Blendagogy: The art and science of blended learning design is the result of a Commonwealth of Learning Chair project.
Edited by Dr Mark Nichols, the book is available as a free PDF and as print-on-demand softcover and hardcover through Amazon.
Fourteen descriptive case studies across the New Zealand vocational education sector are brought together to substantiate the Blendagogy Framework, a design tool for creating effective blended learning solutions.
With a foreword by Professor Norm Vaughan (Mount Royal University in Calgary) and endorsement from Profesor Peter Scott (President, Commonwealth of Learning), Blendagogy takes its place alongside international scholarship promoting effective and coherent teaching and learning approaches.
About the case studies
Authors – blended learning practitioners – provided an overview of their approaches using a common format. The case studies are therefore easily compared, and together form a dataset of blended learning practices that culminate in the Blendagogy Framework.
Authors and their chapter titles are listed here from the Table of Contents:
- Cross-network delivery collaboration pilot: NorthTec and Open Polytechnic Lisette Buckle, Rachael Kelleher, and Doug Standring
- Learning hubs and blended delivery: Piloting equitable access Terri Brian
- Primary ITO: New Zealand Certificates in Agriculture Levels 3 & 4 (Dairy Farming) Eve Keast
- Southern Institute of Technology: Micro-credential in Geographic Information Systems Emma Page
- Southern Institute of Technology: New Zealand Certificate in Learning Design (Level 6) Melissa James and Sue Deuchar
- Southern Institute of Technology: Master of Applied Health Science Jerrylynn Manuel and William Payne
- Ara Institute of Technology: New Zealand Certificate in Adult Tertiary Teaching (Level 5) Niki Hannan and Faye Wilson-Hill
- Future Skills: Applied Management degrees Varun Bhardwaj, Krish Naidu, Jason Singh, and Rajeev Chawla
- Open Polytechnic: Bachelor of Teaching (Primary Education) Melissa McMinn and Lynne Brice
- Otago Polytechnic: Post Graduate Certificate in Learning Design (Level 8) Daniel Fridberg, Amy Benians, Emma Allen, Terri Brian, Ana Terry, and Jody Takimoana
- Toi Ohomai: New Zealand Diploma in Supply Chain Management (Level 6) August Du and Wen Luo
- Whitireia & WelTec: Blended teaching for first-year programming Minjie Hu
- Wintec: Bioscience in Bachelor of Nursing Ricci Wesselink, Patricia McClunie-Trust, and Kevin Stewart
- Wintec: Courses within the Bachelor of Social Work Heidi Crawford
Opening and closing chapters introduce and substantiate the Blendagogy Framework.
About the editor
Dr Mark Nichols is a distinguished leader in the field of open, flexible, and distance learning (OFDL), with over 25 years of experience in higher education. Mark’s commitment to OFDL is reflected in his role as President of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) since 2024. He has also served on the executive committees of ICDE, EDEN (of which he is a Fellow), Ascilite, and FLANZ (as a lifelong member).
Mark is currently the Executive Director of Learning Design & Development at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, where he leads a team of professionals in creating innovative, inclusive courseware. Mark was a Commonwealth of Learning Chair 2023-2026 and is, as of 2018, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA). His career includes time as a Director of Technology Enhanced Learning with the Open University, United Kingdom, and he has over 45 scholarly publications.
He is also a member of the editorial boards of several leading international journals in open, distance, and online education. Mark’s professional philosophy centres on the principles of availability, inclusivity, scalability, and sustainability in education, and the design of education practices that include these principles.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbnichols/ ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8131-6562
You might also be interested in a previous title: Mega-universities and opening education by design, available as a free PDF through ICDE and in soft or hard cover through Amazon.
