Blended Learning Essentials

Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts. Find out more This course is open to everyone, but is particularly aimed at those working in further education, skills training, vocational education, workplace learning, and lifelong learning or adult education. We provide a range of accreditation pathways, whether you are directly supporting learners or delivering training and seek to use blended learning more effectively. The course is designed to be completed in around 4 hours per week, with optional further reading in addition. All activities have recommended times, and there are plenty of resources and activities for you to explore further if you’d like to do more on a particular topic. You can join at any time during the course. You can use the hashtag #FLble2 to talk about this course on social media.

• Using data from learners to help design more effective blended learning. Examples of how to identify evidence of learning with technology, and how to enhance conventional learning designs with digital technology methods.
• The use of digital tools for sharing learning design ideas and contributing to a community of practice in blended learning design. How to use the online Learning Designer tool to view and edit a shareable learning design.
• The role new technology can play in addressing the key challenges of the VET sector. The extent to which technology can help teachers give learners more and better learning support, while not increasing their workload overall.
• The use of technology to promote independent learning. How to develop and share a blended learning design in Moodle.
• Strategies for reducing the costs of innovation, including through the sharing and re-use of teaching ideas and by means of cross-institutional collaboration.
• How innovative solutions can be developed to match an organisation’s needs and ambitions. The importance of collecting evidence that demonstrates the value of blending learning and considering the views of learners.
• Approaches to analysing the costs and benefits of investing in blended learning. How to use an interactive planning tool, the Course Resource Appraisal Modeller (CRAM), to understand the relationship between the benefits of bringing in new digital pedagogies and the costs of developing and running them.
• Techniques and approaches that can be used to support a culture change towards blended learning within an institution. Examples of good practice in implementing effective change management.
• How to work with colleagues and external organisations to support professional development and embed blended learning practice.