Keynote: Going to university—Blended strategies for learning and teaching in a modern tertiary context

Abstract

This think piece is a follow-up to a keynote delivered at the biennial DEANZ Conference, at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, in April 2016. It explores the University of Waikato’s Mixed Media Pathway. Dianne Forbes ponders her own experiences as a tertiary student, considers some of the changes and challenges facing universities today, and presents one response to these changes in the form of blended learning. The Bachelor of Teaching, Mixed Media Presentation—an initial teacher education degree at the University of Waikato—is used to illustrate the benefits and challenges of blended learning for students and lecturers. It is proposed that students based on campus can benefit from blended learning, just as geographically dispersed students can. Going to university can comprise active learning partnerships at a range of physical locations.