (“live lecture”) delivery, where some students are in the classroom, and others are online.
Students are registered in a section that reflects their location (in person or synchronous remote) and cannot move between locations. The instructor is responsible for the management and grading of all students registered in either location ensuring that all assessments are equivalent. Every class is delivered in this hybrid mode and requires specially equipped classrooms. Instructors may require additional in-class support such as an IITS technician or TA to help manage the two learner audiences, in-person and online, concurrently.
Note: In hybrid classes students register for the section that reflects their location (Hybrid In-person or Hybrid Remote) and cannot move between sections. Mid-terms and final exams may require in person attendance. This is important for those students who are registering to join the course remotely as online students. Be sure to note this in course description and outline.
Online/remote
All interactions occur online: classes, assignments, evaluations, collaboration, interactions, etc. These learning activities asses may be delivered and completed synchronously or asynchronously or a combination of the two. While online courses are delivered entirely online, some mid-terms and final exams may require in person attendance. This is determined by the instructor and should be noted in the course description and course outline so that students understand these in-person requirements.
Courses offered with eConcordia
eConcordia is the main provider of online learning at Concordia. The majority of course learning materials and activities in eConcordia courses are offered as asynchronous components such as but not limited to interactive lectures, knowledge checks, and dynamic learning activities with automated feedback. Some instructors offer synchronous learning activities such as group discussions to support the asynchronous learning in this format.
Courses offered through remote delivery (e.g., Zoom or Moodle), but not eConcordia
Some courses at Concordia will be taught remotely but not through the eConcordia platform. It is up to the instructor which learning activities are done synchronously and asynchronously through their course design. If you are instructor designing a remote course, begin with our Digital teaching website.
Note: While these courses are delivered entirely online some mid-terms and final exams may require in person attendance. This is determined by the instructor and should be noted in the course description and course outline so that students understand these in-person requirements.
Synchronous and asynchronous learning
Synchronous vs. asynchronous
For all modalities of course delivery, synchronous and asynchronous refer to whether the students are doing learning activities together or on their own time.
Synchronous learning
This refers to activities, such as lectures or facilitated discussions on Zoom or in person, that students must attend at a set schedule.
Asynchronous learning
This refers to activities that learners complete autonomously within a set timeline and do not require "live" participation/attendance.
Frequently asked questions
The majority of courses at Concordia are taught in person on campus in a classroom or auditorium setting. These are what we call in person courses.
Blended learning is also delivered in person but the course delivery format shifts some of the work from in person to outside of class. This means that some of the live class meetings are reduced because they are replaced over the regular 12-week semester or summer terms with asynchronous online activities and/or other hands-on activities such as student group work, collaborative research and writing, and opportunities for hands-on work that allow students to practice and apply the knowledge, skills and concepts they learn.
Like in-person courses, instructors can use a blended approach by reducing face-to-face classes with activities outside of class so that students spend more time on project work.
Concordia also has a long history of offering online learning through courses developed by eConcordia with the help of full-time and part-time faculty. Many of these online courses combine recorded lectures with online activities and assessments which are delivered asynchronously. This means students complete the course work according to a course schedule but can do so at their own pace without attending live classroom lectures.
Some classes are designated as remote courses. These classes are online but are offered through an Academic department rather than by eConcordia. If a course is intended to be delivered entirely online, instructors may decide on whether to design and teach the remote course synchronously, asynchronously, or a combination of both. Any class meetings in real time (synchronous classes) would take place online over conferencing tools such as Zoom or Teams according to the designated schedule. Students would not be coming to campus.
In these remote classes, the instructor may also decide that in-person meetings are replaced by either online class meetings, recoded lectures, asynchronous activities, online assessments, or a combination of the above. While remote are delivered entirely online some mid-terms and final exams may require in person attendance which may be held outside the designated class time – please note this on the course outline and description.
Hybrid learning consists of a single course that is designed to be delivered to students attending class in person as well as students joining remotely online through Zoom or Teams. Students choose during the registration process to attend class in person or online and must remain in the section they have selected according to their location. In both cases, students join the class as a live synchronous event according to the regular course schedule. However, the instructor will have designed and developed the same or equivalent learning activities intended to engage all students using a learner-centered approach. The central feature of hybrid learning is that the course is delivered synchronously to students registered to attend in person or online. This design allows both sections of students to complete a course using the same lectures, instructional activities and course work.
This modality can be more demanding for instructors because they are typically responding to in-person and online student interactions concurrently. This includes questions from students, class discussions, formative feedback, concerns and other interactions with and between those students attending in person and those attending online. Instructors may also be responding to other live chat communications taking place through Zoom, Teams and/or Moodle. For examples of how to plan these learning activities, visit the page online and hybrid instructional workflows.
However, when combining appropriate hybrid course design with effective classroom technology many of the demands related to running the hybrid classroom can be readily managed by instructors.
It is important to note that while these hybrid courses are designed to teach in person and online students together, mid-terms and final exams may require in person attendance. This is determined by the instructor and should be noted in the course description and course outline so that students understand these in-person requirements. This is important for those students who are registering to join the hybrid remote online section of the course.
Some of the real benefits of hybrid course design comes from students who have also expressed a strong interest in hybrid learning because they value the flexibility it offers. The reality for many students at Concordia is that they experience significant demands in terms of time, most often based on unalterable competing priorities. This includes managing personal and/or professional responsibilities, physical accessibility, physical location, and other constraints related to commuting to campus which may limit their ability to attend classes on campus.
Note that, while there are some similarities and overlap between these different modes of course delivery, they all use different course codes. Here are examples of the different course codes.
Subject Area / Course # / Section
- XXXX 201 BL = Blended Learning
- XXXX 201 RM = Remote
- XXXX 201 HP = Hybrid In Person
- XXXX 201 HR = Hybrid Remote
- XXXX 201 EC = eConcordia
- XXXX 201 (all else: A; B; C; AA; AB, etc...) = In Person