Activity 3

Who are my students?

 

Veterinary Nursing as a profession is a predominately female based career; however the courses are open to both genders. At Otago Polytechnic we tend to have on average an annual enrolment of 3% of males into the Veterinary Nursing Certificate. Many of this 3% will often carry through to a rural animal technician’s course after completion, rather than going out into the work force as a Veterinary Nurse in clinical practise. Age range is from school leavers through to mature students who have a varying range of not only knowledge and experience, but also varying backgrounds and beliefs; however all the students have the same want and passion which is working with animals.

 

How is flexibility integrated?

 

I have decided to investigate flexibility within two examples of a Certificate in Veterinary Nursing. One provided within the Veterinary Nursing School at Otago Polytechnic and the other being provided through the Southern Institute of Technology.

I have broken both courses down into the five dimensions of flexibility by utilising the flexibility gird by Casey and Wilson (2005)

 

Certificate in Veterinary Nursing Otago Polytechnic

                                FIXED                                                        FLEXIBLE

Time	X
Content of the course	X
Entry requirements	X
Instructional approaches and resources	X
Delivery and logistics	X

Certificate in Veterinary Nursing SIT (Southern Institute of Technology)

                                     FIXED                                                         FLEXIBLE

Time	X
Content of the course	X
Entry requirements	X
Instructional approaches and resources (UNKOWN)
Delivery and logistics	X

I found this quite an interesting exercise however I was limited to my investigation through the Southern Institute so was unable to provide a result for their current instructional approaches and resources as this was not made available through their webpage.

Summary of my findings:

 

TIME: This was interesting as I could really see that Otago provides more flexibility here through offering students options on how they would like to complete their studies. This could be through the one year full time programme in Dunedin or a two year distance part time programme. SIT on the other hand only currently offer a one year full time option (however this is a no fees course). Start and finish dates however are fixed for both institutions if the learner wants to graduate within these timeframes.

 

CONTENT OF THE COURSE: Both qualifications are rather restricted to what can be assessed due to being governed by Unit Standards. I do however think both institutions would have some flexibility here in that the choice could be made to provide/ teach more than what is required.

 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: Both qualifications have the same entry requirements of 60 NCEA level 2 credits which are set by the institutions. However there is some flexibility here on an individual case by case basis or if a student has an equivalent entry level of qualification. A bridging study option may also be offered for either programme.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES AND RESOURCES: This was a little limiting with my investigation so can really only comment on what we do at the Veterinary Nursing school. I believe this is an area that can be very flexible. Each year we do review our resources and try to refine our approach. We use a variety of methods such as video demonstrations, written online course notes, power-point presentations, adobe tutorials and face to face block courses and in clinic practical training. The fulltime programme offers a more traditional approach of lectures merged with the above methods and the ability to provide practical skills training through a functioning Vet Clinic on campus.

 

DELIVERY AND LOGISTICS: Again not a lot of detail available from the SIT website however due to the fact that they are a fulltime course potentially restricts the learner’s options. I am unsure of the use of an online delivery option of course materials however SIT do offer other distance programmes using Blackboard as their delivery mode.

Otago provides the learner the choice on how and where they would like to learn this programme through the use of the online system Moodle. There are fixed times when students are required to attend block courses and in clinic practical sessions as these are part of the structure of the programme. Delivery channels are all online or if the student chooses they can print of course materials (however as a school we try to deter this method due to our stance on sustainability, so encourage the download of materials as they are not an open access resource) Technology is obviously a big key here so this may be an issue with some students.

 

 Through this exercise I can see that Otago Polytechnic School of Veterinary Nursing is on the right path with providing students with choice. I can also see areas where we can extend on our flexibility particularly with the instructional approaches and most definitely with the resources we are providing the students. I look forward to investigating this further as I progress through this course.

References:

Casey, J. and Wilson, P. (2005). A practical guide to providing flexible learning in further and higher education

Southern Institute of Technology (2013) Certificate in Veterinary Nursing (2013, May 20). Retrieved from

http://www.sit.ac.nz/Courses/Invercargill/Certificate_in_Veterinary_Nursing_4676_FullDetails

 

 

Activity 2

What does the term flexible learning mean to you?

When I first considered the term flexible learning I immediately thought of the ability to access learning whenever and where ever possible.  In such a fast paced world knowledge and learning is no longer restricted to a classroom.  How many times do we just pop onto the internet to quickly research something? Learning is happening all the time and to provide learners with the access to this knowledge without needing to resign from a job, move the family or give up on a lifelong dream is exciting.

Flexible learning however is so much more than this initial thought, yes choice of how you would like to learn is part of this paradigm but as Collis and Moonen (2001) discuss, other key factors play an integral role in the success of flexible learning ‘technology, pedagogy, implementation strategies and institutional framework’

This is quite a minefield of considerations!

In addition to these key factors Collis and Moonen (2001) also discuss how flexible learning puts a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the learners by providing ‘Learner choice in different aspects of the learning experience’. This in itself is an interesting concept as not all learners may be able to cope with such high decision making. However they also illustrate that this in itself can be an option of flexibility. The learner has the choice to make all decisions about their path of study or the choice to commit to predetermined options set out by the provider. If all the choices fall with the learners how do we keep them motivated and driven to be successful?

 

Why is it necessary to use a more flexible approach in your work?

The Veterinary Nursing School currently offers 4 programmes of study which can all be completed via distance or a combination of two qualifications offered as a full time programme based at the Veterinary Nursing School in Dunedin. This in itself offers the learner a choice on how and where they would like to complete their studies. The distance programmes would be considered as a blended model, offering a lot of self-directed learning allowing students to pace themselves through each required unit, as well as face to face learning at block courses and support from lecturers through adobe connect tutorials and moodle forums. Students are also required to complete clinical experience as part of the certificate in Veterinary Nursing in a Veterinary Clinic of their choice. This allows them to obtain real world hands on experience.

Ultimately I want the students to finish the course being work ready, having developed essential skills to make them successful out in the workforce. Therefore it is vital that they are provided with the necessary tools to reach their own learning goals and to effectively become a successful lifelong learner. A major part of this is the consideration around how individual learners learn and making sure that course materials/ content is delivered to actively engage and motivate all students. I also believe another key consideration for success is looking at how the students can work more closely and support one another throughout their learning.

My Goals for Flexible Learning and what do I need to explore to make this happen:

I’m interested in exploring the delivery of our materials further to see if they are streamlined and do they offer enough options for different learning styles. I would also like to investigate what other tools are available.

I also want to look further into ways that students can work collaboratively to support one another through offering different group work tools (success with this might be looking at some formative group work).

I also believe one of the most difficult aspects of distance learning is how to keep the learner motivated and included. If more flexible options lay on their shoulders how can I keep this momentum going so they will have success and become a lifelong learner.

References

Collis, B. & Moonen, J. (2001). Flexible learning in a digital world. Open and Distance Series. London: Kogan page Ltd.

 

 

 

Introduction

Well here I go on my journey through flexible learning heading towards the completion of my GCTLT certificate. The mission has begun with the completion of my blog and oh what a mission it has been. The struggle of the life/work quest and finding this wonderful balance that we encourage our students to achieve with the right time management. I think I will be my own case study with that one J

I have been working part time for the School of Veterinary Nursing for the past 5 years and work predominately with our distance students in our Animal Care and Veterinary Nursing Certificates

My wonderful little eight month old has gone back to sleep so here I am putting my time management skills to work. Let the journey begin............