Week Eleven - Cultural diversity

As we discussed in the previous posts making our programs fair & accessible to all is a very important goal.

With cultural diversity we have I guess just a different slant on those fundamentals.

As we adapt our teaching method resources for different learning styles & cater for learning difficulties, location & disabilities we also must accept peoples backgrounds, cultural beliefs & commitments. These could include language, dress, holidays, prayer times etc, but also learning styles.

So far in my teaching career I would like to think that I have a collective view of my students but will try to accept the students as individuals who learn best at differing speeds and styles.

I don't prejudice anybody regardless of age, sex, race or religion.

Last year I had my first incidence of cultural discrimination.

The opportunity arose via the pacific island support centre to welcome 3 of my students to Otago Polytechnic & apply for grants totalling approx $1000.

I passed these applications to the students and consequently two of them received scholarships enabling them to enrol for year 2 of their quals , something both of them would be unable to do without funding.

When the other students found out about this there was some anger at why they were singled out but others who were unable to afford future enrolments could receive any funding.

This was a very difficult question to answer when indeed the scholarships are race based.

I spoke to a friend a Lecturer at Otago University about this and she spoke about positive discrimination & gave me statistics on education success rates within ethnic minorities & also crime & mortality rates which inturn can be linked to poverty. Obviously these problems are global. Although other students dismissed my answers to their questions I wholeheartedly believe in our efforts to not only accept people of all backgrounds but also to target those in need of specific help be it time, resources, funding or understanding.

Week Ten- Access & equity

Access & equity sounds easy enough to implement in a tertiary program but why isn't it in practice? Maybe because of the huge range of variables.
The European Journal of Open and Distance Learning (EURODL) article by Zondiros, Dimitris (2008) on Online, distance education and globalisation: Its impact on educational access, inequality and exclusion spells it out for me.

• "Access" means finding ways of 'bypassing' barriers to learning (DfES, 2002). There are many characteristics that can be considered as barriers (or structural features) to learning or education: income, gender, race, ethnicity, power, status, age, religion, physical or mental disability or any other characteristic.


• Levitas et al (2007) define social exclusion as "a complex and multi-dimensional process. It involves the lack or denial of resources, rights, goods and services, and the inability to participate in the normal relationships and activities, available to the majority of people in a society, whether in economic, social, cultural or political arenas.


• "inequality of opportunity" which is the lack or limited access to important social institutions (with education among the most important ones),


• "inequality of condition" which means that some people are disadvantaged from the outset because of one or more of the above mentioned structural features / circumstances into which they are born, and


• "inequality of outcome" which means that whatever the circumstances contributing to inequality, people end up unequal because there is insufficient compensation to remove the effects causing inequality in society. On the reverse, equality of outcome means that everyone should end up equal regardless of his or her particular circumstances

What does all this mean for Otago Polytechnic & to me.

After listening to Pam McBride's from "The Disabilities unit "recording basically it means we make our courses fair & accessible to all, regardless of circumstance. As she said thou, costs, grants & mandates can prevent us from meeting all our obligations & intentions in this quest.

For myself & my journey to provide more flexible learning, I need to insure that I can incorporate where possible techniques that can break down barriers to some people in our community. I could get digital media translated to other languages to reach new imigrants ?, ensure any media posted be it online or hard copy, is easy to read ie Larger font for people with limited sight,Braille, voice recognition or even just ensuring that we have a support person available for reader/writers. E-learning/distance learning in itself can be more than enough for people dissadvantaged by location.

WEEK NINE- Sustainability in flexible learning

I think I see sustainability in flexible learning quite clearly. Because of how I see flexible learning benefiting Otago Polytechnic.
In my opinion our organisation is looking at flexible learning as a way to increase enrolments by making them more affordable for students, more cost effective for the organisation & to meet government incentives to educate or up skill the adult population.
Using the triple bottom line sustainability model, I believe we can accurately design our programs accordingly.
PEOPLE- Making it fair and equitable, attainable & inclusive to people of all races regardless of location. Creating a skilled work benefits the country and raises the standard of living.
PLANET-Minimising the impact of what we offer and how we offer it, the electronic age has enabled us to send & receive copious amounts of info with very little paper trail, expending less non renewable resources eg paper, fuel etc.
PROFIT-With less student contact & more electronic delivery ,marking & support tutors could run multiple courses simultaneously thus helping to reduce labour costs on a per course basis.
Courses made more affordable could increase enrolments & encourage students to take up further courses offered by the institutions.

WEEK Eight - What does the modern internet have to offer flexible learning ?

I have mixed views on the modern Internet, in some ways I believe the opportunities created by the online era open up education possibilities for many people unable to find time or resources to study in the classroom or workplace environments.
However I also believe if too much emphasis is placed on e-learning there will be a greater demand for it , to the detriment of the student.
In lean economic times such as we are experiencing, people wish to further their education and up skill perhaps for higher wages or for better positions. Seldom do they want to leave work or take a sabbatical, but to squeeze in a course here and there and gradual chip away at it whilst still working.
To be perfectly honest ,I'm doing that exact thing right now & have to admit that I'm getting less out of this than if I was attending the program full time.
In The European journal of open, Distance & e-learning article on social software I related to the "Towards a student -centred approach to e- learning"
Where instead of integrating into a program, tools are accessible to students to enhance their learning and to facilitate networks between students. This I see as 1 tool in a toolbox of many possible teaching aids.
I agree with Mr Weinburger, re " cockroaches & no centralized gatekeepers " there is to much as he put it "More slander, porn, honour & love, more experts and more professionals"
In my words there is alot of crap to sort through to get to some of the brillant resources available to students, and that can be a big waste of time and a cause of big distractions.

Week Seven - planning for flexible teaching & learning

As I mentioned last week ,I intend to cover unit 13285 Knives with a flexible learning package based on my blog linked photostory, powerpoint, Utube & flickr media.
Im hoping to use this for existing students as not only a teaching tool but a comprehensive revision presentation.

Introduction

Project Name: Knives 13285

Date: 1st May 2008

Organisation: Otago Polytechnic -Cromwell campus


Project plan author contact details : csmith@tekotago.ac.nz

Executive summary:
This unit will be delivered as part of flexible cookery program to be undertaken by students prior to attending cookery workshops at Cromwell catering campus.
Is is envisaged that many of the core units will also be offered as a distance package so as only the practical component of the program requires attendance.

Aims, objectives, outcomes
Aim - To provide Internet & technology based information to enable students -To demonstrate knowledge of knives, knife safety, maintenance and usage.
List of objectives - To enable students off campus to enrol, study and achieve competency in the unit 13285 Knives
List of performance indicators (outcomes) - To demonstrate knowledge of knives, knife safety & handling.
Flexible learning analysis: To offer cookery theory units to people unable to attend classes due to work commitments or remote locations.

This package will enable the student to enrol, study via online videos, blogs, quizzes, photos, undertake assessment, receive feedback and technical support from tutor via email.
This program will be sustainable for many reasons as their is no need for costly printouts , no need to travel to attend classes and will save energy from heating and lighting classrooms.
This program could be translated into many languages to attract students abroad insuring unlimited access across the cultural spectrum.

References: NZQA

Budget: To be explored
List of potential funding agents: TEC
Time line for development: 2 months

Week six - Do you think open and networked education threatens or enhances formal education.?

As attractive as open learning can be to both institutions & students , I believe that it could both extend the life of our Central Otago campus & possibly cause its demise.
We are currently experiencing tough times with low student numbers & are searching for new markets & new ways to attract both foreign & domestic students.
With low unemployment, high living costs, high fuel costs & the prospects of dealing with high student loans, many people are choosing not to enrol in full time programmes & instead looking at part time options. We currently have 2 part time courses & although the student numbers are OK some students would really benefit from being on full time courses which in turn are struggling to fill.
At present our Level 3 program has 5 students who thankfully are very motivated & committed & are on course for high achievement which will be an asset for the 2nd year level 4 program & the National Toque dor if they choose to return next year.
Last year we had student retention of 30% between the level 3 & 4 programs and we could not persuade many to fork out more for fees & more importantly commitment for another year of study.
If we don't get enough enrolments this year then our level 4 course will not run & the profile & exposure of our campus will diminish.
So introducing flexible learning to both level 3 & 4 programs could be a solution.
With a huge amount of development we could offer online videos, blogs, learning sites such as wikipedia & blackboard do deliver our programs enabling distance learning with students attending assessment blocks of approx 1 week to show competency. We currently use a very similar model to this with modern apprentice schemes & although achievable the weeks are very long & stressful for the student & unless they have received training in the workplace we have found the skill level to be quite poor overall.
So yes we could be a more attractive training provider by offering more flexibility especially to people in surrounding rural areas but could also tarnish our reputation for the chefs we produce.

Looking ahead to my presentation , I am thinking of covering the knives unit 13285, using a combination of Photo story, PowerPoint software with utube video links to cover manufacturing, usage & maintenance and posting a link on my blog to an online student survey .

I will need to hone my experience on the software I'm using and will need to develop a survey using perhaps templates online.

Below are some interesting comments from : http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001253/125396e.pdf


Open and distance learning.
The essence of it is that it enables students to learn without
attending an institution. That has made it attractive for students who, for practical, economic,
social and geographical reasons cannot get to college. It also makes it particularly
appropriate for audiences that are scattered, and audiences that cannot leave their jobs to
attend full-time courses. The world’s sixty million teachers are like that.
2.2 Is it legitimate?
Open and distance learning is often seen as barely legitimate. Its history is marked by the work
of institutions that accepted student fees, gave them poor service, and kept their costs down
by encouraging students to drop out once they had paid all their money. Learning at a distance,
particularly from printed materials, lends itself to rote learning. If teaching material gives
all the answers then there is no room for an individual response while if it fails to do so the student may feel challenged but frustrated. Distance learning can be a soulless and isolated activity so that dropping out is more attractive than going on. Most parents and probably most
educational planners would encourage their own children to study at a conventional university
rather than an open university. Few would argue that open and distance learning matches
the best of conventional education as sometimes practised in rich universities in industrialised
countries or in a golden age we think our grandparents might have been able to remember.
But there is a threefold case to be made for its legitimacy. First, the evidence of public-sector
open universities, and dual-mode universities that teach both conventionally and at a distance,
is that students can achieve examination results that match those of conventional universities.
A significant proportion of students give up along the way and do not complete their courses.
But this is true of all students working part-time and not a distinguishing mark of students
learning at a distance.
Second, distance education has been powerfully effective in reaching audiences who could not
meet their educational needs from conventional institutions. In Colombia, a radio-based school
was, in the 1970s, reaching over 100,000 rural peasant students every year.

Week five - How does flexible learning exist today and where I see it heading in the future.

Ok Im starting to open my mind to this flexible learning lark.
I guess the major problem with anything new is being prepared to change.
After reading the article "Australasian Journal of Educational Technology" I can see the only major stumbling blocks to my perceptions of flexible learning are those which are covered in the following paragraphs.
There are many reasons why new technologies may not be fully integrated into the design of a course: the teacher may have little time, resources, knowledge or inclination to attend to the integration sufficiently, the infrastructure of the university may not be ready to support the technologies needed, or the culture of the discipline, either in disciplinary practice or in pedagogy, may not yet embrace the affordances of technology.
How teachers teach successfully in such contexts, and how approaches to design for such contexts are related to approaches to teaching.
I most certainly have the inclination to alter and enhance my program but find the time and resources available very limited.
In this respect one tends to rely on the historical context of flexible learning to cover course material, that being research & homework based , and now the Internet via our computer suite or at home.
After some thought, and tooing and froing I can see that the future of some tertiary institutions will rely heavily on distance or part time learning. One of my earlier arguments is that course outcomes will suffer and the quality of programs will be compromised producing in my case poor chefs. But in actual fact the standards could and should remain the same as now as the standard still has to be met by the student regardless of how the course is delivered but perhaps the level of commitment might be greater in flexible delivery.
I would have no problem in posting a cookery demo on Utube for students to observe & as long as they had supporting performance criteria then there is no reason why the same result cannot be achieved. An added benefit would be that the student could watch the demo several times before attempting the task. Obviously this would not enable the student to receive live feedback but then again some students would prefer this medium.
Currently at our campus we offer 1 fulltime course, 2 day release programs and a modern apprentice scheme. We find the standards of fulltime students to be far superior than the part timers due to the day in day out repetition of tasks but that will eventually develop in the industry anyway so all is not lost.