Hybridity, Transparency, Structured Freedom and Flipped Engagement

In this paper, we contribute to current discussions of what constitutes the field of networked learning as a research domain and what makes networked learning particularly relevant and distinct within the broader landscape of digital technology in higher education. We enter this dialogue through discussing and reflecting on a hybrid learning design for a 10-ECTS module that builds on a Networked Learning Pedagogy. The purpose of our discussions is to elicit tensions and contradictions that surface when students are confronted with a networked learning pedagogy. We discuss the module in relation to ideas of networked learning pedagogy, present four pedagogical principles underpinning the module, and we draw out interesting tensions and contradictions that have emerged. Following this, we use the discussions to feed into the ongoing dialogue of ‘what is networked learning’, and we discuss how networked learning can contribute to practice and policy in higher education through developing practice.