Cheers to our L&T comm-YOU-nity! 2021 in review

Welcome to our last post for 2021! This year our main focus at L&T Services was supporting UPA college academic staff through the Flexible Learning journey. We had over 350 teachers undertaking the Flexible Learning Design program to design and prepare their units following a Flexible Learning Design model. By doing so we are ensuring students have access to program content, resources, and tasks whether they are studying on campus or online. The re-design of so many units has helped to future-proof the division against disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Learning & Teaching Services would like to acknowledge the hard work done throughout 2020-2021 by everyone involved in the Flexible Learning project and we congratulate all teachers on their progress and achievements. We are also very proud of the division for being highly commended at the 2021 PIEoneer Awards in the Digital Innovation of the Year – Learning category. A special thanks goes to staff who have shared their best practice with the L&T community on the L&T website, including a great contribution from a student. Let’s review this year’s articles!


Designing an engaging Flexible Learning experience

Dr Candice Thomas (Unit Coordinator, Deakin College) completed the Flexible Learning Design Program (FLDP), which involved redeveloping her unit ‘Human Growth, Development and Aging for Exercise Scientists’ for implementation in Trimester 1, 2021. Candice shares her Flexible Learning design approach for developing an interactive, engaging and collaborative learning experience for students. Read the full article here.


Re-learning to learn post-COVID

Rei Fortes, a third-year Bachelor of Media and Communications (Journalism) student at La Trobe University (previously a La Trobe College Australia/Navitas student), approached students and lecturers on campus as he explored how tertiary students are re-adjusting to new physical learning environments. Read the full article here.


Flexible Learning: Equivalent learning opportunities for all students

Leonie Treharne, Unit Coordinator and Lecturer at Edith Cowan College (ECC), has completed the Navitas Flexible Learning Design program. Leonie shares her approach to unit design, concurrent teaching and the student experience in her unit: Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism, with particular focus on ensuring equivalent learning opportunities are available for all students across all learning modes. Read the full article here.


Flexible Learning: Exploring opportunities for students and teachers

Dr Noni Frankenberg and Dr Nano Nagle (Lecturers, La Trobe College Australia) redesigned Ecology, Evolution & Biodiversity (Dip. of BioScience unit), as part of the Flexible Learning Design program. Their collaborative approach and open mind towards updating content and educational technologies, resulted in an interactive, easy-to-navigate module for students in all learning modes. Read the full article here.


Promoting a culture of academic integrity at Griffith College

Patricia Jones, Program Convenor (Diploma of Health Care at Griffith College) was involved in the development and implementation of the restructured Academic Skills course. This article summarises details of this course and its impact from the case study “Promoting a culture of academic integrity at Griffith College with academic skills training” which was published by Oxford University Press earlier this year. Read the full article here.


Flexible Learning: Creating engaging and inclusive online learning environments

Dr Simona O’Brien, Unit Coordinator and lecturer for Engineering and Health Sciences units at Edith Cowan College and Curtin College in Perth, Western Australia, redesigned her Chemistry and Mathematics units as part of the Flexible Learning Design (FLD) program in 2021. Simona ensured that her students always had the needed information at their fingertips and had the appropriate channels available to stay in touch with them. She also made the necessary adjustments to redesign an accessible unit for all students. Read the full article here.


The complete library of articles shared on the Learning and Teaching at Navitas website is available here and tips on how you can contribute to the L&T website is available here.

We hope that the L&T website continues to be a source of inspiration and that it provides an opportunity for reflection and development. If you have questions or suggestions or wish to contribute an article, contact Learning & Teaching Services here. We look forward to working with you in 2022, and from the Learning and Teaching Services team we wish you all the very best this holiday season!

 

Feature image: Photo by freestock on Unsplash