Choose a delivery mode

This page aims to provide all information needed to choose a delivery mode for your course or learning activity.

Why considering a delivery mode is important

It is important to consider the delivery mode that fits your learning objectives, target audience, and activities best, so learning can happen effectively and you can make the most efficient use of the time available.

Overview of available modes

The following modes are supported at TU Delft:

Face-to-face

Face-to-face education, where both lecturer and students are physically present in the classroom, is best used for interactive learning activities and as introductions for a course or groups of students, when building a relationship is especially important.

Blended Learning

A specialized form of face-to-face education is blended learning, a deliberate, integrated combination of online and face-to-face learning activities. Reach out to the blended education adviser at your faculty for more information and hands-on advice.

Hybrid

With hybrid education students can join both in class and online. Hybrid education makes it possible to extend the number of students who can attend and allows for students to participate when they are unable to make it to campus.

It is, however, very difficult to offer the same level of interaction to all students, especially in larger groups, as your focus will naturally be on the students who join in class. We therefore recommend having a dedicated moderator, like a colleague or teaching assistant, who interacts with the students online and makes sure questions are answered.

Three modes of hybrid education are offered:

1. Advanced: When you want to teach a synchronous lecture with light interaction. A moderator is a necessity. There are multiple education rooms that are fully designed for advanced hybrid education, supporting interaction with students in class and at home. You can find an overview of these rooms in the Education Spaces Viewer.
2. Basic: When you want to teach a synchronous lecture with light interaction. A moderator is a recommended. You use a special device to turn your computer into a hybrid system. You are visible and audible for all students, but interaction is limited. Please note that the availability of hybrid devices is organized by the faculties.
3. Live stream: When you want a synchronous lecture with little to no interaction, but do want to emphasize certain demonstrations during the lecture. The lecture is broadcast live over the internet with a slight delay.

Remote

When using remote education, both lecturer and students are online. Remote education works best for interactive lectures, online group work, or one-on-one conversations. TU Delft offers a wide range of remote teaching tools.

Teaching fully remote

Although we do not recommend doing so, circumstances might force you to teach fully remote, without face-to-face activities. In this case we can share the following tips:

• Limit remote teaching sessions: fully remote education is intense for both lecturer and student. Try to limit the duration of your teaching sessions and stick to the essentials. Student-paced activities, where students can watch a lecture or work on an activity at a time of their choosing, often works better than a real-time session.
• Provide clear instructions to students: What do you expect of students and how can they meet those expectations? Provide clear instructions to guide students in what to do and when.
• Add interactivity to your session: use a polling tool to ask questions, ask students to ask questions in the chat, or use breakout rooms so students can discuss in small groups.
• Create a pleasant online environment: open the session at least 10 minutes before it starts, mute all the participants at the beginning of your session, and be mindful of the privacy of students, especially when recording a lecture.

Next step

When you have picked a delivery mode for your course, creating a course structure would be the next step.

How to get help

Do you need help with choosing, or preparing for, a delivery mode? Reach out to the educational or blended advisors at your faculty or contact Teaching Support for 1-on-1 guidance.