A place-based approach to blended learning

Flexibility in course provision is needed more than ever. Blended learning, flipped classroom approaches and experiential learning, re-envisioned within hyflex environments, offer mechanisms for addressing current challenges in tertiary education provision. Today, universities are more intensely considering online study as a way to diversify campus assets, student requests for choice in how and where they study (including the traditional brick-and-mortar experience) is more widespread, and the extent to which instructors are experimenting with online provision is staggering. In geography, a discipline grounded in physical places and local communities, developing flexible learning spaces that retain that engagement with place, regardless of where or how students are studying, is challenging. A pilot study examining Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand instructors’ understandings of blended learning and digital media content creation is used to develop a preliminary framework for place-based blended learning. This framework responds to changing student and instructor needs and digital transformations in teaching and learning yet fosters a sense of belonging and connection to place.