Summary
Fontys ICT offers blended education, but does not opt for hybrid education. On-site learning activities with physical meetings form the core of education. Online activities are supplementary and supportive, pre-eminently when they are convenient, practical or efficient.
Resonsible for the text: Nick Welman, Programme Manager Media Design.

'Blended learning' or 'blended education' refers to a combination of on-site educational activities and online educational activities. Students either all participate physically or all online. This implies that an informed choice has been made in educational design as to which educational activities lend themselves to online implementation and which educational activities belong in the physical learning environment. This idea is commonly referred to as the 'blended learning wave'. For a starting point, see the SURF community page.

'Hybrid education' refers to educational activities in which a number of students participate simultaneously physically and a number online, for example in the setting of a hybrid classroom. Fontys ICT does not opt for hybrid education. It implies an atmosphere of non-commitment and is an extra burdensome form of education, both for lecturers and the organisation. (An exception might be a hybrid form in which the physically and online participating students have completely different roles or learning tasks, for example one group has an executive task and the other group an observational task).

Following the covid19 lockdowns, Fontys ICT established a Blended Learning working group that delivered a final report on June 1, 2022. This contained the recommendation to organise education around connective communities in which collaborating PLOUs can organise a flexible, dynamic and efficient mix of on-site and online education. The (Extended) Leadershipteam accepted this mindset for the future. On March 2, 2023, the (Extended) Leadershipteam adopted a shorter and more concrete proposition regarding blended education, which was subsequently shared with PLOUs. See below.

Fontys ICT's Blended Learning policy is articulated as follows in a proposition for the target group of students, for example to be included in a Canvas course.

“Meaningful education at Fontys ICT has as an absolute prerequisite that studying takes place in a physical environment with face-to-face meetings with fellow students, lecturers and workfield partners. This is why, from year two, you can count on five half-day sessions per week of educational activities on location. Their standard schedule is in your schedule. Lecturers may vary this schedule as they see fit and in consultation, as long as an average of five half-day sessions of education on location is guaranteed throughout the semester. Incidentally, we also consider independent group work on location and independent meetings with the work field to be meaningful education.

Your schedule may include online activities. Online teaching is provided if it is convenient, practical or efficient. Or if it increases the effectiveness of meaningful learning on location. Some things just happen to run more smoothly online, such as concise instruction for a large group. The number of half-days of online education can range from zero to five.

Fontys ICT does not provide hybrid education. Therefore, you do not have the choice of whether to participate physically or online. Hybrid education can create an atmosphere of non-commitment that we like to avoid. Moreover, your lecturers must be able to concentrate clearly on their teaching task.“

In an explanation for the PLOUs to this proposition, it was added that blended learning offers the possibility to flexibly adjust or fill in the guiding spotting plan by mutual agreement, for example replacing a location day with an online day if that solves a pinching scheduling problem. The policy states that timetabled half-day sessions on site (or online) do not necessarily require lecturers to be present by default. PLOUs do not have to honour requests for hybrid education; we do not facilitate it.

Fontys ICT says that the above policy must be implemented with the human touch. There may be calamities or weighty personal circumstances to deviate from the above.

Semesters 1 and 2 have their education entirely on location. The blended learning policy therefore applies from semester 3.

Fontys University of Applied Sciences has an MS Team channel for blended learning. Fontys ICT therefore does not develop its own tools or strategies, but shares in the exchange of knowledge on Fontys Network Didactics and Blended Learning. In doing so, Fontys ICT does note that the network seems to focus mainly on the online side of blended learning and hardly at all on location-based education.