Flexibility

Flexibility

Yesterday we had our first inspiring lecture for the course Pedagogies for flexible learning supported by technology, I’ll call this ‘Pedagogies’ from now on, and we talked about flexibility in education. First we discussed what our own thoughts are about this topic; that students can decide what courses they would like to follow, that teachers can decide what pedagogies they are using, the opportunity for students to follow classes at the university or watch a video- taped college at home for example. Theory behind this discussion shows us that there are different dimensions of flexibility; flexibility in relation to time, to content, to entry requirements, to instructional approach and resources, and to delivery and logistics.

Flexibility in relation to time

Flexibility in relation to time is about flexibility of when to start and finish the course, when students can submit assignments and interact within the course, in what tempo or pace the student is learning, en when there are moments for assessment. In a more flexible situation students can decide about (some) of these points instead of the instructor or institution. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that instructors and learners can alter their own times of working, but institutions can find disadvantages in organisational aspects. When do they have to schedule lectures and can they ask from instructors that they are 24/7 available for their work? The time burden for instructors will become larger.     

Flexibilty in relation to content
Flexibility in relation to content is about flexibility about the topics of the course, the sequence of different parts of the course, the orientation of the course (for example theoretical or practical), key learning materials in the course, assessment standards and completion requirements. In a more flexible situation students can, for example, decide a part of the topics that will be discussed or search by themselves for articles they find interesting. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that learners can more explicitly learn those things they are interested in, but at the same time they should be more independent and need more self- direction and self- motivation. Not all students can arrange that. For instructors it will be harder and more time consuming to grade the students and decide when they have learned enough to pass the course.

Flexibility in relation to entry requirements

Flexibility in relation to entry requirements is about flexibility of conditions for participation. For example, in a non- flexible situation a student can only start a study when he has finished secondary school at the highest level. In a more flexible situation, students can also start the study when they have some years of relevant work experience but did not finish the highest level of secondary school. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that more learners can participate in courses or studies, learners have more ways to come where they want to come. For instructors it can be a disadvantage that the learners have different backgrounds and different entry knowledge, so they have to differentiate for the different learners.

Flexibility in relation to instructional approach and resources

Flexibility in relation to instructional approach and resources is about flexibility of the social organization of the learning, the language to be used during the course, the learning resources and the instructional organization of the learning. So can students in a more flexible situation for example decide whether they would prefer to learn in groups or individual and who is monitoring the learning process. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that instructors can choose from more approaches and different pedagogical patterns and that students can learn from resources they prefer to learn from. Disadvantage is that implementation in practice is not always feasible; when the student prefers to write an assignment in German but the instructor can’t speak German, there is a problem. Using different approaches is also more time and effort consuming for instructors.

Flexibility in relation to delivery and logistics
Flexibility in relation to delivery and logistics is about flexibility of the time and place where contact with the instructor and other students occurs, the methods (the technology for obtaining support, and making contact), the types of help (is communication available, and is technology required for it), the location (is there a need of technology for participating in various aspects of the course) and the delivery channels for course information, content and communication. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is it may save time for learners, however it may be more time consuming for the instructors. A disadvantage is that logistical aspects can quickly become unmanageable.

Concluding
When the flexibility increases in an educational setting, the education is not necessarily getting better. More flexibility does have some advantages, like more and new choices for learners and instructors to alter their own times of working, to save time and to choose from different approaches, but at the same time is the implementation in practice very complex and not always feasible.

Reference:

Chapter 1 from
Collis, B., & Moonen, J. (2001, second printing 2002). Flexible learning in a digital world: Experiences and expectations. London: Kogan Page.