Further
reading on:
Teaching,
Learning and Evaluation Good Practice
and Planning Student-Centred
Learning Checklists
for Planning Case
StudiesChoosing & Using Technologies in Education & Training
The structure and delivery method of the program should be designed to suit the learning styles and access needs of learners, the ability of teachers and other staff to provide support for learners, and the curriculum content of the program.
| Further
reading on: |
|
| Teaching,
Learning and Evaluation |
|
| Good Practice
and Planning |
|
| Student-Centred
Learning |
|
| Checklists
for Planning |
|
| Case
Studies |
|
The project, including the chosen technology, can only be as successful as the learning that takes place as a result of it. The probability of successful learning can be maximised by ensuring that the program design takes into account current learning theory, learners' needs and learning styles, the content of the program, and the requirements for teaching and facilitation.
New technologies offer increasing choices about how learning can be delivered and supported, and some of them lead to new considerations about how learning takes place. At the same time, traditional technologies such as print and telephone continue to have their place, and their usefulness should not be discounted. Many technologies and teaching methods are best used in combination with other methods of delivery rather than alone.
Teachers and other practitioners who read this publication have probably already made one decision: that flexible delivery is the approach they will use to satisfy their clients' needs. The Australian National Training Authority's Flexible Delivery Task Force has defined flexible delivery as:
Flexible delivery is an approach rather than a system or technique; it is based on the skill needs and delivery requirements of clients, not the interests of trainers or providers; it gives clients as much control over what and when and where they learn..., it changes the role of trainer from a source of knowledge to a manager of learning and a facilitator. (Australian National Training Authority Flexible Delivery Task Force, Draft Final Report, 1996 (unpublished))
However, the teaching role involves more than managing; flexible delivery does not subtract from but adds to the role of the teacher.
A flexible delivery approach, then, means choosing a point on a continuum, rather than defining teaching approaches as `flexible' or `not flexible'.
The `most flexible' end of the continuum might be a choice of independent learning methods totally free of any restraint in time or place. The `least flexible' end might be a prescribed (but carefully chosen) method with demands of time and place and a relatively strong role for the teacher. For any given group of learners, the best learning method may be anywhere on this continuum; the most flexible is not necessarily the most suitable.
For example, a group of young adults straight from school and with low expectations of their ability to succeed may benefit most from learning within a framework that has been clearly defined for them. As they grow in experience and confidence, they should be encouraged to take more responsibility for their learning. A group of mature adults with plenty of experience of adult learning and an understanding of how educational organisations work, and with varied levels of knowledge of the curriculum content, is likely to benefit from highly independent learning settings, with support available when it is needed.
The notion of a continuum can be further developed, since there are many ways in which learning can be more or less flexible. In each case, the degree of flexibility should be selected according to the needs of the clients. Ideally, the program should be individually designed for each learner. Occasions when this is feasible are few, so that in real life decisions will generally be made for a group of learners, incorporating as much choice as possible within the decisions made. These decisions, in conjunction with the implications of educational outcomes, organisational outcomes and stakeholder needs, will determine the shape of the program, and this, in turn, will lead to the choice of technology.
No-one can prescribe a single 'best' way of offering learning; it is part of the professional responsibility of organisations and practitioners, in conjunction with their clients, to make these decisions for each program. There are numerous approaches to learning, in each of which some common critical factors need to be taken into account.
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