Design Principles applied to my plan

The following Design principles are applied in my plan:

- Equitable- By utilising a more flexible approach to the paper "Participation in Occuaption 2" It will create less face to face get togethers. These get to gethers are gender dominated by european young hetrosexual females. This dominance of culture and gender may influence how others from a different culture or gender or sexual orientation participate. By allowing a blended delivery approach it may encourage others from a different gender or ethnicity to participate and communicate more fully.

- Flexibility- By creating a blended approach those people with time constraints may be able to conduct their tutorials at a time that suits them. People that study part time or have families may find that having an element of self directed tutorials with access to a book with internet information can complete the work outside of the usual face to face time slots of the past.

Simplicity- Going from lecture pedagogy lead lectures to explanations coming from books articles, research led self direction. People can find out the meaning of this paper in an increased variety of ways.

Intuitive/Perceptable- The nature and aim of this paper is to increase the understanding of value and meaning in occupation. By changing some of the ways this information can be given and found by the student could lead to a greater understanding of this concept.

My cultural identification

I identify myself as having a mixture of scottish, irish, australian and unknown heritage. My unknown background stems from my mother being adopted and although we do have some knowledge of her blood relations there are some gaps as to their cultural history. I am a New Zealander and was born in New Zealand. When I joke about how I see myself culturally its when I say that I have the posh Christchurch side of me with my down to earth rougher side from my blood that comes from the West Coast of the south Island. So for me culture is not just about the geography but the behaviour or status that is generalised of people that inhabit these places.

Critique of Phil Kerrs discussion on flexible learning

The discussion started with Phil wanting to clear misunderstandings around the concepts of flexible learning. The main reasons or motives for flexible learning were the following:

1) Enable better access to learning therefore engage with more learners
2) Flexible delivery strategies will enhance learner autonomy and independence
3) Cost efficiencies in delivery of information to learners.

The discussion went on to the question " what is flexible learning" which was described as a continuum from teacher centred learning to learner centred learning. The focus that learner centred learning develops better flexibility and control for the learner. Discussions then looked at the variety of ways to implement flexible learning and the nature of blended delivery.

I found the information informative as it was honest in the nature of looking at not only the benefits for both staff and students but also the perpetual process of needing to assess how the blended delivery can work in a positive manner to ensure quality and consistency. It also brought home the need to put time and people aside consistently when developing a flexible programme to keep the flow of information and ideas coming. I have found that my department can work in isolation at times and I wonder whether this isolation is to the detriment of providing a good flexible delivery package. Without regular cohesion of communication I believe time could be wasted for those new to developing these packages. Time wasted on computer techniques or reinventing the wheel could be avoided. Phils own experiences discussed the way that they all got together and made time on a daily basis to go through the process of creating a good programme.

Thoughts and Ideas from readings

Many ideas and thoughts and mainly questions have arisen from the readings from this course. Questions like the following:

- Where is Otago Polytechnic heading with flexible delivery? Are we going to lead the way and create a distinct flexible delivery opportunity and or just use flexible delivery as more of a conjunction to enhance traditional methods of teaching

- How do the academics within the polytechnic view the future using flexible delivery?
a) People that are against change may be concerned they will lose the quality of their papers, lack the computer skills, unable to replicate some face to face skills online
b) People may see this as an opportunity to reach more people, exciting opening for new opportunities in learning, create better independent learners

Another thought that went through my head was the importance of the use of language in marketing flexible and or online learning opportunities. As I googled the words "flexible learning, occupational therapy, pros and cons" a myriad of occuptional therapy online opportunities came up. The nature of the language and marketing came accross like an informercial on television. It felt slightly tacky and unprofessional. As an example the following from "schoolsgalore" http://www.schoolsgalore.com/categories/2/rehabilitation_therapy_schools.html . The title reminded me of James Bond 'Pussygalore". The phrasing "Find a school today" and "Find a programme that interests you today. Receive complementary information...." reminded me of the informercial "but wait theres more you can get a set of knives if you ring now".

What language may be ok for one culture may give another impression for a different culture. If we are looking at providing a flexible delivery service to a variety of cultures how do we cater for this?

Course requirement- Sams story

This is a story of a girl named Sam who has wanted to be an Occupational Therapist. When Sam enquired about the course she found out the following information:

-Course is in Dunedin or Auckland
-Generally five hours of lectures per day
-Fieldwork Component which means she would have to travel to a destination around New Zealand
-95% of lectures are face to face with the majority being delivered by powerpoint.

Sam suffers from mild dyspraxia this affects how she learns. She can sometimes have difficulty following verbal instructions and planning tasks. Sam can get easily distracted in a classroom environment. Sam had extra tuition at school to enable her to pass her subjects. She is now 21 years of age and has a two year old son living in Balclutha. Sam has been out of the paid workforce as she is at home with her child.

The main issues Sam faces as to why she has not pursued her Occuaptional Therapy Course is the following:

-Geography- The course is in Dunedin however Sam does not want to shift as she has family support in Balclutha
-Face to Face lecturing style is a concern for Sam as she struggled with this style of teaching at High School
-Finances- Sam is concerned at the costs of travelling if she decided to try and commute
-Fatigue- Sam easily tires trying to concentrate in a classroom set up and she finds that mornings are the best time for her energy levels.
-Childcare- Sams has some supports in Balclutha including childcare but the hours do not correspond realistically with the course.

Sam has discussed these issues with her family and with the Occuaptional Therapy Department but at this stage how the courses are run cannot meet Sams requirements.

Flexible Learning Delivery Course

My name is Michelle Holland and I am a lecturer in the Occupational Therapy Department at Otago Polytechnic. The Department is currently rolling out the first year of a flexible learning package to OT students at Wintec in Hamilton NZ. I have been involved in communications with Wintec lecturers, but was not involved in putting the paper online initially.

I am involved in this course as part of the Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning. I am also wanting to utilise the skills gained from this course to add to my development knowledge of how to best use technology for both Otago and Hamilton students.