University of York

Richard Walker

Pioneering Blended Learning across Institutions

My career has evolved from teaching and course design into a leadership role in learning technology, shaped throughout by a strong ethos of collaboration. In 1996, I contributed to a blended diploma course at the Euro-Arab Management School in Spain, working with colleagues from multiple business schools. This inspired research into learner-centred design models for blended learning, conducted at Nyenrode Business University (1999–2003).

In 2003, I joined the University of York to help establish centrally supported services for blended and distance learning. Since 2005, I’ve led strategic digital learning developments across the institution, overseeing the VLE, lecture capture, and e-assessment. I work closely with academics and professional services, using a distributed leadership model (Somers, 2022).

This approach has enabled the growth of a central service that now underpins teaching and student support. It also shaped my role as Chair of York’s E-Accessibility Working Group, leading our response to accessibility regulations.

Shaping Services through Student Voice

Student feedback has been instrumental in shaping service improvements at the University of York. We’ve built strong stakeholder engagement through surveys and focus groups to understand the student digital experience and inform technology development. I’ve consistently championed user research to assess the impact of strategic technology initiatives on teaching and learning. At York, we adapted the ‘impact by design’ methodology (University of Reading, 2020), breaking down digital goals into clear phases. This generated user statements that offered deeper insight into how students experience these changes, guiding further improvements and impact evaluation.

Findings highlighted that the usability of digital content depends not only on tools but also on how instructors structure material, name files, and communicate outcomes.

Our teams have used these insights to celebrate progress, drive positive behaviours, and measure learning impact across departments. While we support student-centred design with clear outcomes, we respect academic autonomy in selecting the pedagogical approach and tools.

Exploring the Potential of AR and VR in Learning

I am committed to creating an interactive and engaging learning environment that fosters deeper understanding and motivation among students. To secure the necessary resources and funding, we must demonstrate clear evidence of impact through a continuous cycle of promotion, development, and dissemination.

“Co-creation in learning design has also played a vital role. Involving students as active contributors transforms them from passive participants into leaders in learning development”

A central focus has been exploring the educational potential of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). We have piloted immersive technologies within selected departments, supporting academics in embedding them into curricula and student projects. Benchmarking with other universities and visiting AR/VR labs has provided valuable insights into best practices and common challenges for shaping a central service offering.

We have built an inventory of use cases to track impact and demonstrate how these technologies enhance learning outcomes. By sharing successes and challenges, we’ve cultivated a community of practice focused on AR and VR in education. Key to this work is ensuring these tools support core skills, address accessibility and inclusion, and are backed by sustainable staffing and technical support.

Creating Spaces for Cross-Team Dialogue

The strategies I have promoted for cross-team dialogue are evidence-based and people-centred, rather than driven by compliance or standards. This approach best supports the adoption of inclusive practices in developing online content. At its heart is a commitment to collaboration—bringing together academics, students, and professional services to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and learn collectively across the institution.

A key aspect has been partnering with student interns, whose insights into the learning experience have helped shape guidance and practical improvements to digital services. Their contributions have supported meaningful course delivery enhancements and helped embed sustainable change across the institution.

Co-creation in learning design has also played a vital role. Involving students as active contributors transforms them from passive participants into leaders in learning development. This approach recognises that students bring valuable skills and perspectives, positioning them as collaborators in creating knowledge and developing learning content that enhances engagement and outcomes.

Evaluating What Really Works in Digital Learning

The choice of methods and data sources depends entirely on the questions being addressed, which should be shaped by the intended learning outcomes. You must select the approach that best aligns with the insights you’re seeking. For example, activity logs can offer a picture of participation and interaction patterns in online discussions by tracking the frequency of posts. However, to understand how students are engaging with the environment, an interpretive approach is needed—one that explores learners’ perceptions of the tools and how they support learning. This can be done through semi-structured focus groups that respond to issues emerging from the data, or through content analysis of discussion posts to assess cognitive and non-cognitive presence. In my experience, a mixed methods approach—combining quantitative data (e.g., usage metrics) with qualitative insights (e.g., student reflections)—provides a more complete understanding of student behaviour, motivations, and learning experiences during online activities.

Future-Proofing Without Losing Sight of Learning

I would say that the key thing is to invest in staff training, so that instructors have the requisite level of digital skills and ethical awareness to make appropriate use of data and digital services. There is an ongoing need for the digital upskilling of students and staff, so that they can fully exploit the opportunities arising from digitally enabled programme delivery in a responsible way, as new tools and digital learning approaches become available. From a teaching perspective, higher education institutions should aim to provide continuous in-service training to guide their staff on how to incorporate learning and media technology effectively within the design of curricula for blended, flexible (hybrid/hyflex) and fully online courses. In this way, institutions can and should encourage their staff to embrace and experiment with innovative pedagogies, drawing on the affordances of pervasive and integrated digital media which will be defining features of the university of the future.