Assignment 1: Flexibility

There are many ways of flexible learning (Collis & Moonen, 2001). Flexible learning is not only about distance learning, there are a lot other ways for flexible learning. Here I give a few examples of different kinds of flexible learning and their advantages and disadvantages.

Six examples of flexibility:

• Tempo/pace of studying
• Topics of the content
• Conditions for participation
• Instructional organisation of learning (assignments, monitoring)
• Language to be used during the course
• Time & place where contact with instructor and other students occurs

Tempo/pace of studying
Flexible learning can be related to time (Collis & Moonen, 2001). One way of offering this kind of flexibility, is to give the learner the opportunity to choose his or her own tempo in learning/studying. When flexibility is offered in the tempo/pace, this means that a student can study on his or her own speed. Some students study faster than others, by making time/pace flexible the opportunity is giving to students to choose their own speed in which they feel comfortable.

Advantages and disadvantages
An advantage of letting students choose their own speed of studying is that they can adjust their studying to their own needs. When they need more time, or more explaining they can get it, while other (faster) students are able to finish their study sooner. By letting students decide about their own study tempo, some students will probably have a bigger chance on succeeding because they can take more time to study. The faster-students will probably get less bored, because they can go on with the next chapter or assignments, they don't have to wait for other students to be as far as they are.

Advantages:
• Learner can adjust the tempo of studying to his or her wishes;
• Learner can make his or her own learning plan of how fast he or she wants to study;
• Learner can take the time that he/she needs.
• Stimulating the motivation of the learner, because he/she does not have to wait for fellow students
• Stimulating the motivation of the learner, because the learner can choose the tempo that he/she likes
• Stimulating learners who don't have much time to study, to finish the study in their own tempo and at the time they want.

A disadvantage of adjusting tempo/pace of studying to the learner, is mainly for the organisation of the course (study) and the teacher/lector/instructor. It is more difficult to let every student choose their own speed of studying, because while one student is still working/reading/studying at chapter 1, another student can already be at chapter 10. It is almost not possible to teach those two students at the same time. Therefore the schedule will have to change, or each student should get educated personally. This takes a lot of time. It is possible when there are only a few students in a group, but not with complete study groups.

Disadvantages:
• Because all students work in a different tempo there is less chance on group-interaction;
• Organizational problems, because lecture content is difficult to schedule when every student is working in a different tempo;
• The instructor can't prepare for specific content, because the learner decides what chapter (or which part) they are;
• The instructor must always be available for personal help, because of the different tempo's of the learners

Three flexible learning topics that influence flexibility in tempo/pace are; flexibility in time (for starting and finishing a course), in time (for submitting assignments and interacting within the course) and moments of assessment (Collis& Moonen, 2001). When students can chose their own speed of studying they will not be finished all at the same time, therefore there should be more than one moment of assessment, so students can end their course earlier or sooner. This also has influences on submitting assignments and interacting within the course. When a student is still at chapter 1, it is not possible for this student to submit an assignment of chapter 10. The other way around; it is not practical if a student who is much further in the literature (or other study aspects) to still have to submit an assignment of chapter 1 or have interaction about this with an instructor/teacher. This student’s needs interaction with an instructor/teacher about chapter 10.

Topics of the Course
According to Collis & Moonen (2001) flexibility can be related to the content of the course. The learner can be given a choice what he/she wants to learn. What content is relevant for the learner? What does the learner wants to achieve with the topics of the course? Those are questions that can be answered by the learner. The topics of the course can be adjusted to the needs of the learner, this is flexible. Learners can give ideas for topics they want to study, which is an example of flexibility. But the instructor can also let learners choose from a range of topics, this way it is a bit less flexible (but still flexible) and it is more practical for the instructor.

Advantages and disadvantages
There are some advantages in flexibility in the topics of the course a well as disadvantages. At first it sounds nice that the learner get the possibility decide what topics he/she thinks are relevant and interesting, but there are some problems that occur.

Advantages:
• Learners can adjust the content of the course to their own interests
• It becomes clear what learners want to learn, and what they don’t want to learn
• Learners can focus on practical use of the course content (for example in their work)
• Stimulating for the motivation of the learner, because they can decide for themselves what they want to learn
• An advantage for the instructor is a motivated class of students.

Disadvantages:
• Time consuming for the instructor, because he/she has to adjust the content to the wishes of the learners (different learners).
• When the learners of one group have different interests, the instructor has to make different assignments, give different feedback, explain different content; this is also time consuming and difficult organizatory (individual contact with the learners).
• Not all students want (and are able to) decide what they want to learn.
• When not all learners of one group work on the same topic, group sessions are difficult as well as giving feedback to other learners, or having group discussions.
• When learners study different kind of topics it is difficult to compare them fairly and to asses (fairly) what they have achieved.

Conditions for participation
Flexibility can also be related to entry requirements (Collis & Moonen, 2001). When the conditions for participation are fixed, this is inflexible. When learners can decide what the conditions for participation of a certain course are, the conditions for participation are flexible. This means that when the learner thinks he/she can attain a course, he/she can attain the course. The learner can base this decision on the fact that he/she has certain prior knowledge; did achieve required prior knowledge thru a similar course or study, or experiences in the working field.

Advantages & disadvantages

Advantages:
• Learners can attain in different courses, when they can decide their own conditions of participation. (When a learner thinks he/she is able to attain in a course, he/she can try to attain in the course).
• Learners may have less study delay when they can choose their own conditions for participation in a course.
• Different kind of learners, with different backgrounds can work with each other and learn from each others experiences (prior knowledge).

Disadvantages:
• Not all learners are able to (and want to) decide whether they have enough prior knowledge to attain in a course.
• Working in groups with other learners can be difficult, because the learners have different prior knowledge.
• It is time consuming for the instructor, because he/she has to adjust to the prior knowledge of the learners. Some learners will have more prior knowledge than others; the instructor will have to explain some aspects more to some learners than to others. Instructions can be different for learners with different backgrounds and feedback must be adjusted in a way that every learner understands the feedback.
• When learners have a different start level, it is discussable if assessing them should be adjusted to their starting level. But it is difficult to asses if all learners have a different level. In that case it is possibly better to not adjust the assessment; the requirements of passing the course are in that case fixed (and not flexible).

Instructional organisation of learning (assignments, monitoring)
Flexibility can also be related to instructional approach and resources (Collis & Moonen, 2001). One way of doing so is to let learners choose the instructional organisation of a course. If learners have influence in the way the type and the amount of assignments, in the study material and the way lecture’s are given, than the instructional organisation is flexible. When the instructor decides about the type and amount of assignments, which study material may be used, the structure of the lectures and how those are given (teacher telling, students listening or group discussions or individually or self-study, etc.) than the instructional organisation of the course is considered inflexible.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages:
• Learners have influence in their learning process, by deciding which type and amount of assignments they want and how they want to get educated (self-study, teacher telling, working in groups, individual attention from the instructor/teacher, etc.)
• Learners can choose the instructional way in which they can learn best.
• Learners can get more motivated when they have decided the instructional aspects themselves, instead of getting obligated to an instructional form by the instructor of the course.

Disadvantages:
• There will be organizational problems, when every learner can decide the instructional organization for him/her self. (Not everyone will choose the same material, assignments and instruction approach).
• When not all students want to get educated the same way, it is difficult for an instructor to fulfil all the wishes of the learners.
• It is time consuming for the instructor, to make and give feedback on different assignments and to monitor the learners on different ways.
• It is possible to let learners choose the way they want to learn, but to keep the same assessment for all learners. But it is also possible to adjust the assessment to the chosen instructional organisation (more flexible), in that case the assessments have to be adjusted to every learner, this is also very time consuming.

Language to be used during the course
Another way to increase the flexibility, is to give the learner the opportunity to do the study in the language he/she prefers (Collis & Moonen, 2001). It is flexible when the learners can choose the language course in which the lectures are given, or/and the language in which the assignments are handed in, which language the feedback is provided and in which language other communication is held. There is inflexibility in language when the instructor decides in which language the course is provided, in which language assignments should be handed in, in which language the feedback is provided and in which language the assessment takes place.

Advantages & disadvantages

Advantages:
• Learners speak and write usually better in their own language (or the language of their choice).
• Learners will understand the lectures better if those are held in their own language (or the language of their choice) en they will understand feedback better.

Disadvantages:
• Arranging lectures for a group with students who haven chosen different languages to get educated in is very difficult. Group lecture are no longer possible, the learners have to get educated individually or in small groups of learners who have chosen the same language.
• Group interaction will be minimal when every learner provides an other language.
• It is very time consuming for the instructor when the lectures must be given in different languages, the assignments must be in different languages, giving feedback in different languages and assessing in different languages.
• Some languages are not possible to give the course in, when there is no instructor who speaks the language.

Time & place where contact with instructor and other students occurs
The last example of ways of flexibility that can be provided in courses is related to delivery and logistics (Collis & Moonen). As said in the short introduction, distance learning is not the only flexible way of learning, but it is one of them. Therefore finally a short overview of distance learning according to the time and place where contact with the instructor and other students takes place; this can be flexible. When time and place are flexible the learner can choose if he/she wants to follow the course at a distance or prefers face-to-face sessions, or combining self-study, distance education and face-to-face sessions. When the instructor decides on time and place, than this is inflexible for the learners.

Advantages & disadvantages

Advantages:
• Learners can plan their own schedule, which can be very handy for them because it offers the opportunity, for example; to work during the day and study (follow the course, for example on the internet or on video’s, with literature, assignments, etc.) in the evening.
• Learners can decide where they want to do the course. If they prefer to do this at home, than that is possible. This is especially an advantage for the learners who have to travel a lot to go to a course.
• Learners can interact with other learners in online discussions or they can make an appointment with each other when they have time for it. They can decide when and where themselves.

Disadvantages:
• When studying at distance there is more self-direction and more self-motivation needed, not every learner is capable of this.
• Not all learners want to decide for themselves when they have to study, some learners prefer it more to have someone telling them (for example an instructor) when the have to study. It helps them if they have to go to lectures, in stead of staying at home and follow lectures online.
• The instructor has less control whether a learner is participating in a course, when the learner can decide where and when he/she wants to study. To see if the learner makes any progress, there have to be strict assignments, assessments and deadlines, which make the course more inflexible.