The internet today has made the world today to be a global village through various trends in communication and technological advances. In the teaching and learning world advances have been made which are making the process easy and more convenient to relevant stakeholders such as students, teachers and many more. One of the advances is the Flexible Learning for Open Education (FLOE) which is a modern platform that links educational resources to students from all parts of the world. This platform tries to reduce barriers in learning among students and knowledge seekers in the globe. The platform offers solution to many problems experienced by learners as it accommodates almost all individual differences exhibited by learners.
FLOE provides alternative sources and means of delivery of knowledge other than the traditional way of learning. In this method the learner is the chief determinant how and when the learning will take place as he or she is the one who has control of the learning process Priestley , (2019).The flexible learning gives the learner a variety of resources to study and do his or her own research. Furthermore the resource are easily accessible and at no any extra cost since it is free of charge. The learner or researcher has the freedom to choose what is most appropriate to use, at what time, duration among many options that exist. Therefore learning can take place even in odd hours like at night as per the wish of the learner.
The flexible learning for open education has a number of preferences that make it one of the best methods of gaining knowledge. First it offers editing preferences to the user through the presence of editing tools that help learners to personalize their learning experiences. This is facilitated by existence of strong user interface options that help to personalize content according to their need. As learners use this platform they tend to understand themselves better every time they use the platform. With time and exposure learners will be able to know which is the best method to use and most convenient so that they can maximize the platform. For instance one may prefer written resources over audio ones, hence the learner will identify self which is the best personalization he or she fits from the FLOE.
The flexible learning for open education method of learning enables learners to assess themselves in an easy way McGreal, (2016). This is possible because the learner is able to track his or her progress due to the personalized preference option available. Hence one can monitor his or her own progress and come up with better ways to learn in case there is no progress. In addition to that there is a preference management tool that manages the preferences of users hence personal preferences cannot be shared to other users who may access learners’ devices. Personal devices such as phones, PCs may fall into foreign hands and take advantage to use the platform for ill use. As a measure to prevent the said problems there is a global public inclusive structure that gives the user total control of who has access to personal preferences.
The FLOE has a number of instructional methods that the learner chooses and prefers i.e. ranging from audio, visual and audiovisual methods Simpson, (2018). The sonification framework enables developers to create audio presentations to be used by learners and researchers. Therefore one can listen or download audio files to get the content he or she needs. On the other hand it equipped with HTML5 video player which enables users to access content in video form. The videos help in demonstration, explanation and give clarification in case one hasn’t understood something. It also gives feedback to personal questions about personal preferences asked by users. Besides that it gives room to learners to give their own opinions or missing preferences in the platform.
The text to speech component is another important component to the flexible learning program in the teaching and learning process. This component enables users to transform content from text to audio if there is need or preference by the student. The component is part of the inclusive plan since it caters for visually impaired individuals who can here.
In conclusion FLOE program is one of the 21st century measures to enable accessibility of resources especially learning resources many individuals in the world today. Inclusivity is very important today as we are all equal and we need to get services and materials equally without any form of discrimination.
References
Priestley, R., Dohaney, J., Atkins, C., Salmon, R., & Robinson, K. (2019). Engaging new Antarctic learners and ambassadors through flexible learning, open education and immersive video lectures. Polar Record, 55(4), 274-288.
Simpson, O. (2018). Supporting students in online, open and distance learning. Routledge.
McGreal, R., Anderson, T., & Conrad, D. (2016). Open educational resources in Canada. Open Educational Resources: Policy, Costs and, 63.