Sustainable Flexible Learning

Sustainability:

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions.

The concept of sustainability is a broad, complex and highly controversial one. Sustainability requires us to understand the connections and dependencies that define our lives as a species on Earth. It requires us to understand the environment we live in, and the processes that make it work. It requires us to see systems as a whole, processes as interdependent structures, which cannot be taken and manipulated in isolation. We cannot, for instance, develop a system that takes in material and churns out a product, without answering questions like, "Where does the material input come from? How do we get it?” and, “Where do the products go?" It is the lack of such accountability that has left mountains of e-waste lining roadsides in poor communities in China. We need to address systems as a whole, understand the way our actions affect every aspect of the world around us.

Education for sustainability is about learning to think and act in ways that will safeguard the future wellbeing of people and our planet. Many contexts, topics or issues that students could explore have a connection to education for sustainability. There are opportunities in most areas for students to examine how the resources we use and what gets left over from living how we do affects the Earth. Teachers can introduce students to attitudes and values towards the environment and create opportunities to explore their own. Students will also have opportunities to take action on issues that are meaningful to them, exploring why this is important and the skills they need to be successful.

It is frequently stated that systems thinking and an interdisciplinary approach are essential themes of sustainable development and sustainability education (e.g. Cartese, 1992; President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD), 1994; Buckingham-Hatfield, 1996). Fulfilling this requirement will involve making connections between socio-politics, socio-economics and biophysics and something of a paradigm shift away from traditional disciplines towards more holistic ways of thinking. However, calls for an interdisciplinary approach may be largely rhetorical if new ways are not found to transcend conventional disciplinary structures and processes. There is a tendency for practitioners and policy-makers to retreat back to the single discipline, thus failing to capture the holistic nature of problems and their solutions (Clark et al., 1995). Although the value of sustainability is broadly acknowledged within the university community, interdisciplinary activities tend to be seen as secondary to discipline-based approaches (Cartese, 1992; Dyer, 1997) and there is a need to address perceived barriers among university officials that the topic of sustainability is too broad and incompatible with existing disciplinary "boxes" (Filho, 2000).

Education for sustainability can be assisted by an effective combination of mastery learning and discovery learning. A mastery learning environment is one where student responsibility and involvement are encouraged but where the teacher retains most control over curricular planning and sequencing (Carroll, 1963). Discovery learning emphasizes self-directed learning by students, with the teacher as a facilitator (Bruner, 1960; Rogers, 1969). The curriculum should facilitate mastery learning (through considerations of planned sequence, essential content, learning materials and format) while providing opportunities to benefit from discovery learning through curiosity, independence and enhanced personal meaning. However, there is an interaction between learning environment and anxiety, such that an open environment encouraging independent discovery tends to favour low anxiety learners, but high anxiety learners do better in a more structured setting. Therefore, to avoid alienating particular sections of the class it is advisable to avoid extreme teaching styles (Entwistle, 1981).

Since knowledge and understanding are both essential for educational progress, the curriculum should be based on firmly established anchoring ideas that relate to personal experience as far as possible "advance organisers" - (Ausubel et al., 1978). It is important to provide a clear structure, a logical progression and unifying themes, and to indicate these at the outset. However, surprises, problems and variety should also be built in so as to appeal to intuitive holists as well as serialists (Entwistle, 1981).

I found that my thoughts on sustainability and education are supported by an article written by:Warburton, K. (2003). Deep learning and education for sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 4(1), 44-44-56. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/205035337?accountid=39660.

There are various factors that affect the education system and adopting different strategies for providing education. Flexible learning is becoming the demand of the time because a truly effective learning environment is one that is fluid and responsive to the ever evolving needs of community members. The learning environment must limit the dependency on time and place for instructional opportunities to occur and must demonstrate relevancy for students. The environment created should be systemic and independent of changes in faculty and administrative personnel. There should be flexibility in providing access and study material according to the needs of the learners. We can become more sustainable practitioner by adopting flexible learning system in our education system…Supported by: Factors for success. (2006, Scholastic Administr@tor, 5(5), 30-30. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/199492202?accountid=39660

So, it is the need of the time to develop a relationship between flexible learning and sustainability. In my teaching of mathematics I would like to develop the concept of sustainability because mathematics is the only subject that has a direct or indirect relationship with all other subjects and concepts of life.

References:

·         Ausubel, D.P., Novak, J.S. and Hanesian, H. (1978), Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View,

·         Carroll, J.B. (1963), "A model of school learning", Teachers College Record, Vol. 64, pp. 723-33.

·         Cartese, A-D. (1992), "Education for an environmentally sustainable future", Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1108-14.

·         Entwistle, N. (1981), Styles of Learning and Teaching, John Wiley, Chichester.

·         Filho, W.L. (2000), "Dealing with misconceptions on the concept of sustainability", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 1, pp. 9-19.

What We Learnt From Flexible learning and how we apply this in Our Teaching:

Learning in the 21st century requires relevant and empowering experiences for all young AIbertans. There is a need to broaden what students learn, when rhey learn, where they learn, how they learn, and the rate at which they progress in achieving learning outcomes. Personalized learning involves the provision of high-quality and engaging learning opportunities that meet students' diverse learning needs, through flexible timing and pacing, in a range of learning environments with learning supports and services tailored to meet their needs (Alberta Education 2010, 14).
The concept of personalized learning to describe a setting in which various learning environments and technology platforms for learning are used to achieve flexible timing and pacing of instruction is described in Inspiring Action on Education (2010), Alberta Education's vision for policy directions, legislative change and transformational shifts for education in the province: (McRae, P. (2010). What does more flexible teaching and learning look like? ATA News, 45(8), 3-3. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/822914045?accountid=39660)

Flexible learning is not a new phenomenon. Students in higher education have for a long time chosen from a variety of courses, studied their textbooks in a variety of locations and times, and selected from a variety of resources in the library. Learning also takes place outside of the explicit course settings, as students interact with others or take part in events such as guest lecturers or debates or use built- in tutorials to help them learn how to use a software package. But the term flexible learning is the focus of a new wave of interest. ‘There must be more flexibility to meet the needs of the learner, through adaptability to different learner needs, learning pattern and settings, media combinations’(Van den Brande,1993:xxi).

 No flexibility option is very simple to carry out in practice .If an institution wishes to commit itself to flexible learning; it needs to make explicit choices as to which flexibility dimensions it will focus upon and what range of options will be feasible to offer within these dimensions. These dimensions include (collis, 1998b): Improving flexibility in location, programme, type of interactions, forms of communication, and study material etc.

Just as flexible learning is difficult to describe and multidimensional, it is also complex to implement it in practice from the perspective of the instructor, learner and educational institutions. Also it is very important that who wants flexible learning: full-time students, working persons or learners having little expenditure.

There are main four key components of flexible learning in higher education:  Institution, Implementation, Pedagogy, and Technology. So, defining the term flexible learning in a way that can be made concrete within of the institutional framework that will shape and steer it, implementation strategies that will make it happen, pedagogical approaches that will give it learning value and technology that serves as its tool. So, knowing about flexible learning will help me a lot in my further studies and with this approach everyone can be a learner at any stage of his age.

Flexible learning is learning with a no. of choices in terms of time, content, instructional approach, entry requirements and delivery of studying material. These are the main five dimensions of flexible learning:

The five dimensions of flexibility (Source: Collis and Moonen, 2004)

It is really very necessary to use flexible learning in our life whether we are student or lecturer because today is the time when everyone is quite busy with their schedule and we cannot make anybody fix for a particular time .So it is the necessity of the time to use the flexible approach in our life to get the best of the time. Being a Mathematics Teacher Flexible Learning has become more important to me.Before this I was of the view that in mathematics only Face -To-Face Teaching and Learning is the most effective but after studying about Flexible learning I came to know about Online, Distant and Blended Learning and How these Types of Learning can be as effective as face to face learning and even more than that. I want to use this flexible approach in my further studies and teaching.

Flexible learning.

On 29th&30th march,I had attended two session of teaching at polytechnic.One was about Time managemaent and other was on teaching of ESOL.

Methods and  strategies used:

In the session of Time management it was the class of about 24 students and the room was according to the situation as it was the classroom and not the lecture theater.The professor divided the class into three groups around the three large tables.She started by asking a few questions to the students just to check their previous knowledge about stress and time management.After that she gave the topic effects of stress to discuss within groups.During the discussion she went to each of the group to interact with them and to encourage the students to participate in the discussion.Whenever she found that any student is busy in doing something else and not actively participating in the topic she very wisely asked him a question related to the topic to get him involved.After the discussion of about 10 minutes she asked the students to share their views and own life experiences related to the stress and time management.She also used the whiteboard to write down the key points coming up from the students to encourage them and giving importance to their views.Everybody was taking interest and involved in the activity.There was a little diversification in the class regarding the age group of the students as there were two mature students and rest were youngsters.She also took care of this and very effectively involved them by asking them about their experience of their jobs related to the topic.

In the session of ESOL the class was of about 17 students and room was also the classroom . The facilitator arranged that in U-shape so that the whiteboard and screen should be visible to all.The environment was very congenial as she switched off some of the lights when she used the projector to make the screen clearly visible to all.Even before the starting of the session the objectives and learning outcomes wee written on the whiteboard to make the things more clear.The topic of the session was pronunciation and vocabulary.In the starting she also asked a few question about the topics the students had already studied just to remind them and check their previous knowledge.The prompt response of the students showed that the concepts were very clear to them.She used the projector to solve some tests on vocabulary by involving all the students.
Whenever she found that any student is facing a problem in understanding any word she related that with any example from life or by making a simple sentence so that student could understand that and it worked very well.She also changed the level of her voice and sometimes being little bit dramatic with gestures to make the lesson effective.One student was listening some music in the class, she has not stopped him directly but very wisely she took his head phone and used that to explain one topic.In this way she very wisely she made that student to interact in the class.It was the class of a variety of students from different countries.So there was a lot of diversification in the gender, language,culture and age level too.But she had taken care of all these things and very effectively involved all the students.She also provided dictionaries and some printed material to all the students to make the things easy and to provide access to all the learners.The session ended with a quick review of topics and some homework.

I think that the methods and strategies used in both the sessions were flexible and due to this only everything was clear and easily accessible to all the learners. 

Why the methods were flexible?

The methods and strategies were very flexible because these were used by keeping in mind the diversification of the students regarding their maturity level, language and culture etc.As the facilitator provided some printed material as well as used the projector to provide access to all whether they were reader-writer or visual learners.

What I learnt?

From these two sessions I have learnt that there should be a flexibility in teaching methods according to the subjects. As in the first session the session was like group discussion where as the second one developed  by using projector and solving some tests by involving all the students.Both were different from each other but according to the need of the subject and topics.So, I'll definitely try to apply these methods in my further studies as well as teaching practices.

Access and Equity; Diversity and Inclusivity.

Defining the terms:
Access and Equity means providing equal opportunities to learning."Access" means finding ways of  'bypassing barriers to learning(DfES,2002).There are many characteristics that can be considered as barriers to learning or education such as: income, gender, race, ethnicity, power, status, age, religion, physical or mental disability or any other characteristic. "Equity" means providing education by being fair and impartial irrespective of any diversification.
Diversity means there may be different learners with different styles and preferences of learning, they may be from different social, emotional or cultural backgrounds. They may be different in intellectual levels also.Diversity means everyone is unique in his learning preference.Levitas et al(2007) define social exclusion as "a complex and multidimensional process. It involves the lack or denial of resources, rights, goods and services and the inability to participate in the normal relationships and activities, availability to the majority of people in the society, whether in economic, social or cultural or political arenas. It affects both the quality of individuals and the equity and cohesion of society as a whole."Moreover Diversity or inequality is a structural feature of society-it is something that actually exists(Preston's "inequality in condition") and it can be said that new developments create exclusion of the poor, as they do not have the means to pursue more education and /or buy equipment needed to gain the benefits of the new ICTs.To be Inclusive means providing access to learning to all regardless of any type of diversity. For this learning environment also plays a great role. Learning environment should be of Universal Design so that access can be provided to all regardless of disability or health or learning preference.

Example of Inclusive teaching:On 31st march I had attended a class of ESOL facilitated by Pariya Williams.In this class there were 15 students.This session was really a good example of inclusive teaching,as it was the class of a variety of students from different countries, having different learning styles and preferences, having different languages etc.The environment was  very congenial. There was proper light , whiteboard ,computer and projector to facilitate learning. It was the classroom and not the lecture theater.The seating arrangement was of  U style and according to the situation so that whiteboard , facilitator and projector should be visible to all.There was a lot of diversity in the students but still Pariya Williams has made it an inclusive teaching.She has taken care of level of all the learners.She took the examples from the class or from the life experiences to relate the topics.The session was about vocabulary and pronunciation.Before the starting of the session even the objectives and learning outcomes were written on the whiteboard so that students must be clear about what they are going to study. She started the lesson very well and she used he projector and computer to do some tests on vocabulary to check that whether the concepts are clear to the students or not? She was trying to engage the students by asking questions.Students were completely involved in that. From the prompt responses and answers of the students it was very clear that the concepts were very clear to them.Whenever she found that someone is facing a problem in understanding any word she related that with an example or by making a sentence, so that student could understand that and it worked very well.Her voice has also made a very good effect on the session ,as sometimes she used a little pause in her voice and in the very next moment she became dramatic with a little loud voice to get the attention of the students.She also used one students headphone to clear one concept in the class.In the next part of the session i.e comprehension session also she gave written material to all the students and explained each paragraph. She also provided dictionaries to all the students so that they should not feel any problem in understanding any word.

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 What could prevent all the students being able to learn in the class?:
 As it was the class of international students from different countries like Japan,Korea there was a lot of diversification in their learning preferences and styles, language etc.But still the facilitator tried very well to make the learning effective to all the students.The language understanding was the main problem that could prevent all the students being able to learn, but the facilitator was so efficient that she was trying to speak so clearly and trying to come to their level so that everyone could understand that.One boy in the class was listening some music by using head phone. When the facilitator noticed she had not asked him to stop that rather she very wisely taken that head phone to give an example related to the topic.In this way she stopped him from listening music and took his attention in the classroom activity. She opted different ways to provide access to all the learners.
What type of assistance the learners may need to help them access learning environment more easily?:
It was the session of ESOL and was about vocabulary and pronunciation, the understanding of concepts was very important to make the learning more accessible.From the prompt responses of the students it was clear that the facilitator had already explained the concepts very well.During the comprehension session she gave the written material to all the students. However she was explaining that paragraph but still somebody may face a problem in understanding the meaning of any word, so dictionaries were required to help them .She provided dictionaries to all the students to help them access learning more easily. To make the learning environment more accessible she switched off  some lights while using the projector.Before the end of the session she also wrote homework on the whiteboard and wrote a few key points for quick revision of the lesson. 

What is Flexible learning?

Flexible learning is a learning with a no. of choices in terms of time,content,instructional approach , entry requirements and delivery of studying material.these are the main five dimensions of flexible learning:

The five dimensions of flexibility (Source: Collis and Moonen, 2004)

It is really very necessary to use flexible learning in our life whether we are student or lecturer because today is the time when everyone is quite busy with their schedule and we cannot make anybody fix for a particular time .So it is the necessity of the time to use the flexible approach in our life to get the best of the time.I want to use this flexible approach in my further studies and teaching practice.
The first session of flexible learning:
In this session we were eight persons .our facilitator had given demonstration of online material of the course blog and how to set up a blog.Then she gave us the time for the group discussion about what is flexible learning?it was really the brain storming.All the learners were giving their own experiences.Then we were given  the  papers to write about our thoughts.I have also written about the flexible learning but like a para and not as the key points or the mind map.When I saw all others writings they were more clear than mine because those were more like the key points.Then I decided to write next time as the mind maps or the key points.
Because the mind maps are more clear to be evaluated and also the focus seems to be clear in it. Also using mind maps is like a professional style of writing to make the things clear but in a very precise way.
"A mind map is a form of an outline with ideas and pictures radiating out from a central concept (Buzan and Buzan 1993; wycoff 1991) 
From this session I learnt  about how to make mind maps and what are the main five dimensions of flexible learning. I will definitely use these techniques in my further learning and teaching practice.

Hello from Namarta

Lotus: by Gimli_36

Hi,
I am  from India.I have done masters in Matematics and bachelors of education there and was teaching maths for the last six years in a convent school. Here I am doing GCTLT in Otago polytechnic.Flexible learning is apart of this program and I want to apply the concepts of flexible learning in my further teaching practice.