A dilemma in the strategic move towards blended learning: Balancing bottom-up with top-down approaches

Abstract

The University of Sydney set up an eLearning Support Initiative in 2004 to enhance student learning and provide sustainable learning technologies which would promote research-led, active, innovative approaches to learning and teaching. Whilst the University’s faculties were to work within the University guidelines for the development of e-learning projects, the faculties were grouped into three clusters to work out the best mix of projects for this initiative. This paper reflects the activities of the Sciences and Technology cluster. The dilemma for this group was: ‘Do we look for the overarching, all-embracing projects which are needed by the clients (even though they may not know this) and which will become diffused in time across the cluster or even the institution?’ or ‘Do we work at the ‘coalface’ level and help academics develop e-learning resources which will fulfil their various perceived needs?’ The answer for us was to do both and this short paper addresses how we have balanced these two approaches to blended learning.