GVSU identifies three forms of course delivery: traditional, hybrid, and online. 

Traditional (or Face-to-Face)

The standard in-class course. Typically, an instructor and students come to a regular meeting space a fixed number of times per week. There are exceptions (e.g., independent studies, clinical rotations, Master’s theses, etc.), but the expectation is that any content delivery/instruction is done face-to-face with the student. 

Hybrid

A course in which the instructor deliberately and purposefully replaces face-to-face instruction with online instruction. A hybrid course is one that requires purposeful use of online instructional strategies in lieu of coming to class. This does not include use of online methods to replace absence due to illness, snow days, etc. 

Online

A course where the instructor has replaced all in-class instruction with online instruction. Students and instructors never come to class. Online courses can be either synchronous (virtually meeting at the same time), or more commonly, asynchronous (students and instructor interact with course material at different times).