This resource is based on a special event held 17 - 28 November 2003 which looked at the impact of investment in flexible learning. The discussion was facilitated by Laurie Field.

The Australian VET system has invested huge amounts of money and effort in recent years to push towards flexible delivery. Funds and effort have gone into new professional development opportunities for VET managers and practitioners, new resources, new web-sites and online communities such as the one hosting this forum…the list goes on.

But what impact, if any, have initiatives like these had on those the VET system serves - learners from all backgrounds and circumstances; industry; various community and other interest groups?

Answers from the group:

TAFE NSW
In the Business Administration teaching discipline learning occurs at nearly every campus in one form or another. A facility is available with a trainer present and the learners book into the times which suit them that week and work on their chosen subject F2F. This form of flexible learning is generally, though not exclusively, for computer software applications. 15 different learners can be doing up to 15 different subjects at the one time. The Business Administration teachers have been quick to develop and adopt e-learning and online course materials have been developed for Cert II in Business; Certs III, IV in Business Administration. The ANTA Administration toolbox has been put into the Janison platform and delivered online. A number of Institutes have been quite active in offering these courses online - Southern Sydney; South Western Sydney; Western Sydney; Western; Riverina; North Coast. The ‘Call Centre’ ANTA Toolbox was put into the Janison platform and delivered online from the Illawarra Institute. In the Business Administration area there is quite a lot of activity in the flexible learning arena whether it be e-learning or flexible programming and teaching styles.

South West Institute of TAFE in Victoria
I believe the most significant benefit has been achieved when professional development has been 'teacher centred' (surprise, surprise!). We have had the greatest impact where we have taken a purpose built (versus broad sweep) approach, with the training specifically structured to meet individual and/ or group needs (versus policy driven). Although more time consuming, the benefits support the investment in this flexible approach to professional development (what is good for our students, appears to be also good for our teachers!).

Torrens Valley TAFE in SA
Flexible learning here has two main directions - delivery of learning materials and use of online to provide opportunities for communication that enhance and extend the learning experience.

• Equal Opportunity course used in Certificate III in Applied Design that uses a discussion forum to give students contact with an expert in the field.
• Discussion forum used in Applied Design for students to communicate about group work.
• Vocational Preparation ESL students using a communication hub to learn written communication skills.
• Multimedia students have access to online learning materials including tutorials.
• Community Services students use the Cybertots toolbox online.
• Community Services also uses a communication hub for newsletters, communication with industry such as child care centres and student feedback.
• Dental, Design, Hairdressing all use online tests to test underpinning knowledge.
• Electronics has an online virtual work environment so that Certificate II students can have the experiences required by the training package of accessing real documentation such as OHS&W documentation and procedural forms.

Community Services and Health in SA
Child Care Online Learning Community. Aimed to “up skill” Child Care industry participants in computing skills and WebCT. Developed to enhance the communication and knowledge sharing of our existing face to face Community of Practice.

Medical/Nursing Terminology – previous face to face course developed for blended online delivery. Presenting it online through self paced, self directed study has offered a more interesting, learner centred approach to a traditionally dry topic!

Orientation to Learning Plus– an online course that has combined two competencies (Inf2/Admin2) within the Community Services Training Package.

Nursing Calculations - a CD ROM based course developed to assist in the learning and assessment of Nurses. This course has been designed to allow students to develop, consolidate and assess their underpinning mathematical knowledge and drug calculation skills and build up a useful resource of information in a non-threatening and interesting approach, utilising self directed / self paced learning principles.

TAFE NSW - Southern Sydney Institute

• Aquatics Operations - developed for pool attendants - online learning materials and assessments used, with workplace mentors
• Office Admin - flexi mode used with a combination of print based resources available from the library, booked computer room time, Net G courses (if appropriate) and piloting TAFEConnect course.
• Automotive use a flexible learning library, set up in a room attached to the workshop, so that third year apprentices can use print and video resources to complete electives, which otherwise would not be feasible.
• Assessment and Workplace Training - offered with web based resources and activities, chats and forums, together with face to face workshops, workplace training and assessment, mentoring in the workplace, print based resources and phone support
• Practice firms are used in Office Admin and Travel, with a blending of online course material and the TAFE simulated workplace
• Ceramics have developed an online Advanced Diploma course
• Electrical use a CD-Rom with materials for a module, and learners use project-based assessment for their learning
• Hospitality use chats for supporting distance students
• Hairdressing provide a space with computers for research support for learners, and are trialling the Toolbox
• Child Studies use the TAFEConnect online course to support learners who are picking up unusual modules
• Online quizzes are used for Music Business students
• Print based resources, and online courses are offered to Accounting students for 2 modules, and is working very successfully
• Mortgage Lending online is a commercial course, with over 300 enrolments to date
• Laboratory Operations use the Toolbox with face to face learning

English Language Services of Adelaide Institute of TAFE
Since the early 1990s we have provided word processing skills and from the mid 90s, moved into elearning. In addition to the 3 areas housing the computers, there has been an experiment to put just 5 computers into a normal classroom where teachers/learners have incorporated the computer/Internet into the normal flow of the lesson rather than a special once a week computer lab session. Yes, flexible delivery means lots more than elearning and so some responses to client need have been:

• Classes on Saturday in a local Vietnamese community.
• Classes where learners can select to come as partial enrolments i.e. only 2 or 3 of a 4 day a week class because of life/ settlement /health issues.
• Special preparatory classes for traumatised learners.
• Special classes around getting a drivers licence or other manual skills for African students. Tapping into bilingual/cultural needs to inform the teachers and get continuous feedback as the learning activity progresses.
• Employment/job assisting.
• Support for learning at home for those who cannot come to a centre or a "classroom" because of trauma, childbirth, shift or casual work constraints. Supply of distance learning materials, telephone contact weekly with teacher and for many, a trained volunteer home tutor who visits their home.
• Classes for people wanting to learn how to teach English being not only day, but evening and Sunday and also a blended mode of online followed up by f2f.

NESB debate
Coming from an area where 90% of learners are from an NESB background, elearning is not always the best tool we can use. Many of the elearning resources are culturally incompetent. Many NESB learners have experienced didactic teaching. Therefore, initially, a large proportion of our delivery may need to still be face to face. This is where the flexibility comes in. Know your audience. Usually you have to gently guide your students into a more student centred, rather than teacher centred, environment. Many of my students have low literacy and low computer literacy. To introduce elearning in this environment would be foolish - online learning (even blended learning) is a struggle at this stage.

My experience as an ESL teacher has been that NESB learners are very keen to be ICT literate, that as teachers/ providers we need to see this as a settlement/ access and equity issue as well. We had learners who ranged from illiterate in their own language, to fast paced and no English/ or substantial English and from many different educational backgrounds. Many were highly qualified professionals. Providers of ESL have always had to find flexible solutions to a whole range of learning styles and learning challenges. In terms of elearning, I initiated the introduction of multimedia computers until we had 50 for learners and finally all got Internet access. They are very highly used and teachers have had substantial professional development to incorporate ICT skills into their curriculum. There are some very good resources (CD Rom) for very basic learners right down to using the key board and phonics. What teachers have found is that the low literacy learners find it much easier and more enjoyable to click a button to get a repeated sound than it is to cue a cassette tape for a particular unit. 

My (limited) experience with using online modules for VET is the students love them! They allow students to progress at their own pace, enable creative timetabling, extension ideas and generally ensure that students are prepared and ready for the face-to-face components (as long as they have completed the background work before the trainer arrives)! The downside has been convincing the "stuck in the mud" conservative money men that it is possible to be cost efficient and flexible in approach!

Contributors:
Lyn Ambrose, Colleen Carmody, Rose Denton, Kate Fannon, Judy Fawcett, Laurie Field, Lyn Goodear, Jenni Harding, Norene Lahring, Alison McAllister, Kay Summers