What I Love (and don't) about Hybrid Teaching

Okay, let's get the bad out of the way first. I am constantly trying to get faculty to bump their courses up to be fully online so that we can reach potential students who live far, far, far away and couldn't possibly commute to campus, even once per week. I am certainly grateful that I was able to earn my own Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln by taking only fully online courses (Lincoln is a long drive from Georgia). With that said, I absolutely love teaching 1/2 online. Five reasons:

1. Students who seem terrified of saying anything out loud in the f2f portion really get involved in the online discussions.
2. I am able to quickly and clearly clarify course issues (grades, assignments, etc.) in the f2f meeting. No matter how many times I tell them something online, some of them just don't seem to get it unless they hear me say it.
3. I am able to have highly-participatory, fun, engaging activities on the f2f day, since students are responsible for reading the text and taking a weekly quiz. We spend very little time going over what is in the text in the f2f portion, and instead do quick debates, lots of questions and hand-raising polls, and looking at news and YouTube materials regarding the upcoming presidential election (the class is American Government).
4. Since this is a freshman class, this is a great, but less risky way, for these new students to become good online learners.
5. My ego enjoys it. Yep, I am guilty. I like hearing myself talk and the instant gratification I get from seeing the faces and reactions of students who are listening and thinking.