Flexible and online learning

Our 'flexible learning' approach to teaching and learning responds to students' different interests, needs and circumstances, by increasing their access to, and control over, particular environments. Flexible approaches to teaching and learning use strategies and technologies that meet the diverse needs of students to help them learn in all environments and media.

The Flexible and Online Learning Development (FOLD) project is a way to embed these approaches in subjects and courses.

Learning success through engagement 

Flexible learning approaches can positively affect student learning success and successful graduate outcomes by engaging with the needs and interests of La Trobe’s diverse student population. Flexibility allows for new learning opportunities and teaching approaches, and can extend the learning environment beyond the face-to-face classroom, meaning students are given a choice about where, when and how they learn. Flexible learning helps students achieve their potential while they study, and graduate with the skills they need to succeed in the workplace.

Flexibility across campuses 

As a multi-campus institution, flexible learning can strengthen collaboration between La Trobe’s five University campuses and the community, by enabling effective and efficient use of resources through cross-campus teaching practices.

This flexibility can assist with competitively positioning La Trobe with the other higher education providers, including non-University providers, in Victoria.

Student participation and retention

Flexible learning can also extend the possibilities of student participation, in line with La Trobe’s access and equity agenda. All students, including those traditionally underrepresented in higher education (low SES, regional and indigenous students), can benefit from a blend of online learning and face-to-face delivery. Flexible learning, therefore, can recognise the wide diversity amongst La Trobe’s students in terms of the times they have available to study, and their other commitments (family and work).

By acknowledging and supporting the wide diversity of La Trobe’s students, we can aim for broader participation, higher rates of student retention and a successful student experience. 

Flexible learning encompasses the whole configuration of the learning environment, and incorporates understandings of the physical, social as well as technological network, and opens up possibilities that extend learning environments into the social and professional worlds of learners.