Implementing synchronous hybrid education effectively: Lessons from a pilot in a law program in the Netherlands

While literature has discussed benefits and challenges of synchronous hybrid education, there is limited insight into how to tailor education activities to a hybrid setting. After distilling six principles from literature, the paper describes how a pilot conducted in the master Law & Technology at Tilburg Law School contributes to filling this gap by testing the implementation of specific hybrid education activities. Focusing on the need to create a community and equality of opportunities between on-campus and online students, the pilot assessed: (1) whether to combine the online and on-campus groups or separate them for interactive classes, (2) to what extent the use of online tools or apps can help to equalize the two groups, and (3) how to facilitate the creation of groups for assignments. The paper concludes by pointing at the need to keep evaluating in particular how to train skills and character in a synchronous hybrid setting.