Dr Jerry Maroulis
Lecturer-Environmental Education
Faculty of Education
University of Southern Queensland (USQ),
Toowoomba, Australia
Copyright ©1998. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Distributed via the Web by permission of AACE.
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E-mail: maroulis@usq.edu.au
Table of Contents:
Higher education institutions are rapidly moving from a bi-polar model of face-to-face/distance education to what is being termed flexible delivery. Flexible delivery refocuses educational activity to meet the needs of individuals in a diverse and rapidly changing social context (Rigmor and Rosemary, 1995). However, the flexible delivery emphasis to date is largely upon off-campus/external students. This paper reports upon an internal/on-campus flexible delivery pre-service teacher education (Environmental Education) unit and the response of internal/day campus students to this initiative.
"The Australian higher education system is in the process of dramatic and far reaching changes to teaching and learning arrangements that will alter the ways in which university staff and students engage in education at this level" (Rigmor and Rosemary, 1995, p. 1). In fact, Australian federal governments have equated technology with cost saving and thus universities have been encouraged to embrace flexible delivery for on-campus and off-campus study (NBEET 1994; Taylor et al. 1996; NBEET 1997; Forster et al. 1997) to the point where in 1997, 13.3% of total university enrolments were external (DEETYA 1998; McKay & Clarke, 1998).
Thus the significant change to this construction of teaching and learning is in the mode of delivery, which is now rapidly moving from a two-pronged model of internal/external to a blurring of the boundaries known as ‘flexible delivery’. Flexible delivery is an approach to providing educational opportunities that are focused on the varying learning needs and circumstances of students (Taylor, 1995). These include arrangements such as those which allow for varying the venues and timing of delivery, content (including assessment), the use of resources and technology in the primary delivery phase, and the valuing of student background and previous study.
While these technologies have been developed for distance education, they have enormous, and as yet under-utilized, potential to enhance on-campus teaching. Taylor (1995) refers to the ‘tyranny of proximity’ which has proved a disincentive to educators teaching on-campus students to experiment with innovative teaching strategies as alternatives to traditional face-to-face teaching practices. The cost-effectiveness of these ‘mixed mode approaches’ has been demonstrated (Taylor & White 1991; Taylor et al. 1993).
Therefore, this paper will report upon the first flexibly delivered internal/on-campus unit to be offered at the USQ. It will describe the development of the pre-service teacher education unit Environmental Education (80218) into flexible delivery mode.
Flexible delivery … What is it?
Flexible delivery allows for more pedagogically appropriate approaches to be fostered than was previously possible. It caters for a wider variety of students’ learning styles in addition to removing the tyranny of distance from the educational needs of students. However, the term ‘flexible delivery’ has been used and misused by many institutions to mean anything from distance education to email and web-based delivery to a myriad of other computer-based resources (McKay & Clarke, 1998).
In this study, the definition of flexible delivery adopted as proposed by Taylor et al. (1996) that "… ‘flexible’ is used to refer to practices which utilise the capacities for learner-learner and teacher-learner interactions made possible through recent developments in communication and information technology to provide increased ‘openness’ in both on- and off-campus delivery of educational programs. .... we use the expression ‘flexible modes of delivery’ to capture [a]... combination of philosophy and technology, [recognising]... that this combination frees the provision of educational programs from both geographical and time constraints."
Flexible delivery is essentially concerned with designing learning opportunities that are economically sustainable and pedagogically defensible in the current social climate. It is concerned with promoting deep approaches to learning by purposefully selecting forms of delivery which:
- are multi-dimensional
- increase the choices available to staff and students in teaching and learning
- result in a blurring of the traditional internal/external boundaries
Flexible delivery brings together three dimensions:
- student learning
- forms of delivery
- content
Flexible delivery is concerned with shifting practices in two ways (Rigmor and Rosemary, 1995). Firstly, recognising the use already made of resources in both external and internal delivery, it seeks to maximise the use of these resources and, in fact, replace some face-to-face teaching with resource-based learning opportunities. In this situation, the role of the teacher moves from being the primary resource to one of many resources, and from the centre of the delivery to the facilitator. The implications for information literacy are significant. With information now being available from a wide variety of sources, students must understand how to interrogate these resources to learn from them.
Secondly, it seeks to reconstruct the educational practices of universities in terms of student learning rather than teaching. The task of the teacher is to manage the education process by facilitating and structuring access to resources and by providing opportunities for interaction. In order to achieve this, options formerly associated with either internal or external delivery may be invoked.
Technology is a central aspect of the shift in both these practices: the non-human resources themselves are technology based (for example, print, video, multimedia), and the means (for example, computer networks, videoconferencing links and postal services) of accessing or locating these resources or the human resources involved are also often technology dependent (Rigmor and Rosemary, 1995; Nunan, 1996).
The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is a medium-sized university with a strong background in distance education delivery and international provision. USQ sees its size and background as major strategic advantages in securing its future as a major flexible university. The University sees a flexible approach to education as an essential element of its teaching and a key to its future development as a competitive international higher education provider. Networked information technologies have been exploited in a service known as USQConnect to offer comprehensive educational, administrative and support services to its students located around the globe.
The shift in focus at the USQ from traditional delivery modes/approaches to flexible delivery is not only in response to an ever increasingly competitive domestic and international educational market but also to utilise worldwide technological developments that at present has resulted in a proliferation of computer-based courses. In 1998, this culminated in the trial implementation of course materials into flexible delivery mode.
The Flexible Delivery initiative aims to provide better teaching and learning opportunities at a time and place convenient to students and staff through a variety of techniques and media. Flexible Delivery at USQ incorporates not only traditional face-to-face and print based delivery but also uses a variety of electronic technologies to enhance student and teacher access to people and other learning resources.
Apart from the more traditional technologies such as print, broadcast television and radio, the following new technologies provide opportunities for enhancing the quality of teaching: audiotapes, videotapes, computer-based learning packages, interactive video, interactive multimedia (IMM), audio-teleconferencing, audiographic communication systems, videoconferencing, and video on demand (VOD) (Taylor, 1995). In recent times these technologies have been supplemented by the advent of the opportunities for interactivity and access to instructional resources provided by the computer communications networks popularly referred to as the "Internet", the "World Wide Web" (WWW) or the "Information Super Highway". As Swannell (1997) highlighted recently, flexible learning systems are based on a "philosophy of giving people what they want, where they want it, when they want it (WWW happens to be almost incidental)...." (p.17).
The emerging fourth generation of distance education, the Flexible Learning Model, promises to combine the benefits of high quality interactive multimedia (IMM), with access to an increasingly extensive range of teaching-learning resources and enhanced interactivity through computer mediated communication (CMC) offered by connection to the Internet (Taylor, 1995; McKay & Clarke, 1998).
Flexibly Delivered Environmental Education at the USQ
In 1998, the pre-service teacher education unit, Environmental Education, was redeveloped into flexible delivery mode. The course has a diverse clientele involving a combination of graduate entry and undergraduate primary and early childhood students. In total, 246 internal students at both the main Toowoomba campus and the regional Wide Bay campus, southeast Queensland.
This flexible delivery initiative resulted in significant changes in the pedagogical approach used. From the more traditional mode of delivery involving face-to-face lectures and tutorials to far more innovative uses of resources including computer mediated quizzes, video and audio-taped lectures, Web-based course notes and unit materials, assignment details and Internet sites plus synchronous tutorials, electronic discussion groups and asynchronous communication via e-mail.
A survey was conducted to gauge student attitudes to the flexible delivery initiative prior to and on completion of the unit (Table 1).
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Survey Question: |
Pre-test |
Post-test |
Changes |
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I feel reasonably confident in my ability to access materials via computer (Y/N): |
74.6 |
82.5 |
+7.9 |
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I feel reasonably confident in my ability to access the internet (Y/N): |
64.9 |
72.2 |
+7.3 |
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The layout of the 80218 Home Page enabled me to easily access unit resources (Y/N): |
- |
86.9 |
- |
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How environmentally aware do you think you were (a) before and (b) after the unit? (NB: *Score out of 10) |
(a) 5.6* |
(b) 7.6* |
+35.7 |
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Sample Size (n) |
177 |
129 |
- |
Table 1: Pre-test and post-test survey results of student attitudes about the flexibly delivered Environmental Education (80218) unit.
Overall, there was a 7-8% increase in confidence in using the computer resources over the course of the unit. Students commented on the ease of access to the computerized resources and user-friendly nature of the 80218 Home Page (86.9% approval (Table 1)) that readily allowed students to find whatever resources they needed. The resounding increase in student awareness in the unit (+35.7%) may be a function of the flexibility of the learning resources available in the unit.
Additional qualitative feedback indicates that initially, mature age students tended to be less willing to embrace this technological shift compared to the younger students but overall, the changes have been welcomed. An additional outcome was the surprisingly large proportion of on-campus students (~70%) that were able to regularly access the computerized unit materials at their own time and place from off-campus.
Finally, feedback from the Wide Bay campus students on the synchronous video/audio link where NetMeeting/MeetingTools employing a video camera and Smart Board-to-Smart Board hardware via an ISDN link between two PC’s was used for tutorial sessions, has been very positive.
The very concept of 'Learning' - how we learn - using the concept of 'plurality intellect' - is forcing us to provide channels for learning different from traditional classrooms. This vital development coupled with shifts and changes in our learning audiences makes it compulsory to search and research new ways to accommodate the human learning potential.
Further, flexible delivery has the interactivity to engender efficacious learning outcomes in a time efficient manner. The immediate access to current materials and associated professional discussion with colleagues from around the world creates a socio-cognitive learning environment from which all who participate will surely benefit. Indeed, the professional networking that is likely to emanate from such approaches to flexible delivery seems likely to engender genuine lifelong learning.
In conclusion, despite the initial demands encountered when developing ‘test-case’ flexible delivery units, the opportunities offered to tertiary educators are enormous both pedagogically and as a powerful promotional and marketing tool. The flexibility in the educational provision therefore provides the basis for individualised learning-unbound by the tyranny of time and location. As such, flexible delivery represents an exciting initiative for future development of on-campus initiatives in tertiary institutions.
Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA) (1998) Higher Education Students Time Series Tables, February 1998, Higher Education Division, Canberra, Australia.
Forster, A., Hewson, L., Hughes, C., Johnston, K., Nightingale, P., Page-Hanify, C., Vitale, M., Wills, S. & Yetton, P. (1997) Managing the Introduction of Technology in the Delivery and Administration of Higher Education, AGPS, Canberra, Australia.
McKay, M. & Clarke, J. (1998). Resource Issues in Flexible Learning-the way forward. National Scholarly Communications Forum, Canberra, Australia, 4 May, 1998.
National Board of Employment, Education and Training (NBEET) 1994, Costs and Quality in Resource-Based Learning On- and Off-Campus, Commissioned Report No. 33, AGPS, Canberra, Australia.
Nunan, T. (1996). Flexible delivery-What is it and Why is it part of current educational debate? Different Approaches: Theory and Practice in Higher Education Conference, Perth, Australia, 8-12 July, 1996. [Web Page] URL:http://www.lgu.ac.uk/deliberations/flex.learning/nuanan_paper.html> Accessed: 6 December, 1998.
Rigmor, G. & Rosemary, L. (1995). The Critical Place of Information Literacy in the Trend Towards Flexible Delivery in Higher Education Contexts, Learning for Life Conference, Adelaide, Australia, 30 November - 1 December 1995. [Web Page] URL: <http://www.lgu.ac.uk/deliberations/flex.learning/rigmor_paper.html>. Accessed: 8 December, 1998.
Swannell, P. (1997). From outback to Internet: Crackling radio to virtual campus. The ITU TELECOM Newsletter, 3, 1997.
Taylor, J.C. (1995). Distance education technologies: The fourth generation. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 11 (2), 1-7.
Taylor, J.C., Kemp, J.E. & Burgess, J.V. (1993) Mixed-Mode Approaches to Industry Training: Staff Attitudes and Cost-Effectiveness, AGPS, Canberra, Australia.
Taylor, P.G., Lopez, L. & Quadrelli, C. (1996) Flexibility, Technology and Academics’ Practices: Tantalising tales and muddy maps, Report under the Evaluations and Investigations Program 96/16, AGPS, Canberra, Australia.
Taylor, J.C. & White, V.J. (1991) The Evaluation of the Cost Effectiveness of Multi-Media Mixed-Mode Teaching and Learning, AGPS, Canberra, Australia.
