A "new wave" of universities is emerging that is redefining higher education and consigning the old axis of elite and non-elite to history. The claim was made by Bob Burgess, vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester, before this week's publication of performance indicators for widening participation and non-continuation rates by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Professor Burgess argued that Leicester was at the vanguard of a movement typified by a shift away from a focus solely on teaching and research, to one in which more weight is put on exceeding targets for improving access and enhancing the student experience.
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We detail the research, development and initial outcomes of an intervention process to promote capability building in designing for e-learning at a dual mode university in the UK. The process, called CARPE DIEM, was built on a pilot study and became a Higher Education Academy 'Pathfinder' project named ADELIE. We report on the model workshop, its deployment, research and development over a 12-month period with a variety of subject groups working in small teams with learning technologists, pedagogical facilitators and librarians. Outcomes include improved scores on an institutional e-learning benchmarking exercise and increased capability for designing for online activities for students in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The model is stable enough to be tried in other institutions and continues to develop in scope.