Hyflex Teaching and Learning: An Alternative Modality for Meaningful Engagement and Epistemological Access in South African Higher Education

Abstract

Hyflex teaching and learning is relatively a new concept within the South African higher education context. This teaching and learning approach brings to the fore the possibility of combining the existing teaching platforms for maximizing not only physical access to knowledge, but epistemological access, the latter is also described in this paper as meaningful access. The argument in this paper is that access cannot be meaningful until there is room for student engagement in the teaching and learning process, otherwise, all efforts to ensuring access in educational institutions will remain a mere paper fantasy. This paper, therefore, brings to the fore the need for higher education in South Africa to maximize the possibilities being offered by the Hyflex teaching and learning, not only for student engagement but meeting the need and respecting the democratic choices of students in terms of the modalities that work for them the most. Hence, it is argued in this paper that Hyflex learning is not a mere fad, but a choice for effective engagement with an emphasis on the needs of students at the center of all the pedagogic and curriculum choices in higher education. Keywords: Hyflex teaching and learning, epistemology access, student engagement, higher education, modalities, etc.