Activity Five

Activity Five

After talking to colleagues and exploring a variety of flexible learning strategies through the readings / resources available on the Flexible Learning blog, I have come up with the following four flexible learning strategies for my context:

Strategy One

Consider using an asynchronous method of recording synchronous teaching so that students can return to aspects of learning and are able to review concepts to allow for better understanding.  An example would be to video the interactive whiteboard sessions in the Level 4 Certificate so that students can revisit concepts at a later date.

Strategy Two

The use of a journal to provide reflection.  In the Computer Essentials course, that the Level 4 Certificate students complete, there is an on-going issue of how to allow the students to demonstrate a deeper appreciation of what is happening with a practical hardware or software lab.  They currently complete a job sheet that outlines what they did in the lab and answer a number of questions but don’t necessary provide the amount of reflection that is needed to demonstrate understanding.  Getting the students to complete a journal that reflects on WHY things happened the way they did would be more beneficial. The journal can become a growing portfolio of understanding.

Strategy Three

Utilise more on-line and off-line peer-to-peer learning.  I have the need to create a group assignment for a course that incorporates both group and individual assessment.  One strategy that I like is to utilise a tool such as Google Docs, to have a collaborative assignment that grows over time as the students’ knowledge grows but still has the ability to indicate individual participation.  The use of the logs that Google Docs creates allow for assessment of the process as well as the end result.

Strategy Four

Using simulated models to better explain concepts that students are trying to learn.  I currently use both on-line simulation and white board models to help explain concepts but I would like to explore other in-class based modelling of concepts.  I have seen foam rubber used to explain the encapsulation of computer network packets and would like to experiment with similar modelling to help explain the concepts of computer internals.  This could also be videoed and used as asynchronous learning at a later date.