Distance? Online? Hybrid? Blended? These terms can be so confusing!

As distance educators you will have a good sense of how teaching and learning happen when there is geographic distance between teachers and learners.

Terms such as "online", "hybrid", "dual mode" and even "blended" can be confusing, but in actuality they refer to a variety of practices that distance educators have been thinking about and putting in place for a long time.

If you would like to pick up more ideas for your own distance teaching, then the following may be useful.

• The Distance_Learning Shifting Online Blackboard site, managed by the Distance Learning Office, contains a wealth of tools to support any educator who has students learning online. Just login to Blackboard and look for ‘My Papers’ and ‘Courses where you are: Student’. Please contact Sarah Stein or Keryn Pratt for any information about ‘Shifting Online’ or to request access if you cannot access it.
• The Online Learning FAQ contains a series of questions and answers about online/hybrid/blended learning, provided by your colleagues at Otago.
• The Covid-19: Information for Staff webpage administered by the University provides up-to-date information on support for teaching online in the wake of Covid-19, including ITS guidance on teaching and learning remotely, links to student support services, and contact tracing information.
• The Higher Education Development Centre are also a great hub of support for all teaching related activities.