Academics’ Reflections on Delivering Hybrid Lessons Through the Analytical Language of Seams and Patchwork

This paper presents insights from a series of interviews with academics at a public university in Ecuador, exploring their experiences in transitioning to synchronous hybrid teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reveals the challenges faced by academics in navigating the cultural, infrastructural, and technological seams present in the delivery of hybrid lessons in a country in the Global South. The findings provide empirical evidence of the invisible work undertaken by academics to address these challenges, the importance of providing adequate supports for academics when adopting hybrid learning, and the role of student agency in these settings. Finally, we reflect on the implications of deploying hybrid learning for academics' pedagogical practice. By applying the analytical language of seams and patchwork, the study sheds light on the complexities of hybrid learning implementation in a context marked by socio-economic and technological constraints.