Pedagogy and Situational Creativity in Synchronous Hybrid Learning: Descriptions of Three Models William Cain and Danah Henriksen Michigan State University United States cainwil1@msu.edu henrikse@msu.edu Abstract: This paper describes how differences in pedagogy and content led to instructors to exercise situational creativity in designing new models of learning and instruction at the graduate level. The term synchronous hybrid learning is introduced to describe a real-time learning environment that is simultaneously face-to-face (F2F) and online. Through direct observation and first-hand involvement in three new course designs, a behind-the-scenes account centers on the instructors’ use of situational creativity to solve complex contextual challenges. Each course was designed to address unique pedagogical and technological challenges, in which a “one size fits all” approach was not possible. This has serious implications for strategies aimed at educators’ professional development and related technology support. Educators should remain sensitive to the limits of technology, and employ situational creativity to “zones of possibilities” within those limits. Introduction The challenge of creating and developing professional development programs for teachers engaged in online learning and instruction has become one of the central concerns in modern education (Levine, 2007; Dede, 2009). New and emerging technologies continue to transform our notions of what we teach, how we teach, and even where teaching and learning take place (Ghezzi, 2007; Lin, 2008). This rapid influx of online technological innovation into educational environments promises both spectacular learning opportunities and daunting instructional challenges (Spector, 2002). This issue is reflected well in a quote from Mishra & Koehler (2006): … there is no single technological solution that applies for every teacher, every course, or every view of teaching. Quality teaching requires developing a nuanced understanding of the complex relationships between technology, content, and pedagogy, and using this understanding to develop appropriate, context-specific strategies and representations. This paper will review the efforts of two instructional teams and one individual instructor to design and implement three new course designs based on a central concept: synchronous hybrid learning (SHL). SHL is an educational context in which the students and the instructors gather both face-to-face (F2F) and remotely (hybrid), either as a group or distributed among multiple locations, for a class conducted in real-time (synchronous). All of the courses described here were doctoral level, and took place at a large Mid-western university during the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 semesters. These models were created with the goal of delivering high quality instruction and learning opportunities to doctoral-level students in several education and communications-related programs. However, these instructors faced an additional challenge: instruction would be delivered simultaneously to students both in an on-campus classroom setting, and in off-campus sites around the country and even around the world. And while it is true these three models for learning and instruction share a number of common technological elements, this paper will examine how the instructors’ “understanding of the complex relationships between technology, content, and pedagogy” produced the creative instructional designs and complex course dynamics that the - 291 -