Dear SUNY Morrisville student,
As SUNY Morrisville prepares to welcome you back for the Fall 2020 semester, I want to familiarize you with the terms and definitions for the various ways your classes will take place.
As our institution is heavily focused on applied learning experiences, we have prioritized face-to-face delivery for courses and labs requiring hands-on instruction.
As you review your student detail schedule in Web for Students, as well as our online course listings, in the coming weeks, you will find the following terms and definitions helpful in understanding the type of instruction you are registered to complete this semester:
• In-Person, Face-to-Face (F2F) Instruction: The situation of teaching and learning in a traditional classroom environment where the instructor and students are in the same place.
• Hybrid Instruction: Any course that meets both online and in a traditional classroom setting. Hybrid courses meet in a portion of time in an online classroom setting as outlined in the course syllabus.
• Distance Education Instruction: Online: An individual course in which the majority of instruction is delivered via the online environment.
o Synchronous Online: Occurs when the instructor and students interact in different places, but during the same time. Students enrolled in synchronous courses are generally required to log on to their computer during a set time.
o Asynchronous Online: Occurs when the instructor and the students interact in different places and during different times. Students enrolled in an asynchronous course are able to go online at any time of the day or night, seven days per week, and work toward the completion of course requirements.
• Hy-Flex Instruction: A course that combines online and face-to-face instruction simultaneously into one single course section. The student is able to participate in a class in different ways: as a synchronous distance learner (via real-time, video-streaming); as an asynchronous distance learner (accessing materials, recorded lectures, and responding at a later time); as a face-to-face learner (physically present in the classroom); or as a flexible learner (with a degree of choice as to how they participate each week; sometimes face-to-face, sometimes by streaming class sessions, etc.).
• Hybrid Rotation: Any course that meets both face-to-face and in a remote or distance learning setting. Hybrid rotation courses facilitate a fixed student rotation model to ensure physical distancing can be met at all times inside the classroom. Online interactions can either be synchronous or asynchronous. In addition to the blended learning environment, a hybrid rotation model gives students the opportunity to achieve flexibility in course delivery outcomes as outlined in course syllabus. You can review these distance education delivery definitions on our website as well.
Limited Classroom Capacity
Reduced seating capacity in all of our classrooms will help us decrease density and maintain proper physical distancing. Flexible hybrid learning (hybrid rotation) will allow us to divide the scheduled class time per week into two or more time slots and meet with smaller groups of students weekly. Complimentary asynchronous instructional modules will supplement the course and help prepare students to participate in the more intensive and personalized interactive sessions.
Flexibility to Pivot to Remote Instruction
Anticipating that at various points during the semester individual instructors or students may not be able to be physically present in class (for reasons of illness, self-quarantine, compromised immune system, etc.), individuals will still be able to participate through remote instruction. If it is necessary to suspend all face-to-face instruction for a period, the asynchronous portions of courses will be unaffected, while the synchronous portions will continue via videoconferencing with minimal disruption.
We plan to offer you significant additional flexibility as to how, when and where you study, as well as how, when and where we deliver our courses. No matter how you choose to study this fall, SUNY Morrisville will support you as you seek to meet your goals. We appreciate the patience you continue to demonstrate during this unusual time.