This module, designed with university lecturers in mind, seeks to establish and share best practice in blended learning, bridging the gap between strategy and delivery by empowering higher education teachers to translate principles of blended learning into effective teaching and learning practice. The key principle to note is that designing with blended learning in mind requires the same understanding and skills that are applied to all course design. A key difference is that consideration must also be given to how the activities, delivery methods, technologies, learning spaces and assessments are integrated. These all have a direct impact on how the activities are designed.

1: Why blend? This topic will serve as a short introduction to blended learning and the module, working from the assumption that participants are going to be teaching primarily on campus, on site and with opportunities to bring in technologies to provide more flexible learning opportunities. 2: Approaches to blended learning This topic will contain a series of blended learning case studies from a range of contexts. 3: Innovating with blended learning: first steps This topic will address the following questions: • What are the initial key things you should consider when adopting blended learning? • How does this fit with existing course designs? • What are the first steps that could be followed to adopt this within your practice? 4: Blending with purpose: getting serious This topic focuses on practical application to help the participant develop a good understanding of the key elements of a long-term plan for integrating blended learning strategies into modules or programmes. 5: Redesigning assessment for blended learning The purpose of this topic is to help the participant to think about how to redesign assessment approaches as part of their blended learning teaching practices. 6: Evaluating and refining blended courses This topic will provide some frameworks by which participants can evaluate their course, highlight the tools that are available to carry this out and give a general overview of how to use learning analytics and what to do with the data collected. 7: Building a sustainable blended learning culture This topic aims to help teachers and practitioners explore how to build a culture where blended learning is sustained and embedded within the institution. Participants will explore the issues related to this and also understand how to identify opportunities to initiate a change to a blended approach.

Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to: - Explore and reflect on the concept of blended learning and its rationale - Apply concepts to practice from a number of case studies of blended learning - Consider the fit of a blended approach with existing module and course designs, and the first steps needed for adoption - Develop a good understanding of the key elements of a long-term plan for integrating blended learning strategies into modules or programmes - Redesign assessment approaches as part of blended learning teaching practice - Explore evaluation frameworks and tools, and the potential of learning analytics - Reflect upon how to build a culture where blended learning is sustained and embedded within the institution and identify opportunities to initiate a change to a blended approach

Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to: - Appreciate the affordances of blended learning from an informed and critical perspective

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This module will be taught using a blended approach and the flipped classroom model when appropriate. The content delivery will happen online through professionally developed multimedia material developed in collaboration with Oxford University Press (Epigeum). Elements of interactivity and reflective practice will take place in a flexible format, and contact time will be devoted to interactive and collaborative activities (Graduate Attribute: collaborative). The case studies in topic 2 will be presented using a variety of different activity types, including video interviews with participants in the case studies. Participants will be encouraged to consider different aspects of these case studies as they relate to their own plans and teaching practice. Topic 3 will help faculty take first steps in integrating blended learning into their teaching practice, offer some tips and strategies for best practice and provide a special focus on one of the first steps that many academics take when developing their own blended curriculum, for example, experimenting with video. Topic 4 will encourage participants to take the 'first steps' explored in topic 3 and build on them to think about redesigning for blended learning on a whole-module or programme basis. The course will begin with a scenario-based learning activity where the participant is guided through a simulated conversation with a learning technologist that scaffolds the approach that the participant should take to planning their blended learning. The course will then look in detail at the design fundamentals for blended learning, particularly at making a plan and engaging with a team to finalise a good approach. Participants will be taken through the stages of implementing a chosen approach. Finally, the topic outlines good practice in monitoring and refining a blended learning approach. Topic 5 will assume that the participant will already have an understanding of 'traditional' forms of assessment, constructive alignment and rubric development. It will explore new opportunities for assessment through blended learning such as authentic assessment using multimodal assignments or digital artefacts, assessment tasks that have a digital literacy component and collaborative activities supported by online tools. This topic will also focus on establishing criteria and standards for blended assessment tasks and feedback/forward approaches. Topic 7 directly addresses the responsibility of teachers to become agents of change in their institutions from a proactive stance (Graduate attributes: responsible, proactive)