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