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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 21^st 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.

Inclusive learning design is essential in allowing the student to understand better the concepts that he or she is being taught. It has been described as a situation whereby all the students placed in classes that are age-appropriate for them all to relay high-quality instructions, interventions, and supportive curriculum. At the end of the day, the process allows students to be informed on different skills such as time management, decision-making skills as well as ways to improve oneself (Centre, 2017). One of the main concepts of inclusive learning design is the use of a variety of instructional formats that will be flexible with diverse students. Some students are quick to learn using a certain teaching design such as experiments while others are quick to learn by the use of theories. It must incorporate different instructional methods to have optimal results.

The other main idea of inclusive learning design has to be accessible to academic curricular content. Students have the liberty to engage in group discussions which is an integral part of enabling the students to understand the content better. This way the students can learn of the instructions and implement them by starting the activities (McManis, 2020). This will not only keep the latter in track for the lessons but will also allow a better learning experience. The other main idea for inclusive learning has to be the emotional aspects of the learning process. Students must be emotionally stable for them to be able to learn. This entails engaging in activities that will not negatively affect students. Also, the social activities that can be done in discussion groups play an important aspect of inclusive learning design.

During my study and review of the inclusive learning design and my experience through it, I have realized that there are some aspects that I found hard to comprehend. They are the main issues that border the entire process of inclusive learning design (Centre, 2017). One is how to deal with the instance of death. This may either one of the students, tutors, friends or other people in close proximity. It is not outlined well how any of the instances should be handled. However, it is important to recognize the effect of death on the learning process.

One of the other aspects that I found hard to comprehend is how rigid the curriculum will help in improving the students becoming better. Some of the curricula in the design are extremely rigid by the fact that it does allow for any form of experimentation (Centre, 2017). It is extremely hard for students to decipher some of the concepts if it does not include other aspects such as experimentation.

One of the issues that were not discussed in the module is the issue of gender. It is essential to understand in the current world, gender orientation has been diversified which means it is not any longer the basic male and female genders. In the universal learning design, it is essential to be sensitive to such matters since its bound to affect some of the students who have diverse gender orientation (McManis, 2020). This is one of the issues that need to be included in the universal learning design.

References

Centre, I. D. (2017). FLOE Inclusive Learning Design Handbook. Retrieved from LINS: https://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/profile-1004

McManis, L. D. (2020, January 15). Inclusive Education: What It Means, Proven Strategies, and a Case Study. Retrieved from Share.com: https://blog.sharetolearn.com/classroom-resources/inclusive-education/

My most memorable online learning experience is within an online course and joining a social learning community called Reddit for Crochet knitters. My online course was in my first year called Effective Learning Strategies for Academic Success. The course provides information and guidance on the developing study habits and strategies that lead to success in college. I was able to identify my academic and personal goals, develop time management, reading, and note-taking strategies. Throughout the course, I was able to complete college-level research, write reflective and academic papers.

One concept that I found useful that the course was able to incorporate was humanizing online learning. Initially, before beginning the course, I was a little apprehensive about how I would be able to connect with the material as well as the other learners in my classroom that I would collaborate with. First time experiences are always nerve wracking and being in college for the first time is as scary stepping into an entirely new world. I knew that the Academic Success introductory course would provide me with the future skills and knowledge needed to succeed in my academic career. The mode of this online course made it flexible enough for me to complete assignments whenever I was readily available at my convenience.

One of the readings discusses humanizing online learning so that the learner does not feel the isolation and/or distance that may be felt from learning through an online course. Humanizing an online course is the process of “creating ways to connect learners with each other and the instructors across the distance of online learning” (Crosslin, n.d.). The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework focuses on increasing teaching, social, and cognitive presence to help learners. The Academic Success class was able to keep me engaged and participative with the weekly required discussions and assignments. The Instructor always sent weekly announcements as well as progress reports that were timely and informative including what improvements could be made in future assignments to succeed within the course.

Through participating in weekly required discussion boards, the social presence and cognitive presence were apparent. Social presence focuses on the learners in the course and the ability to actively and safely participate in the course as an individual. The cognitive presence was visible through the responses written on the week’s discussion board. Chapter Five’s reading includes blogging as an example to “encourage learners to take ownership of their learning, building in reflection activities, and creating avenues for learners to share and interact with those reflections” (Crosslin, n.d.).

Joining a social learning platform like Reddit allows users to join and discuss within groups and its members allowing users to post discussion threads on topics of their interest. Chapter seven of the reading includes understanding technology and the foundations of educational media. The chapter recognizes the use of media in education, the six building blocks of media are face to face teaching, text, (still) graphics, audio, video, and computing. Reddit allows its users to connect and interact via text, graphics, audio, and video. I joined a group of fellow Crochet knitters, a group with a total of 142,000 members. Posts are uploaded every day encouraging crochet ideas, tips, and tools. The group is informational because it includes members from varying skill levels of Beginner to Professional Expert. Photos, as well as videos, are uploaded and recommended. I remember when I first began crocheting, I was confused on how to start and end my crochet loop for a simple scarf. Through Reddit, I was able to connect with multiple members who were helpful enough to send tutorial videos and images providing step by step illustrations.

References

Crosslin, M. Chapter 5: Effective Practices. Retrieved 1 March 2020, from https://uta.pressbooks.pub/onlinelearning/chapter/chapter-5-effective-practices/

Crosslin, M. Chapter 8: Understanding Technology. Retrieved 1 March 2020, from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/part/chapter-8-understanding-technology/