Blended learning review flags ‘regulatory concern’ for OfS

The “balance of face-to-face, online and blended delivery is not the key [determinant] of teaching quality”, according to a review of blended learning that prompted the Office for Students to say it has identified approaches of potential “regulatory concern”.

The blended learning review, commissioned by the Office for Students after the turn to online teaching in the pandemic and led by Susan Orr, pro vice-chancellor for education at De Montfort University, published its report on 19 October, saying that it found examples of “high quality” blended learning approaches as well as “pockets” of poor-quality online provision.

The OfS said of the review’s recommendations: “In response, the OfS has identified approaches to blended learning that could cause regulatory concerns in relation to the OfS’s quality and consumer protection requirements.”

THE Campus resource: A course design method to aid the transition to quality blended learning

Ministers have pressed the OfS to act on concerns about inappropriate use of online teaching.

The review focused on blended learning approaches in six English higher education providers. A review panel carried out desk-based research, collected survey data and conducted interviews with staff and students in each provider.

“All of the providers were able to set out their approach to blended learning, situating this within their educational strategy, but the rationale for blended approaches adopted at course level was not clear to students,” says the review.

It adds: “The panel’s desk-based research indicated that prospective students were not given clear enough information about the balance of face-to-face, online and blended study a student could expect and the digital skills and knowledge they would need to engage successfully in their studies. The student interviews confirmed this finding.”

And while students “valued the flexibility of asynchronous online lectures, which gave them the chance to review and re-watch material at their own speed, the panel heard that many of the students interviewed valued on-campus lectures which supported peer learning, gave students separation between their home and study environments, supported their motivation to learn and helped them to engage with challenging course content.”

Students also “reported that in many cases they received less timely and lower quality feedback on learning in online learning contexts”, the review says.

“The panel identified examples of high-quality blended approaches and innovations that supported students’ learning, but pockets of poor online teaching practice and poor online learning resources were referred to by students,” it continues. “The review panel took the view that the balance of face-to-face, online and blended delivery is not the key [determinant] of teaching quality.”

The review’s recommendations include that providers “should ensure that growth in student numbers does not drive the approach to blended learning and that, instead, the blended approach should be informed by sound pedagogic principles”, and that they “should ensure applicants have clear web-based information about the approach to blended learning adopted on courses they are applying for”.

Providers should also “ensure that unedited lectures from previous years are carefully reviewed before they are used again, to identify and edit out incorrect course information and to make sure course content is up to date”.

Susan Lapworth, the OfS’ chief executive, said: “We recognise the speed at which universities and colleges transformed the delivery of their courses at the start of the pandemic. Significant change and innovation were achieved by university staff in the most difficult circumstances. It is now important that universities and colleges reflect on what has worked well for students and what has not. Today’s report should inform that reflection and contains lessons for universities and colleges that wish to continue to adopt blended approaches.

“We have also provided guidance to assist providers in understanding where the OfS may have concerns about compliance with our conditions of registration. They have the opportunity now to make changes to their approach to ensure courses meet our requirements for quality, and we expect them to do so.”

Andrea Jenkyns, the skills minister, said: “Students should be receiving pre-pandemic levels of face-to-face teaching, as this offers them the greatest value for money and the most enriching experience possible.

“Whilst virtual learning is a fantastic innovation, it must never detract from a student’s high quality learning experience and, as revealed in this report, should never lead to a lack of in-person feedback or pockets of poor standard of online teaching.

“Students deserve much better and that is why we asked the Office for Students to put ‘boots on the ground’ and investigate universities where there are concerns over face-to-face teaching.”

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com