Flexible learning

Approaches to flexible learning

'I can define teaching in one word: teaching is conversation'

Al-Mahmood & McLoughlin, 2004

Flexible teaching and learning approaches can foster increased student access to learning in a range of ways:

via a range of methods of learning that allow students options to attending traditional face to face classes which may not be accessible to them - including on-line, taped lectures, videoconferencing, distance materials (such as resource packs and do-it-at-home lab practicums), self study options (as class substitutes).
via methods such as group based learning, problem based learning, peer teaching, simulations and games which aim to increase access to students whose learning style is not best suited to more traditionally oriented lecture and tutorial formats.
via flexible entry and exit arrangements to courses, such as alternative entry requirements for mature aged students, students with professional experience, students from identified groups as well as multiple exit points in courses which all provide different levels of credentialing.
via flexible sites and times of learning such as learning offered in workplaces and flexible time tabling that schedules learning at a range of times or around identified student commitments (such as employment).

Constructive alignment: A good starting point for flexible learning, or any learning context, is to commence with the pedagogical needs of the program and course, and bring to these the diversity of the student cohort. Biggs (1999) approach to pedagogical design aligns the intended learning outcomes, the curriculum, the teaching methods, the learning environment, and the assessment procedures. See constructive alignment (The Higher Education Academy, UK).

Online interaction: A model of learning based on interaction between learner and teacher, and emphasise the importance of interaction and communication in flexible learning: one is Laurillard’s (2002) conversational framework, a constructivist approach in which teaching is based on ’an iterative dialogue between teacher and learner which reveal the participants’ preconceptions, and the variations between them’ (cited in Mayes & De Freitas 2004, p. 34). Feedback is central to this approach.

Salmon (2004) offers key principles to build and encourage participation in online discussion, focussing on learner to learner engagement. Salmon’s key principles

Activity focussed learning: A useful conceptual approach to flexible teaching and learning brings constructivist principles and online collaboration to the learning context, with a focus on learning activities. Goodyear describes a shift “from content towards activity” (2002, p. 66), where content becomes a “resource for activity”, rather than content and information which is transmitted to students.

This approach to designing flexible learning is based on your learning context, encompassing (i) curriculum learning outcomes and assessment, and (ii) student needs for flexible learning may be found at the Educational Development and Technology Centre’s (EDTeC) A Blended Approach to Active Learning. Further approaches are offered by Oliver (2005; 2000).

Further strategies for flexible teaching and learning:
Problem-Based Learning
Group-based learning
Good practices in flexible learning
See also Inclusive Curriculum

La Trobe University teaching staff have provided examples of approaches to flexible learning on the good practice pages.

Examples of flexible learning approaches

The following are examples of approaches which can be applied to flexible learning settings, which focus on student activity in order to lead to effective learning:

Conducting investigations or surveys
Carrying out fieldwork or observations
Case studies
Investigations or reports
Reflective tasks on learning at different stages of the course
Design projects
Group investigations and reports
Group presentations and debates
Literature searches and reviews
Research projects
Design an experiment and conduct it
Gather a portfolio of activities or evidence for skills
Contribute to an ongoing online discussion.
A whole course can be based around resolving a problem scenario or a series of these.

A Blended Approach to Active Learning, EDTeC, UNSW.