2008 - 2013 Flexible Learning Course

bygarlandcannon

 I have put together some more highlights from your posts.

Gina has posted three short presentations of her Flexible Learning plan, and they are well worth a look. The way she has structured the aspects of the plan is what I am looking for because the concepts of flexible learning are explained according to the strategies she has chosen and in her context. Please give her feedback before she presents in person on Monday. 

It is worth looking back at the posts that led to her final Flexible Learning plan.  You may wish to start with her discussion about strategies that could be used in two occupational therapy courses that are in the process of being re-mixed. Gina mentions in her post of examples about flexible learning that choice is an important component of flexibility, ... it goes deeper than this ...". Perhaps this highlights something that prickles educators - how much choice should there be to be truly flexible? Check out her table showing an analysis of flexibility in the course she teaches. In the post about using discussion forum strategies, Gina has come up with a cunning plan for engaging her students in studying symbols and rituals.

Maari has some insightful discussion in her post about learning theories. See if you agree with her ideas about communities of practice, and constructivist learning, and my comments to her ideas. She continues with linking Kolbs' Experiential learning theory to ePortfolios in her post about Technologies. See what you think about these ideas. Maari's post on sustainability in relation to writers is interesting and gives a whole different perspective. Well worth a read. Maari describes a tricky situation in her post about cultural sensitivity because her learners are global. So how can she integrate indigenous cultural approaches in this situation? See if you like my suggestions for addressing cultural diversity.

Laurie in her post about access and equity, diversity & inclusivity discusses an interesting article by Honey & North (2009) article which is specially useful because it is based on Honey's thesis and research into flexible learning with post-graduate nurses. See if you agree with the remark in the article about the % majority they believe is required to go ahead with online learning. Is 40% of the class needing upskilling in technologies a reasonable expectation?  Laurie has also posted about blended learning and shared some strategies (check out my comments). In this she has shared a model of learning using the eLearning ladder.  I discovered an article which is a critique of this ladder and two other different models - the five-stage e-moderating model for teaching and learning online, e-tivities, and communities of practice.  

Reference
Watts, N. (2010). Reflecting on models for online learning in theory & practice. Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (AISHE-J), 2(1), p 19.1 - 19.12. Retrieved from http://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/19

Jayne is really getting into the swing of using video resources in her teaching, and describes her ideas for using ipads in tutorials in her post: Technologies for learning. The place of creating real world cases about Occupational Therapy practice using video and wikis in open education is discussed in her post: OER and Practices. In her fabulous post about Sustainability, Jayne explains how she is facilitating reasonable workloads for herself and her students and using sustainable practices. Remember it is not just about saving paper - as Jayne says it is about reducing workloads for students, and using cost-effective ways to provide them with materials. Te Whare Tapa Whā for education discussed by Kate Timms-Dean in her presentation is similar to the four corners for health mentioned by Jayne in her post on cultural sensitivity and indigenous learners. The post about learning theory shows how hard it is to pick just one, and Community of Practice learning theory appears to be preferred by Jayne although she discusses a mix.
. 
Annette has posted the questions she used in a survey of teachers and she is developing a snapshot of some examples.

Nick has described an interesting approach to teaching dry topics such a Pythagoras's theorem in his post on open education resources. What do you think of my idea for involving the students in creating and sharing open education resources? In a post about Adult learning theories and approaches, he also describes the project-based model of learning used in his teaching, and uses some big words like Zone of Proximal Development. Who coined that phrase - do you know?

More to come later.