Image: Someday Robots will Rule the World by Oskay
In this topic we will consider some wider issues that affect flexible learning such as sustainability, access and equity, and cultural inclusiveness. As you think about your own flexible learning development ideas, see if opportunities present themselves whereby you may be able to develop more equitable and sustainable practices? In what ways might you offer better services to people from different cultural backgrounds? How might you improve the levels of access and equity your course affords? Can you reduce the demand your course directly or indirectly places on natural resources and ecosystems?
Estimated time: three weeks - 18 May to 7 June 2009.
Access and equity
- Research Universal Design and in a new post to your blog consider how these design principles could be applied in your course or new flexible learning development.
Cultural sensitivity
- Post to your blog a brief outline of how you identify yourself culturally.
Sustainability
- Because flexible learning often entails self directed, or self paced learning, people can lose sight of what would be a reasonable workload. In a new post to your blog, highlight useful points from Fred Lockwood's paper: Estimating student workload, readability and implications for student learning and progression
We are working on another panel session - probably for Friday afternoon 29th May at 3pm (NZ time) in H100 and on the Elluminate web conference meeting point. Kate Timms-Dean, Anna Hughes and Leigh Blackall will each give a 10 minute talk, expanding on or taking a different tact, for each of these 3 considerations. This meeting will be confirmed shortly, watch this space.
- Finally, write a post to your blog that summarises these issues and relate them to your own ideas for developing flexible learning. How do you think you might treat these wider issues when you start developing your flexible learning idea?
extra resources
- Slide presentation: Access and equity in online learning.
- Zondiros, Dimitris (2008). Online, distance education and globalisation: Its impact on educational access, inequality and exclusion. The European Journal of Open and Distance Learning (EURODL)
- Ngā Kiwai Kete: The e-Learning Toolbox - Mau tena kiwai o te kete, maku tenei - You at that handle and I at this handle of the basket: A web site with resources that support development of elearning, with particular emphasis on services for Maori and Pasifika students
- Slides: Dump the Drone: Easy steps to livelier eLearning By Cathy Moore.
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Afraid I can't make Friday-facilitating a workshop on eMentoring in Brisbane.
me again - are you getting my blog posts (such as they are) on your feed?
Not sure Sarah that your feeds are coming through - apparently they wont come through from everyone.
Re Universal design: Something came up when Ruth queried the concept of universal design - my very point when discussing this with leigh - that people would be confused by this concept as it is too broad.
A good starting point as Ruth pointed out is to view the slide presentation on access and equity on the course blog post for this week. It is simple and directly relates the concept to the idea of providing content and tools which everyone can access and use regardless of skill level, experience, disability, cultural preferences etc.
When I talk about universal design, I get tied up with look and feel and usability of online materials and tools. It is also about whether the tools we expect people to use are appropriate for their skill level and experience.
For example, we made you all set up blogs for this course? Was that fair and equitable? What do you think is important to consider for your students?