Course learning outline/outcomes

Producing an outline suggests creating a rough sketch of something. It is a practice used by artists to accentuate aspects of their subjects such as the athletic movement and strength of Gaudier-Brzeska’s wrestlers. In design, the role of outlines and sketches is more utilitarian than artistic. Their purpose is to help clients visualise and evaluate the designer’s proposal.

With this in mind, I am hoping that the following outline/sketch, by accentuating the main features of the course, will help you to visualise its offering, and give you an idea of the knowledge and skills you will take away at the end of it. Thus, you will:

• investigate the field of blended and hybrid learning design in the context of Higher Education;
• improve your understanding of blended/hybrid learning and explore some of the new directions it has taken in the context of the pandemic;
• develop your awareness of practices effective for learning;
• develop practical design skills that you can use in your own blended/hybrid teaching practice;
• gain an understanding of some of the wider contexts shaping digitally-enhanced teaching and learning in universities today;
• increase your awareness of the sources of support you can draw upon, both within HE institutions and more widely to help you in this area of teaching and learning.

As I know you are very busy getting on with ‘life’, I have tried to ensure that the ‘core’ weekly diet of content and activities is manageable and will fit in alongside your other commitments. If, however, you do want to deepen your understanding of any of the issues discussed, there are optional links to additional written, audio and audio-visual content as well as a selective resource list at the end of the course.

Please remember that you are the beating heart of the learning experience. By sharing your knowledge and insights through your regular contributions to discussion-based activities, you will enrich each other’s experience of learning on the course.

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