Flexible Learning Strategies In My Area

Here is the link to my Blended Learning Strategy on ePortfolio with the Bachelor of Midwifery programme.
My second strategy is on Creative Reflection.
Please feel free to comment on these!

Sustainable Education

When working through the module on sustainable education I had a renewed appreciation for the strategic planning that has gone in to the Bachelor of Midwifery programme. All four approaches that support effective pedagogy (Te Kete Ipurangi, n.d.) have been addressed:

·         Cooperative Learning An interactive model for teaching and learning. More than working in groups, it is a process requiring guided facilitation.

·         Inquiry Learning An holistic, integrated approach to teaching and learning, raising questions to investigate and taking action for a sustainable future.

·         Experiential Learning Developed through personal experience, guided reflection and learning conversations.

·         Reflection Fundamental to supporting student action competence.

I particularly appreciate the insight that went in to the development within the Bachelor of Midwifery of the Student Practice Facilitator role which incorporates the four approaches above. Within the first two years of the programme, students are allocated to small tutorial groups which are arranged geographically, and called SPF groups.  One of my main roles is that of facilitating my local groups. Firstly, these groups are beneficial in promoting student involvement, discussion and guided reflective practice. It also helps to review how students are navigating through the blended learning programme, and gives students a chance to pass on strategies and tips related to how they are approaching their learning. This is really beneficial to students and helpful to me to find how they learn best, and to occasionally steer them in another direction if this is needed.

Students have consistently identified when surveyed about the programme that their weekly SPF tutorial is a highlight of the programme.  I believe it is essential within the blended learning model we offer, and reflects the learning-centred learning strategy (O’Neill & McMahon, 2005), and supports effective pedagogy.

I believe this assists with sustainability for the learners.

Thinking more globally, midwifery is a profession which is intrinsically about the sustainability of families. A colleague, Christine, has written eloquently about the topic of Midwifery as a sustainable practice. Our Code of Ethics includes Midwives advocate policies and legislation that promote social justice, improved social conditions and a fairer sharing of the community’s resources (p12, New Zealand College of Midwives, 2008), reflecting the social context in which we live in and the impact this has on families. Our role as midwifery educators is to support the learners to consider the issues of sustainability in midwifery practice. It is pleasing to note that the School of Midwifery has recently been recognised by the OP Quality & Approvals Committee for integrating Sustainability and Cultural Safety/Competency in all courses.

I think our challenge now, is to consider the workload issues for learners and also for teachers.

O’Neill, G. & McMahon, T. (2005). Student-centred learning: What does it mean for students and lecturers? Emerging issues in the practice of university learning and teaching. Retrieved from http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-1/oneill-mcmahon-Tues_19th_Oct_SCL.html

New Zealand College of Midwives. (2008). Midwives handbook for practice. Author.

Te Kete Ipurangi, Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Effective pedagogy in education for sustainability. Retrieved from http://efs.tki.org.nz/EfS-in-the-curriculum/Effective-pedagogy

Workload

Regarding student workload, a colleague and I often bemoan the fact that students do not seem to be able to ‘read widely’, which is something that we try to encourage. The BM is a challenging course and the workload is high, despite the flexible nature of the course. Being a longer course than the usual tertiary year also means that learners have to be engaged for a greater proportion of the year. This limits the ability to earn money whilst studying (the traditional student work over long holidays particularly), but on the positive side allows them to graduate within three years rather than four.

As a school I think we need to be strategic about making connections to prior learning and experience and also to avoid unnecessary duplication of content (Te Kete Ipurangi, n.d). We do acknowledge prior learning and try to facilitate the sharing of this knowledge with other students e.g. in the Community Project presentations in Year One where students will often present an organisation that they may have been involved with prior to commencing the course. However there is always room for improvement, and I can see that we need to link content in some Moodle courses with content in others, in an attempt to integrate the material and reduce both staff and student workload. This serves to remind learners of the material they have already covered, and may help with deeper learning. We also need to ‘flag’ more clearly what is ‘nice to know’ and what is ‘need to know’, which can give students clearer direction while still catering for different learning preferences. We have also discussed trying to reduce the replication of our main text book in the modules (as students have purchased this text!) and refer them directly to this instead.

Ultimately we need to consider this quote from Fred Lockwood:

“The consumption of study time is regarded as a major cost. The skipping of set readings, and failure to respond to associated activities, to contribute to discussion boards, and to ignore whole parts of the course in an attempt to save time, not only detracts from both the scope of their learning and its quality but also contributes to feelings of inadequacy. It results in a poor learning experience” (P.6).

Therefore, we need to carefully estimate student workload in both content delivered and assessment techniques to allow students to be successful and to have a positive learning experience.

Lockwood, F. (2005). Estimating student workload, readability and implications for student learning and progression. Australia: ODLAA. Retrieved from: http://wikieducator.org/images/5/5a/Odlaa2005Lockwoodestimating_student_workload.pdf

Te Kete Ipurangi, Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Effective pedagogy: Teacher actions promoting student learning. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Effective-pedagogy

Open Education

OER or Open Education Resources has been defined as:

OER defined:
OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

(William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, n.d.).

Strategically OP has identified that Open Education is an Innovation that reflects Our Distinct Character, and seeks to foster creativity and innovation in the learner, along with improving access for learners. Clearly we are moving in the direction of open education.

Following on from Bridget's discussion regarding open education in our context, I would like to add that I see benefits to the profession in being able to access current evidence-based information that fits the NZ context. It would benefit our students, as midwives working with them would be able to access the same information available to students, which would be mutually beneficial.

However, because of our shared programme between CPIT and OP, there is an issue. Whilst OP has a focus on open access, I understand that CPIT does not share this focus to the same degree.

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (n.d.). Open educational resources. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/programs/education-program/open-educational-resources.

Trends

Well one could certain become bogged-down in the available technologies that might enhance teaching and learning! Engaging with the course material about Trends in education, and specifically the technologies available reminded me of an event in a staff education setting. About 2 years ago we, in the School of Midwifery, were discussing our blended learning programme at the end of a long day of face to face staff meeting/ education session. We had a guest speaker who began talking about cloud technology. Well at that point, we ‘lost’ one staff member who was so boggled by the use of this term, that she could not be ‘brought back’. To this day, she describes being on a flight home, and thinking about all the filing cabinets full of useful information that are stored in those clouds just below the plane!

This entertaining story illustrates the rapid changes that occur with technology which could leave us as teachers behind. As mentioned previously, I would like to examine ePortfolios as a trend in education, in more depth.

My interest in ePortfolios stems from being a midwife in practice and the frustration I have when reviewed bi-annually for Midwifery Standards Review (this is a review by a midwife and consumer looking at how we are meeting our Standards for Practice). This supportive process is valuable to me, however, I am always disappointed at the amount of paper I need to send off two weeks prior to the review, when I could easily send this electronically (9 pages of 3226 words + evidence for my last review!).

 Bronwyn discusses in her presentation (Hegarty, 2012) that ePortfolios are used for 3 purposes:

·         Learning portfolio: evidence of learning, personal growth, planning and monitoring learning.

·         Assessment: collection of work which is assessed.

·         Showcase: competencies for practice, presentation to employers.

What I am proposing for use in the School of Midwifery would be an amalgamation of all three of these.

In the BM students currently have a portfolio which follows them throughout their programme. We have assessments at strategic points which are portfolio based. For example, in the middle of second year Scope of Midwifery Practice course there is a portfolio assessment. This consists of:

·         Written logs (which are marked as they are presented so this is a roundup)

·         Record of attendance

·         Written reflections

·         Verbal/written feedback from women

·         Maintenance of clinical record – e.g. timesheets and Midwifery Council New Zealand requirements

So it seems our portfolio is an amalgamation of all three purposes outlined above. Some students are very creative within the portfolio while others do the bare minimum requested. I suspect that doing an ePortfolio would suit some and not others, so providing the option of a hard copy or e-portfolio would be beneficial.

Advantages

Disadvantages

·         More portable ·         Saves on printing (and therefore trees!) ·         More creative e.g. potential to use audio, video files ·         Most students become more digitally literate throughout the BM programme, so fits with the Blended Learning model. ·         Quick and convenient to submit ·         For tutor easier to store when marking (one tutor has 10 in her group to mark and transport) ·         The moderation process would be easier (particularly handy for those in satellites)

·         Some prefer tangible hard copy presentation ·         Security – would need password protection, rights for who could access, electronic signatures ·         Can it follow them post programme? ·         Can IT at OP support it? ·         Challenge to the technologically challenged

                                                                               

I have not used an ePortfolio myself but I’m keen to learn and would like to investigate Mahara as a tool.

References

Hegarty, B. (2012). ePortfolios – getting to the nuts and bolts. Prepared for flexible learning 2012. Retrieved from http://www.myplick.com/view/0tvI1ZlEeKQ/

Proposed Learning Technology

Within the Portfolio that student midwives present (described earlier), there are compulsory reflections. I propose that these be not only written but could be presented as an audio file or a video, or as an artistic piece (dance or art for instance) with a written or oral component.

 ePortfolio’s would enable the presentation of these more easily. This would suit some students who prefer to verbalise their reflections rather than having to convert them to a written format. It allows potential for a creative outlet which is not currently catered for within the first year, other than in presentations. These are often group presentations and require the whole group to collaborate.