HIGHER EDUCATION ACCESS WITH SUCCESS THROUGH HYBRID LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES: EXPANDING THE REACH AND RICHNESS OF THE STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC OFFERING

The recently released draft South African National Policy on Post-Secondary Education and Training contains the five goals of the White Paper on Higher Education (2001) as threads throughout the plan: Social justice; a single coordinated system, access, quality and diversity, and improved links between education and work. Stellenbosch University (SU) as one of the top residential, research-intensive institutions in South Africa, has a long history of using blended learning opportunities to contribute to these goals of providing expanded access with success.

SU has taken a strategic decision to further expand its academic offering in a hybrid mode, i.e. a combination of face-to-face and fully online learning opportunities. Students meet with learning facilitators for block contact sessions (e.g. a week) in a physical learning space, which can be geographically distributed beyond the University’s current campuses. A large part of the learning, however, is delivered online via digitally archived learning material and interactive sessions between students and learning facilitators as well as peer interaction. Assessments could be a combination of invigilated tests/exams in distributed assessment centres and online assessments.

Strong emphasis is placed not only on the reach of the programmes, but also the richness, i.e. enhancing learning and the student experience. Academic transformation as identified by Educause (https://www.educause.edu/eli/initiatives/key-issues-in-teaching-and-learning) as the most important key issue in teaching and learning for 2018, is therefore also a key priority for SU. This includes as indicated by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) survey, “breakthrough teaching and learning models, innovative partnerships and alliances, and strategic transformation of the campus mission.”

This paper will outline the University’s business plan including:
• The conceptual framework of how SU’s knowledge offering can be viewed according to two variables: a) whether it is credit bearing and b) whether it is offered on-campus or off-campus.
• How the hybrid mode of offering will be integrated with a comprehensive academic programme renewal initiative.
• Possible markets for the hybrid offering and a special marketing initiatives.
• Mechanisms to ensure that initiatives are scalable and that the students have a positive online experience and adequate support.
• The provision of enough capacity to develop the online offering as well as additional academic, administrative and management staff and strategic partnerships to manage the hybrid offering.

Three of the six challenges impeding technology adoption in Higher Education identified in the New Media Consortium Horizon Report (http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2017-nmc-horizon-report-he-EN.pdf) are also specifically relevant within the (South) African context, i.e.:
• Improving digital literacy
• Advancing digital equity
• Rethinking the roles of educators

The paper will also indicate how these challenges are addressed within the (South) African context as well as how the roll-out of the hybrid offering will be implemented and measured in the short, medium and long term for different credit bearing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and modules as well as non-credit bearing short courses. In conclusion, the paper will also indicate the opportunities for synergy between face-to-face and hybrid offerings that could be beneficial to both the on- and off-campus students.