Teachers in Blended Learning Environments

This study reports on recent doctoral research §focused on six academic staff working in early§blended learning environments in campus-based§contexts at a large Australian university. The§case-based research reports on how information and§communications technology (ICT) was used by each of§these staff, all early adopters of new§technologies, to enhance their face-to-face teaching,§and how this use contributed to an understanding of§blended learning in higher education. Across the§cases, seven dimensions of blended learning§environments were identified a significant finding§of this study. Overall, the study enhances§understanding of the nature, purpose and scope of§early blended learning approaches in a university§setting, and highlights the importance of academics'§use of resource-based learning to create blended§learning environments across a range of courses. The§study also establishes reasons why these teachers§embraced the use of ICT in their on-campus teaching,§and provides insights into how each perceived their§teaching role.