The University of Northampton offers online and blended learning

As part of its Learning and Teaching Plan, the University of Northampton is making a deliberate effort to boost its online and blended provision across all six academic schools.

The strategic objective is to become a multi-mode institution offering excellent student experiences across different modes of study.

The school-based Learning and Teaching Excellence Coordinators are working in collaboration with the relevant academic course teams and Programme Leaders, the Learning Technology Team, the Quality Office and the Institute of Learning and Teaching and have started activities on a number of programmes. The aim is to offer flagship online and blended learning opportunities to a variety of audiences, globally. The Centre for Achievement and Performance (CfAP) has already launched the University’s first MOOC on Academic Skills on www.coursesites.com

In addition to the University’s existing portfolio of blended and online programmes, it was proposed that a further two programmes per school should be resigned for these modes of study. Work is being carried out to increase the University’s offering.

The forthcoming incorporation of three Learning Designers, Robert Farmer, Rachel Maxwell and Julie Usher, will provide additional momentum to this exciting and challenging process.

Professor Ale Armellini commented: “Modern learners expect their higher education experience to benefit from fit-for-purpose pedagogical design and innovation that capitalises on the affordances of learning technologies across different modes of study, including campus-based, blended and pure online learning. Open Educational Resources, social media and massive online open courses (MOOCs), among other developments, shape what higher education learners and tutors do and expect today. Together, they can trigger innovation in course design leading to transformational learning experiences in an open world.”

Find out more about the University’s online and blended learning offering