Flexible learning resources

So here is poor Gertie trying to get her head around this on-line stuff, and poor Hellie the lecturer doing the same. Both have a bit of an attitude problem about it, both need to do some reflecting and sort it out, and both have been putting that off and just doing the grumpy thing. Then Gertie emails Hellie (now there's one advantage of on-line stuff - you can pop those emails off any old time you want) and says she wants to see her and talk about how disgruntled she is feeling about the fact there are no longer any lectures, only tutorials. Hellie answers with a suggested meeting time for the next day.
In the interim, Hellie is forced to do some thinking. She needs to defend the position of the Polytech, so she decides to talk with Gertie about all the possibilities regarding how Gertie can do the learning of the material that would ordinarilly be in a lecture. She lists what she knows will be made available to Gertie:

• Blackboard discussion groups
• email access to lecturer
• learning packages on Blackboard
• links to you tube video clips
• links to unitube video clips
• Hellies voice over the lecture powerpoint
• photos and cartoons to illustrate points
• audio clips to describe important concepts
• a variety of on-line quizzes with instant feedback
• summaries of information as concept maps
• face-to-face tutorials with learning activities
• overhead projector in tutorials
• face-to-face discussion groups
• references to readings and texts on close reserve in Bill Rob library
• podcasts
• elluminate lectures and recordings
• hard copy workbook
• links to readings on-line
• links to relevent websites

By the time Hellie has worked this list out, she understands that actually Gertie is getting more value for money regarding resources than she would if she just had the 50 minute lecture. Gertie is actually potentially more able to learn the material as there will be some way she can access it to suit her particular learning style. In fact, gertie can learn it because of Hellies willingness to provide flexible resources, rather than trying to learn it in spite of Hellie lecturing to her...

When they meet, Gertie comes prepared with her own list of issues. There's the internet problem, the time management problem, the fact she likes to chat face to face as part of her learning, and the whole deal about what she (and her bossy parents) percieve the role of teacher to be. She sees Hellie as the expert, and her parents are paying for the expert to teach her.

So Hellie and Gertie work through the problem solving process together - the biggest thing Gertie needs to do is recognise what resources best suit her learning style, and work out some intrinsic time management skills. They revisit good old VARK, and they list the resource types that will best suit Gertie. Then they do one of those old fashioned study time tables (a wee poster one she can put on her wall with funkey colours and stuff). Gertie also decides that internet access is important, as with IT skills - she will ask her parents to pay for broadband by bribing them with promises to email regularly, and she decides to spend an hour of two in the CLC to get some more computer skills under her belt.

Gertie goes away happy, and has learnt to consider Hellie as one of her many learning resources rather than the expert teacher. Hellie goes away more comfortable, realising that her personal philosophy of facilitating learning and nurturing curiosity in students is more closely aligned to flexible delivery than she had acknowledged.