ActiveFlex expansion occurred at our university in Fall 2021. As Ian Malcolm said, “preoccupied with whether we could, we didn’t stop to think if we should”. Positive early results overshadowed development issues. Our journey describes ActiveFlex challenges, solutions, and future concerns. Although challenges arise, resilience and flexibility find a way.
The concept of ActiveFlex evolved from a HyFlex pilot at Athens State University in early 2021. With the help of a FIPSE grant, rapid expansion of the format occurred in the Fall 2021 semester. Early results from both students and faculty were overwhelmingly positive. However, in the words of Ian Malcolm, we were preoccupied with whether we could that we didn’t stop to think if we should. This excitement the grant and the positive early ActiveFlex results had us unintentionally overlooking development issues. Much like the scientists at Jurassic Park wanted to push the boundaries of science, our push for maximizing flexibility and student engagement regardless of chosen modality had us overlook development concerns such as ADA considerations, synchronous security, and facilitation of the classes for instructors. Each challenge required us to make adjustments so that the live classes could survive. Follow our journey through a Jurassic Park / Jurassic World theme as we describe the various challenges we faced, solutions to the problems, and future considerations to address. Although challenges arise, resilience and flexibility find a way.