Why flexible learning?
Flexible learning has a number of layers of meaning. In the broadest sense it means that learning can be freed from the time and place dependencies of traditional educational environments and can be available at all stages of a learner's life. In another sense it is about:
- reducing barriers to access
- opening up learning opportunities to a wider range of people
- using new technologies to achieve this greater access
- giving learners more control over their own learning.
From a pedagogical point of view, flexible learning is a convergence of:
- an educational philosophy
- a set of strategies for learning and teaching
- a reliance on resources and information technologies for delivery.
The educational philosophy of flexible learning is not about delivering information. It is student-centred and shifts the emphasis from teaching to learning. Rather than being information or content providers, lecturers in a flexible learning environment concentrate on ways to encourage their students to become more active learners and to apply knowledge rather than just regurgitate it. The focus is on learning, and students have freedom to become more self-directed in their learning experiences.
A flexible learning environment offers students new and exciting learning experiences tailored to achieve specific learning objectives. Course designers have access to a wide range of learning resources and delivery methods in a flexible learning environment. Students can work at their own pace with the support of online course materials, multimedia resources, CD-ROMs, websites, videos, tapes and print materials.
New information technologies feature widely in flexible learning environments, however, at The University of Queensland these new technologies aren't being used just to deliver information. They are being used to create communities of learners who can interact with each other and with their lecturers more frequently. The new communications technologies create opportunities for students to collaborate, to work in small groups, to communicate at any time of day from any place they may be, and to reflect on their learning.
The aim is to allow students to access information from a variety of learning resources and to interact collaboratively on that information. This caters for individual learning preferences and for students to have more freedom to self-pace.
This approach can provide more satisfying teaching experiences for lecturers too. It frees lecturers from simply being information providers and allows them to use their time with students for more creative teaching.
Refer to the Flexible learning guidelines for more information about UQ policy.
