Professor Graham Webb
• What is flexible learning?
• How will we know when we are doing it well?
• How are we doing?
Professor Graham Webb
• What is flexible learning?
• word association . . . one or two words
• technology, information technology, web, cost-saving, replacing teachers, distance education, teleteaching, remote delivery etc
Professor Graham Webb
• What is flexible learning?
• Still a legitimate question
• CHED Guide No 1: “What is Flexible Learning?”
Professor Graham Webb
• silly to think we can ‘simply’ define it
• ‘learning’ is difficult enough . . . . . . . . . . . . massive, complex and contested area
• why has ‘flexible’ learning become an issue?
Professor Graham Webb
• response to the challenges of:
massification (363 - 1961; 42k - 1998)
diversity (100 countries; 17% HK, M, S; 25% > 30 years old)
life-long learning skills (information explosion; shelf-life of knowledge)
Professor Graham Webb
• move from institution and teaching
• to more student-centred learning
• what is flexible learning:
an umbrella term for increasing student access and choice . . . in . . .
Professor Graham Webb
• entry and exit (enrolment, qualifications, RPL, articulation)
• programme and course structures (electives, streams, completion times)
• time of learning (start date, offerings per year, assessment periods, pace of learning)
Professor Graham Webb
• place of learning (on/off campus mix, workplace, study abroad)
• learning: content (lectures, tuts, practs, labs, libraries, print based materials, multi-media materials, on-line materials . . . . choice, negotiated curriculum, self/group-direction)
Professor Graham Webb
• learning: interactions student-teacher, student-student (email, conferencing (tele, desktop, video), fax, mail, study/syndicate groups and rooms, newsgroups, chatrooms, face-to-face individual, group, class)
Professor Graham Webb
• assessment (time, choice, negotiation, self/group-direction)
• support (automated, personalised, equality of access)
Professor Graham Webb
• flexible learning is not (simply):
• use of information / educational technology (teleteaching, web etc)
• distance education (from one-stop factory to decentralised production; deregulation; multiple production providers; short time-lines)
Professor Graham Webb
• A cheap alternative to lecturing/ a way of reducing staff (but there are consequences for how we work)
• Again, flexible learning is the umbrella term for a direction of travel
Professor Graham Webb
• How will we know when we are doing it well?
• Technology won’t tell us . . . . . . Retrogressive . . . . metaphors of teaching
• What do we know about good teaching?
Professor Graham Webb
1 Provides appropriate learning experiences
2 Provides appropriate assessment
3 Encourages active learning
4 Encourages cooperation
Professor Graham Webb
5 Provides prompt and helpful feedback
6 Respects diversity
7 Models scholarly values
8 Builds relationships
Professor Graham Webb
Professor Graham Webb
• CUTSD . . . An Evaluation of Information Technology Projects for University Learning
Professor Graham Webb
• How are we doing as a University?
• Still in the early stages, but we have come a long way since last year:
Professor Graham Webb
• Monash Plan
• Learning and Teaching Operational Plan
• Strategic Innovations Fund
• University Teaching Development Grants?
• Faculty Teaching Development Grants
Professor Graham Webb
• Commitment to new administrative systems
• Reconsideration of support systems
• Development of Faculty teams, production facilities
• Director of Information Technology, coherence and vision
Professor Graham Webb
• Flexible Learning Development Unit (CHED) - ‘front-end’ educational planning and design - Flexible Learning Guides - Case Studies (Monash academics) - central, faculty and campus workshops - web resources and links - development counts towards Grad Cert HE
Professor Graham Webb
• What do we still need to do? - develop a strategic plan for flexible learning; - pull together all the activity; - create enduring structures to plan, monitor, coordinate (eg FL environments, teleteaching, web development etc); - create more opportunities like this
Professor Graham Webb
• opportunities to enjoy talking to each other . . .
• but, also go back and talk to your colleagues who are not here
• adopt a colleague
Professor Graham Webb
Professor Graham Webb