Thought of the moment

There is nothing so soul destroying as having to wade through a 72 slide presentation.

Access and Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity

Many years ago I was required to play a lecturer in a teaching role play.  The scenario went like this:

A female student on an arboriculture course was terrified of chainsaws.  I as the lecturer, was supposed to take the chainsaw apart and hand the disassembled chainsaw to the student bit by bit whilst talking to her in a tone that would suggest I was trying to back her of a very high ledge.  My polite, but blunt suggestion, that any competent lecturer should be giving some serious career advice at this point, did not go down well.

Many years later, it would be nice to think that I have a more sophisticated view of diversity and inclusiveness, but I would still offer alternative career advice to any budding arborist who sobbed every time they saw a chainsaw.

My belief in the right to access education, may be burning bright, but so is my disgust at settings students up to fail.

Here is the challenge.

Universal Design and Inclusiveness in Learning

'Consider the needs of the broadest possible range of users from the beginning.' Ron Mace, Architect

When we look at a beautiful piece of architecture, it is the form that captures our eye and imagination,  but it is the function that captures our hearts.  Good design has an elegance of purpose.

Looking at 'Universal Design for Learning: A framework for access and equity' the message is elegantly simple:

' - Not one size fits all
  - Design from the beginning; not add on later
  - Increase access opportunities for everyone'

By using the framework we can design courses and programmes in a way that allows students 'Multiple means of representation', 'Multiple means of action and expression' and 'Multiple means of engagement'.  Put simply, students will have:

'More ways to access
More ways to participate
More ways to demonstrate learning'

Let's be honest, this isn't rocket science.  So why is is so difficult?

In vocational training, there is a conflict between education and industry.  In the example of the student who is afraid of chainsaws, it might be fair to advise a student that they may struggle to work in the industry, but it is it appropriate to deny a student education, unless there are serious safety implications?

The horticulture industries requires employees who:

• are physically fit
• have good practical skills and attention to detail
• are bright with good literacy and numeracy skills
• can self motivate

This is a big list, and not every students will be able to tick all the boxes.  What happens to those people who can't? do we deny them an education?

For me the answer lies in the possible difference between education and training.  Personally,  the word education implies a learner focus.  Focusing on the needs of the learner allows us to design for equitable access to knowledge, and we can be more inclusive of the diverse needs of our students.  We also create a knowledge rich society.  Conversely, the word training suggests a focus on producing graduates that match industry needs.  Trying to match both needs at the same time create its own problems.   How do you measure success against such a dichotomy of needs?  Educational institutes measure success by statistics - retention, success, graduation numbers, employment statistics.  For some, success can be as simple as a 'well done', an awakening sense of achievement, finally grasping a concept or growing a beautiful plant.

Examples of Inclusive Teaching

Like most students, horticulture students are very diverse.  Some students are strong kinaesthetic learners, who prefer to do practicals; some students particularly enjoy the classroom environment; other students combine, to a greater or lesser extent, these two learning preferences.

Historically, the horticulture certificates were proscribed programmes.  The only choice was between the Amenity Horticulture programme and the Landscape programme.  As a result of the lack of choice, students who might prefer to be outside working, may be in a classroom learning about soil or legislation.

The horticulture programmes have been changed to give students more options.  Students can now choose subject modules that best suit their needs.

• Plant production 1                            practical
• Plant production 2                            mostly practical
• Landscape Design 1 and 2               theory and drawing
• Landscape Construction 1 and 2      practical
• Sustainable growing                         practical and theory
• Plant knowledge                              theory

We can not always remove the barriers in some subject areas, but we can offer subjects that contain few barriers.

More direct examples of inclusive teaching and assessment regularly include:

• Information given in a variety of formats including written, oral, visual, demonstration, practical (practice), discussion, and student research - utilising traditionally teaching methods and using IT learning platforms
• Written assessments changed to formal oral assessment or more informal discussion 
• Individual assistance catering to student needs when required

Within the department, a great deal of time an effort goes into individually supporting students in their learning, and trying to find appropriate way for them to demonstrate their knowledge.

A classic example would be plant identification assessments.  Students are usually give unnamed plant samples and are required to write down the correct botanical name in a test.  Other assessment methods have included oral assessments (the student tells the lecturer the plant name), and word match (the student matches a card with the plant name to the correct plant), plant collections (the student finds an example of the plant, photographs or presses it, and writes a plant label).  All these examples demonstrate a student's ability to identify a plant. 

Issues of access and equity

There are two main issues of access and equity within the horticulture programmes, they are:

• Physical ability
• Unit standards

Physical ability
Physical ability can be an issue of teaching, but it is more commonly an issue for assessment.  For example, a student who has broken a leg can learn how to build a dry stone wall by: demonstration, video, diagrams, and reading instructions.  Unfortunately the same student would not be able to demonstrate their ability to build a stone wall.  There are times when the ability to draw or describe a task isn't enough.  You wouldn't want a surgeon to have only described an operation and not actually performed it. 

Equally, a student who is very afraid of heights is going to miss vital learning, and will be unable to demonstrate competence for many of the courses within an arboriculture programme.

For some courses students need  be able to physically take part in the 'active learning', and must be able to demonstrate practical competence. This is often not helped by some unit standards that do not provide for equity of assessment.

Unit standards
Unit standards are documents produced by the industry training organisation, and contain the assessment criteria for each course of study with the horticulture programmes.  Unit standards have many advantages, but they are not always equitable. Many unit standards within the horticulture field are very specific about what is acceptable evidence of competence for each course.  Practical units require a physical task to be completed, there are no alternative, and some theory units specifically require the evidence to be in writing.   For example, some of the plant identification units require a student to 'write the correct plant name using the correct botanical format'.  No oral testing or word matching is allowed, and even spelling mistakes or underlining the wrong part of the plant name, would be considered unacceptable.  This is a nightmare for any student with dyslexia, or who has difficulty decoding words.

Defining Access and Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity in Horticulture

I cannot easily provide a definition.  I will suggest some personal guidelines:

Everyone is entitled to the truth, but it is not a blunt instrument used to hurt and crush people.
It is important that students make informed decisions, if they are likely to find a course or programme challenging, then they should be told about the challenges.  They have the right to develop strategies to overcome any barriers.  Can we offer a better option, or different path?  Once the student is fully informed, it is their choice (safety issues excepted).

We are here to educate, not just train
Just because we may suspect that a student is not an ideal industry candidate, it does not prevent them from learning about horticulture.  We remove barriers from industry by first removing barriers to learning.

We facilitate learning
We try everything we can think of to help our students learn and if that doesn't work, we ask others for their ideas.

We do not tolerate discrimination, or allow disrespect

We support
We listen, we hand out tissues, we seek guidance from those who can help.

To summarise, my definition of Access and Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity in Horticulture is:

'The right of all students to make informed choices, and to access education in a safe and supportive environment.'

Flexible Learning Plan

There are many projects that I have planned for flexible learning, but the official one is to create a plant selection course delivered on-line.  The course is theory based and the unit standard is non-proscriptive on how evidence of competence is gathered.  This opens up the assessment to a combination of visual, written or oral evidence using either traditional (e.g. handwritten), or IT formats.

Ideally learners will need access to a computer with broadband internet, but references, reading lists and assessments could be posted out.  Students without internet access would need to be contacted by phone to provide learning assistance and social connection.  It would be possible to successfully complete the course without interaction, but it would be a sterile learning environment.

The only barriers to learning that I can envision, are significant reading difficulties, and visual impairment.  An assessment could be created using audio recordings, but I do not know what resource material would be available.

Example of Flexible Delivery

I am fortunate enough to have seen some excellent examples of flexible delivery throughout the polytechnic, but I openly admit that I sometimes struggle to envision how I can adapt these to horticulture.  Therefore I am going to take a different approach.  Instead of looking at the big picture and trying to focus it into my subject area, I am going to focus on my subject area and expand out.  The key is to keep expanding beyond my own limits.  Let's hope.

Case Study 

Diploma in Horticulture - delivered by the Central Otago Campus, Cromwell

The Diploma in Horticulture is delivered using a combination of on-line learning (using Moodle) and block courses.

Students

The programme was specifically developed to cater for students who:

• Already hold the National Certificate in Horticulture
• Are already working within the horticulture industry (mostly within fruit production/viticulture in Central Otago)
• Are studying to up-skill, or may need a diploma to gain a managerial position

Background Information

 The Diploma in Horticulture has been designed to study part time, often over two or three year.

• The programme is mainly theoretical, with one practical unit.
• The programme is largely prescribed, with one elective course. 
• Accreditation of prior learning or experience (apl) is possible for individual courses or the entire programme.

Moodle

The following resources are used within moodle:

·         Images

·         Text

·         Reading lists

·         PDF files

·         Word documents (usually for assessments)

·         ISpring (to convert PowerPoint files)

·         Excel spreadsheets

·         Moodle books

·         Audio files

·         Tests

·         Links to websites (list format)

·         Links to websites (embedded in text)

·         Links to specific documents on the internet

Student communication:

• News forum (not really used)
• Embedded email addresses
• Email contact via the profile page
• Phone
• Text
• Face to face

Student Experience


The Diploma in Horticulture is in it's second first phase of development - a complete programme, excellent content, well supported by staff, but without some of the technological innovations that some of the older flexible programmes have developed.

The student experience is one of consistent dependability and reliability.  This works well as most students are already working within the horticulture industries, and many will have already studied as distance students receiving traditional printed packs.

The programme is about to undergo a revamp, and will only get better and better.

Discussion

The Diploma in Horticulture will be analysed against an adapted version of the ‘Dimensions of Flexibility’ developed by Collis and Moonen (2004)

I have decided to attach a numerical value to the ‘Fixed – Flexible’ scale.  1 represents completely fixed, 7 represents completely flexible.

Dimensions of flexibility
Time	Fixed                         Flexible       1   2   3   4   5   6   7
Starting and finishing the course	5	Most courses within the programme can be started at any time and are only constrained by the polytechnic student management system (course occurrences).  Finish dates are calculated in accordance with government requirements for funding. The practical course has a specific requirement for time period and hours worked. Two courses within the programme are delivered via block course.
Submitting assignments and interacting within the course	4	Assignments will need to be submitted before or at the course finish date.
Tempo/pace of study	5	Work will have to be completed by the course finish date, but eh daily/weekly tempo is flexible.
Moments of assessment	5	Theory units require a written assignment to be submitted before or at the course finish date.
Content	Fixed                         Flexible       1   2   3   4   5   6   7
Topics of the course	2	Prescribed programme with one elective opportunity
Sequence of different parts of the course	4	Programme sequence is optional, but there is a recommended order – some courses build on previous courses. Parts of the programme are delivered by block course (2 courses).  The block courses are not delivered every year, attendance is recommended.
Orientation of the course (theoretical, practical)	1	Fixed
Key learning materials of the course.	6	Various - delivery via Moodle              There are two block courses – one topic could be completed via moodle alone. No video conferencing has been set up – to the best of my knowledge.
Assessment standards and completion requirements	1	Fixed
Entry requirements	Fixed                         Flexible       1   2   3   4   5   6   7
Conditions for participation	1	National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 4) or higher
Instructional approach and resources	Fixed                         Flexible       1   2   3   4   5   6   7
Social organisation or learning (face to face; group; individual)	4	Largely fixed. Mostly distance via moodle Students in Central Otago have individual face to face support from the programme co-ordinator Block courses offer group face to face learning Students can organise their own study groups – but they do not use the moodle forums
Language to be used during the course	2	Fairly formal
Learning resources: modality, origin (instructor, learner, library, WWW)	7	Varies from course to course, but a good range is offered including both instructor led and student led options.
Instructional organisation of learning (assignments, monitoring)	2	Fairly fixed The practical unit has a log book that contains a greater level of flexibility
Delivery and logistics	Fixed                         Flexible       1   2   3   4   5   6   7
Time and place where contact with instructor and other students occur.	4	Synchronous (phone) contact will be limited to certain office hours. Asynchronous contact can occur at any time.
Methods, technology for obtaining support and making contact.	3	Technology use is limited.  Moodle forums are available along with face to face contact (for local students), email and phone contact.
Types of help, communication available, technology required	3	Basic but effective
Location, technology for participating in various aspects of the course.	4	Other options are available, but realistically a student needs a computer with broadband access. Software requirements are Microsoft office. The limited use of technology is an advantage. Location is not important, but much of the programme content is Central Otago focused. To attend the block course, student are physically located in Cromwell Students need to do a practical with the horticulture industries.
Delivery channels for course information, content, communication.	3	Currently fixed with moodle being the only platform. Letter, email, text and phone are all option for communication

Conclusion

Total score 66 divided by 19 questions equals      3.5.

Time                                                                             4.8

Content                                                                        2.8

Entry requirements                                                     1

Instructional approach and resources                      3.8

Delivery and logistics                                                 3.4

Within the constraints of the polytechnic environment, the Diploma in Horticulture manages to be a fairly flexible programme that caters well for the needs of the learner. 

It is interesting to note that most flexible areas, e.g. resources and materials, are as a result of staff input, and many of the weaker or less flexible areas are as a result of academic  requirements.

There are always opportunities to make a programme more flexible in terms of technology use, and communication methods, but delivery logistics are often controlled by the educational institute and content dictated by industry needs.  Greater flexibility does not always guarantee a better outcome for the student, or guarantee quality.  Industry appropriateness and academic rigour still remains the driving forces behind most of what we are trying to achieve.

Appendix - Communication between myself and Raewyn Paviour, Cromwell Campus

Hi Lisa, I have written my answers in red alongside your questions.  I hope it works, so please let me know asap if you have received it as I have intended.

Hope it helps

 Hi Raewyn, I hope you are well.

I need to study examples of flexible learning within the polytech, and the Diploma in Horticulture is an obvious choice.  Could you possibly give me a quick rundown on how it runs. 

E.g.

• How long does it usually take  2-3 years as the students are working full time and studying part time.
• Are there assessment deadlines, sort of as the occurrences  are 9 months duration
• Does the student have to start at a particular time of the year – how do the occurrences run?  As the occurrences are 9 months, they often run into the next year
• Can a student do the programme without computer access – yes but not as efficiently

The questions and areas of discussion that I am looking at are:

Who are the students?  Mainly supervisors or property managers, mature and motivated

Then the five dimensions of flexibility, which are:

• Time
• Content and course
• Entry requirements NCH level 4 or equivalent
• Instructional approaches and resources
• Delivery and logistics – moodle, coordinator & block courses

Take care and best wishes

Lisa

Augmented Reality

I am positively bouncing with excitement about the possibility of using augmented reality as a tool for teaching plant identification.  I bet you didn't expect that!

A special thank you goes to Dr Thom Cochrane for inspiring me and Bronwyn Hegarty for making it happen.

http://thomcochrane.wikispaces.com

What is flexible learning?

The following are replies from my colleagues about what flexible learning means to them.

Reply One


What does the term Flexible Learning mean to you?

Flexible learning or flexible delivery?

Flexible delivery/ learning is a finance driven approach to delivering education more cheaply, by not having to supply venue, materials etc to offsite students. It enables a much larger staff/student ratio.  It has its place in making available resources  and online assessments but in my opinion, and that of students i have spoken to, who are doing “distance learning “ It is not as effective as the hyperbole suggests as a means of .

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

Educationalists are under pressure are under pressure to deliver ( what appears to be) more for less, in order to maintain our jobs and positions and to keep our courses open , we must be seen to be doing what the academics who drive these trends would have us do.

The rise in the internet does make options for the presentation and sourcing of course materials more varied and hence, presentation of those materials can be more adaptable.

What do you need to explore to make this happen?

The internet, computers, various programmes and systems

What goals do you have for using Flexible Learning in your work?

Making more course material available through shared drives, develop some on line assessment.

Get through to the end of the year.




Reply Two


Another colleague replied via their blog. 

Life, the universe, everything and flexible learning

Thanks to Douglas Adams, we now know that the answer to 'Life the universe and everything' is of course 42.  The key is in understanding the question.

When I think about flexible learning and what it means, I realise that my thoughts seem to keep growing.  One answer leads to many more questions.  So let's start small and see where we go.

In summary:

What does flexible learning mean to me?

At this point, to me, flexible learning means the ability to study what you want, when you want.

Why is a more flexible approach necessary?

I mentioned some of the reasons to become more flexible in my post 'Getting on with it', but to summarise they can be listed as:

Outside the department

• Innovate or die - changing society expectations
• Otago Polytechnic the 'Brand' - institute pressures to keep up with the play

Inside the department

• Give all our students more options in study and qualification outcomes
• Increase out student base
• Facilitate learning for distance students and those who cannot study 9 - 5
• Help students to staircase into advanced or higher qualifications
• Reduce the teaching load created by teaching one to one and specialist tutorials
• Improve the experience of our in class traditional students - this is the hardest area for me to visualise at the moment and will be my biggest challenge.

What do I need to explore to make this happen?

The obvious answer to this question, is that I need to explore technology, social media, and education innovations.  There are two less obvious barriers that I need to consider, and they are nature and myself, or my nature!

Nature isn't that flexible.  In horticulture certain tasks have to be completed at specific times of the year, and only in the appropriate weather conditions.  We spend a great deal of time selecting the units that we teach and putting our timetables together.  Everything has to be carefully planned to enable us to prune roses at the right time of year, or have examples of leaf rollers (a plant pest) to show to the class.  Wet weather alternatives are all planned in because you can't dig the soil or prune plants when it is wet.  This automatically removes some of the flexibility.  Nature herself (itself?) controls timing, sequencing and environmental conditions.

Theory can be delivered with relative ease using any format you choose, but what about practical skills?  Most of our students choose horticulture because they are drawn to the practical component of the programme.  They are often kinaesthetic learners.   It is surprisingly difficult to learn a practical skill from reading instructions or even watching a video.  Not all the tasks can be practised at home in the average garden.

Another big question is always going to be over practical assessment.  Are photographs and video enough to demonstrate that a student is competent at a task?  Students can write about their experiences, but it would not be accepted by the industry.

There are answers to all these questions, and solutions to all these problems, but they will require a great deal of work and some very flexible thinking.

This leads me to an interesting barrier - my inflexibility.  I am open to new ideas, but I need a damn good shove to get me there.  It all takes a lot of work, and the process of changing my mindset can be painfully slow at times.  So the biggest challenge will be to explore and challenge my own boundaries and beliefs.

What goals do I have?

As I have already mentioned elsewhere, my short term goal is to set up a course on moodle or wikieducator, using dynamic content and best practice.  Long term goals include multiples courses/programmes.

My longer term goal is to look at how flexible learning can become part of the classroom experience.

Thought of the moment

Not feeling that social

The interesting thing about social media is that it is designed for the socially minded.  I am not that social.    I like to have my own thoughts wrapped around me, they swirl and change and make interesting patterns.  When I talk to people I can see their faces and the swirling patterns of their thoughts and ideas wrapped around them.

I am struggling with the idea of blogging, even on  a professional level.  The act of sharing my thoughts and writing into the black whole of the internet makes me feel exposed.  Reading the thoughts of others seems like some strange intrusion, like I have sneaked a peak at a diary.

This may not be rational or logical, but it is oddly real.

The Point?

Not everyone wants to share in a public forum.  Over the years we have had students become distressed because we have asked them to tell a little something about themselves and why they want to study horticulture.  For many the idea of using a blog would be helpful - it is remote and removes some aspects of social accountability.  For others, that very remoteness creates a disconnect.  Where is the information going? who can read it? what will people think of me? how will I know?  We work hard to create a safe learning environment in the classroom, and need to work just as hard to create a safe environment for flexible learning.

For some people however, the barriers will persist.