Abstract
The rapid advancement of digital technologies has enabled the growth of hybrid learning in higher education, where students participate in the same class either in person or remotely. While this approach expands access, it also creates a paradox captured in the phrase together yet apart. Students share the same learning space at the same time but often experience it differently depending on how they attend classes. This raises important questions about participation, visibility, and equity in hybrid learning environments.
This thesis investigates hybrid learning through three interconnected lenses: students’ experiences, educators’ pedagogical practices, and classroom interactions. A multi-phase research design was employed. The study began with a systematic review of the literature to identify key gaps in current understanding of hybrid learning. This was followed by three case studies conducted within a research-intensive university context.
The first case study examines students’ experiences of hybrid learning. The findings show that students’ engagement is strongly influenced by their visibility, opportunities to interact, and sense of proximity to peers and educators. Remote students, in particular, often experience a sense of distance that affects their participation and sense of belonging. This reinforces the idea of being present yet peripheral.
The second case study explores educators’ pedagogical practices in hybrid environments. The findings indicate that teaching in these settings is shaped by educators’ ability to exercise pedagogical agency, create interaction-rich learning environments, and access appropriate institutional and pedagogical support. Managing two simultaneous learning spaces requires deliberate strategies to balance attention and engagement across modes.
The third case study analyses classroom interactions using social network analysis. The results reveal uneven interaction patterns between in-person and remote students, highlighting the structural challenges of hybrid learning. The findings also demonstrate the educator’s central role in shaping interaction, showing that consistent, intentional engagement with remote students can reduce disparities and foster more inclusive participation.
Taken together, the findings illustrate how hybrid learning environments can simultaneously connect and separate learners. Addressing this tension requires intentional pedagogical design and strong institutional support. Enhancing the visibility and participation of remote students is critical to reducing their sense of marginalisation and ensuring more equitable learning experiences.
This thesis contributes to the literature by offering an integrated understanding of hybrid learning through the perspectives of students and educators, and observation of classroom interactions, culminating in a model describing the nature of hybrid learning and teaching. The model is built on three conditions: visibility, audibility and connectivity. These conditions afford educational telepresence, the experienced sense of being present and available to a class distributed across physical and virtual space, extending presence concepts associated with the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to synchronous, dual-mode settings. The model identifies key pedagogical, technological, and social factors that influence hybrid learning and provides empirical evidence of how interactions occur in hybrid environments. By focusing on New Zealand’s higher education, the study also provides context-specific insights that broaden understanding of hybrid learning beyond dominant international perspectives.
Overall, the study provides both theoretical and practical contributions to the design and delivery of hybrid learning, offering guidance for educators and institutions seeking to create learning environments that are not only connected, but genuinely inclusive.