Blended learning and professional development: Future building academic work in higher education

Educators use digital technologies to enrich learning experiences in the classroom and use personal mobile devices to extend their work life and productivity beyond the four wall of the office. As learning becomes more mobile, social and informal, the blend of spaces, places and digital devices is transforming how people learn. Given the disruptive effect digital technologies is having on the foundations of education, knowledge, learning and academic work, this presentation considers the characteristics of blended learning and of professional development in the belief that potential learning continuities transcend the barriers educators experience in both domains. This informal table discussion takes a future focus perspective of academic work and contends that the inter-relationship between blended learning and professional development serves as a potential enabler to academic motivation and engagement in professional practice. The presentation holds the central tenet of “educators are learners” and is fundamentally concerned with how educators learn and live in an ‘always on’ digital learning environment. To this end the informal table discussion will pose innovative approaches to professional learning generated from crowd-sourced evidence, curated in the public domain, and peer-reviewed by professional and social networks. The presentation will pose three provocative questions to provide a platform for participants to share openly and to simulate their personal and professional perceptions of how they learn and live in an ‘always on’ digital learning environment