Blending learning: widening participation in higher education

Abstract

Widening participation has increased in emphasis in Higher Education over recent years. While there has been some progress in making higher education more accessible to students who have traditionally been excluded, widening participation is still being described as one of the major challenges facing Higher Education Institutions. Likewise technological development has led to an increased use of online learning in Higher Education and this has also challenged educators and their practice. The focus of the paper is a case study which reports on a European Funded project and its innovative approaches in changing teaching, learning, assessment and student support via blended learning in response to the widening participation agenda. The data collection methods used in the case study involved questionnaires, focus groups and documentation. The initial part of the paper provides a context and key themes are then identified. The second part of the paper explores how blended learning successfully contributed to widening participation, entrepreneurship and created innovative support to non‐traditional students. Some of the challenges including the persistence of traditional teaching and learning practice and the diverse needs of non‐traditional students are examined.

Keywords:

• blended learning
• widening participation
• social inclusion