Designing an engaging
Flexible Learning experience
What were your initial thoughts about the Flexible Learning Design Program?
As soon as I saw a template of how Flexible Learning was structured, I started to think about the best way to apply new knowledge and skills to ensure my unit would be easy and fun to navigate for my students. Despite being somewhat daunting due to the extent of the review required, I felt well-prepared as expectations were clear from the start.
What was your Flexible Learning design approach?
Throughout the FLDPI discovered strategies that were crucial in my design approach, including scaffolding, constructive alignment and understanding the learner. This helped me compartmentalise unit content and develop strategies to implement them.
A major update I’ve undertaken was to add more context so it’s easier for students to know what they’re expected to do in all three learning modes. Prior to FLDP, students had to
be physically in the classroom to understand requirements as there was no narrative online. Now, all the information is at their fingertips.
What educational technology skills have you learnt throughout the program?
The ed-tech live sessions were particularly helpful for me, as they introduced me to new tools and gave me deeper insight into familiar ones.
One of the best tools I tested is One Drive, which allows on campus/online students to work on the same activity simultaneously and access the document in their own time after live sessions.
From my perspective, I can see who is participating, steer students away from passive learning and create collaborative opportunities.
Dr Candice Thomas (Unit Coordinator, Deakin College) completed the Flexible Learning Design Program (FLDP), which involved redeveloping her unit ‘Human Growth, Development and Aging for Exercise Scientists’ for implementation in Trimester 1, 2021. Candice shares her approach for developing an interactive, engaging and collaborative learning experience for students.