More Than Just a Question of Media Technology? The Design of Synchronous Hybrid Learning Spaces

Synchronous Hybrid Learning Spaces refer to educational offers which some students attend on campus while others synchronously participate online. This article conducts a systematic literature review to answer the question of what empirical findings are available on the successful design of Synchronous Hybrid Learning Spaces. As field of research, the German higher education context is selected and 17 German studies are analysed. The results suggest that lecturers should (1) ensure that no participants are disadvantaged in terms of the media-technological setup, (2) consider the suitability of the teaching format, learning content and objectives in the design of Synchronous Hybrid Learning Spaces, and (3) define the rules of collaboration to enable interaction among all the participants. Overall, the identified variety in terms of learning objectives, content, and methods makes it clear that more than just media-related aspects must be considered for the successful design of Synchronous Hybrid Learning Spaces.