Professor Ale Armellini, dean of learning and teaching and director of the Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Northampton Rob Howe, head of learning technology, University of Northampton Joint building digital capability and digital experience insights community of practice event, 21 May 2020.

1. Raising the quality curve at Northampton
Rob Howe – Head of
Learning Technology
@rjhowe
Building digital capability and digital experience insights community of practice
21 May 2020
Ale Armellini - Dean of
Learning and Teaching
@alejandroa

2. Where you could have
been....

3. Principles
• Active: doing and thinking
 Active Blended Learning (ABL)
 Active Distance Learning (ADL), itself a complex blend
• Content in not King. Context is.
 Good learning contexts promote quality contact
• Steer clear of outdated definitions of Blended Learning
• Fail to plan = plan to fail
 Synchronous & asynchronous activity even within
short sessions

4. Pre-session
sense-making
activities
with embedded
content and
resources
Real-time session:
analysis,
discussion,
critique, Q&A and
goal setting
Post-session
consolidation,
evaluation and
reflection
Tutor-
moderated,
primarily
asynchronous
Scaffold
Tutor-facilitated,
primarily
synchronous

5. ABL – a definition
Active blended learning is a pedagogical approach
that combines sense-making activities with focused
student interactions (with content, peers and tutors)
in appropriate learning settings – in and outside the
classroom.
ABL focuses on engaging students in knowledge construction, reflection
and critique, the development of learner autonomy and the achievement
of learning outcomes.

6. Things sort of changed in March !!!

7. ADL – a possible definition
Active distance learning is the University of Northampton's
approach to off-campus students' learning experiences. ADL
combines sense-making activities with focused and engaging
interactions in small groups, in synchronous and
asynchronous digital learning settings.
ADL focuses on engaging students in knowledge construction, reflection
and critique, the development of learner autonomy and the achievement
of learning outcomes.

9. Avoid…
• Just replacing all f2f seminars with
real-time sessions
• Using synchronous sessions
mainly to “deliver content”
• Uploading materials with no
scaffold (“read this”, “watch that”)
Start or continue…
• Planning your teaching
• Redesigning: think context, not just
content
• Applying lessons from DL
• Blending sync-async, even for short
sessions
• Using sync sessions for motivation,
tutorial support & group cohesion

10. Experiences of one student from the Blackboard
TLC conference 19-5-20

11. What will we retain from this experience for the next
academic year?

12. What is the focus of internal teams for the next
academic year? Has our Uni mission changed?