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Design for flexible online learning

See how we're using digital technology to create high quality, accessible and inclusive learning opportunities for everyone at NTU.

Redefining the student experience through digital technology

The use of digital technology to redefine learning enables us to stay at the cutting edge of course design, creating the best opportunities and environments for students to learn and succeed, and empowering them to make choices about how they learn.

The Flexible approach

CADQ's flexible and online learning team is accelerating NTU's move to hyper-flexible learning that uses digital technology to redefine the student experience.

At NTU we subscribe to the Advance HE definition of Flexible Learning; empowering students by offering them the choice of how, what and when they learn through the pace, place and mode of delivery for this learning.

Flexible Learning is essential to realising NTUs Reimaged strategy of creating the university of the future, where we weave face-to-face and digital provision seamlessly into all our programmes, enabling our students to plot their own routes through our courses.

Within the Centre for Academic Development & Quality, our team of skilled Learning Designers employ evidence based design principles to help colleagues explore innovative and creative options for online and blended learning. By embracing digital technologies we use pedagogic approaches that are not restricted by traditional constraints of time and place, but provide opportunities for increased personal learning and inclusive education for all students.

Our Flexible learning offer

Flexible learning course design at NTU is student-centred, built around a set of student personas, allowing course teams to build courses that meet the needs of their students. Considerations are given as to how quickly a student completes a course, whether they study online, on campus or in the workplace. It also offers the balance between synchronous (live) and asynchronous (on-demand) learning.

Please note, if you are looking for the 2023-2024 Module Development Form or the How to Develop a Flexible Module page, you can now find them on THRIVE (NTU staff login required)

Our delivery models

Blended Learning

Advance HE and the QAA broadly define Blended Learning as using multiple methods to deliver learning by combining face-to-face interactions with online activities. At NTU we define blended learning in the same way as AdvanceHE, but expand it to indicate that it is a structured programme of study in which elements of a module are purposely chosen to be online or face-to-face and whilst it does offer some flexibility there are also some constraints.

Online Learning

Online Learning is a combination of on-demand and live learning and teaching that takes place using an internet based-medium. Online Learning is a planned experience over weeks or months where content has purposefully been designed for the online environment. The accompanying technology and tools have been carefully selected for the educational objectives. At NTU we differentiate this from Remote Learning, an emergency measure used to assure continuity of learning. This usually involves taking a course that was designed for the face-to-face classroom and moving it quickly into a distance learning modality (usually synchronous).

Hyflex

Hyflex Learning, also known as Hybrid Flexible, offers students a choice of attending on-campus classes or completing equivalent online activities. We design Hyflex learning to provide parity in student outcomes, regardless of the route taken to get there, with neither route offering less a chance of success. Hyflex should not be confused with Hybrid learning which provides an online attendance or live stream option for an otherwise face-to-face event. This type of Hybrid Learning is only supported as a contingency method at NTU when many students are unable to attend on campus.

About the flex team

Our Flex team are experts in their fields and come from specialist backgrounds in graphic design, coding, video production and multimedia.

Animation, videography, production and filming.

Audio engineering and music production.

Coding and programming.

Illustration and graphic design.

Photography experience.

Teaching and training experience.

Visual effects, 3D, VR and AR.

Get in touch

If you have a question or would like to find out more, please email flexiblelearning@ntu.ac.uk.