DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Introduction:

Choices in education abound, and many parents are curious about exploring

all the options. However, the traditional model of classroom education is what's

familiar to most. Despite the criticism this model of school receives from some, the

classroom headed by one teacher within a school community has specific

advantages that explain the reasons for its widespread appeal. Most children benefit

from and thrive in this form of education.

Distance education is defined as an educational system in which the student

is formally enrolled in a school or college but receives instruction at some remote

site. Traditionally, correspondence has been the primary delivery medium. However,

the delivery systems most common today are based on video, audio, and computer

technologies. An interesting facet of these technologies is that they have been

adapted to transmit information in unexpected forms: visual images via telephone

lines, for example. A variety of such adaptations make live transmission of lectures,

demonstrations, and audiovisual resource materials possible, often in an interactive

context.

TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS

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A. CHALK TALK

What is s Chalk Talk?

A Chalk Talk is a silent activity that provides all students the opportunity to

reflect on what they know, and then share their thinking and wonderings while

connecting to the thoughts of their classmates. Despite the name, there is no chalk

involved, only paper and pencils or markers. This week I'm excited to share with

you how you can use this routine in your classroom to ensure all students have an

equal opportunity to express themselves while developing new understandings.  

Why should you use a Chalk Talk?

There are so many times that a Chalk Talk is my go-to method to jump-start

a lesson or find out what my students are thinking at any point in time. There's also

a personal reason I'm a fan of Chalk Talks. Being an incredibly shy student in

elementary school, my ideas were rarely heard. Those brave enough to raise their

hands or shout out, however, were heard by all. Chalk Talks provide a forum for

introverted or hesitant students to share their ideas with peers. Below are some of

the many other reasons I've found Chalk Talks to be useful.

Chalk Talks work very well to:

 Engage all learners

 Promote independent thinking

 Allow all students to have an equal say

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  Expose students to different ideas and perspectives

 Start conversations

 Generate ideas and prompt questions

 Help students to make connections to different ideas

 Encourage problem-solving

 Promote reflective thinking

Additionally, they help YOU to:

 Assess knowledge before a topic is introduced

 Check on understanding in the middle or at the end of a unit

How do yo do a Chalk Talk?

All you need is a prompt or question, a sheet of paper, and something for

students to write with. 

Before the Chalk Talk

Before we do a Chalk Talks I prepare the paper(s) for the activity. In the

middle of a large sheet of paper (usually roll or chart paper), I write or glue a

question or statement to which I want students to respond.

I will normally prepare several related questions for each Chalk Talk so the

entire class can respond simultaneously in smaller groups of four to five students.

With my students gathered on the carpet, I review the procedure, displaying

the sheet pictured below on the interactive whiteboard. Students are directed to

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share their thoughts and questions, then respond or connect to the thinking that

others have demonstrated on the paper. 

When it's time to begin, students head to their assigned center with a pencil.

I will often assign each group one color to write in as a way to track that team's

thinking through the process. Students then take their appropriately colored pencil

with them from station to station.

To Begin the Chalk Talk

I tell the students they have 30 seconds of silent think time before they begin

writing, then I set the timer on my phone.

When the 30 seconds is up, I announce that they now have 2 minutes to

write down their thoughts and any questions they may have. 

During the Chalk Talk

I circulate through the room while students are writing, watching how they

are interacting with the questions and the ideas other students have written down.  

Students rotate as a team through the different prompts. We begin each one

with 30 seconds of think time followed by the 2 minutes of writing time. 

Once students have visited each station we rotate through again in shorter

segments so students can see what new ideas have been generated and how other

students interacted to their initial response. Students also use this time to answer

questions that classmates may have posed.

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After the Chalk Talk

Afterwards, we gather once again to debrief our findings. This is a good time to:

 Discuss new ideas and surprises

 Provide clarifications

 Correct misconceptions

 Try to answer questions that were left unanswered

We always hang the posters up for students to see. They often act as living

documents that children visit to make additions to or even to cross out something

they wrote when they learn new information that contradicts their original thought.  

LECTURE

Lecture

The lecture strategy is the most widely used form of presentation. A lecture is an

oral presentation of information by the teacher. It is the method of relaying factual

information which includes principles, concepts, ideas about a given topic. The teacher

is very active, doing all the talking. Students on the other hand are very inactive, doing

all the listening.

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 The lecture is defined as the method of instruction in which the instructor has full

responsibility for presenting facts and principles orally It is an oral presentation of

information by the teacher.

Structuring presentation

Lecture  strategy is generally not suitable for the lower classes. But, this is the

method most liked by teachers. Thinking and observation which result from science

teaching do not get developed.

Effective presenters provide roadmaps for their speech. They design and present

lectures that are well-organized and easy to follow. There’s an “attention grabber” for

the opening, a preview of what is ahead and three or four chunks of information that

make-up the body of the presentation, and a closing that summarizes important

content, information and key messages.

 Structure your lectures to help students retain the most important material.

 Structure the lecture to suit your audience and the subject matter.

 Focus the message.

 Provide a logical progression for the material.

 Design your lectures in ten- or fifteen-minutes blocks.

 Budget time for questions.

 Begin and end with a summary statement.

 Experiment with different formats for your lecture notes.

 Write down vivid examples.

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  Use notes wisely.

 Prepare your lecture for the ear, not the eye.

 Rehearse your lecture.

Presentation Tips

 Minimize nervousness.

 Make sure all of the media equipment is working.

 Locate and check the lighting and temperature controls.

 Decide where the lecture notes will be placed (e.g., on a lectern, desk,

table) when they are not being held.

 Have a glass of water available during the lecture.

 Look over your lecture notes one last time.

 Visit the classroom before the first meeting

 Technology-Enhanced Classrooms. 

 Delivering a Lecture

 The teaching lecture is probably best delivered in an extemporaneous manner.

 Learn how not to read your lectures.

 Avoid a “cold start.”

 Begin by writing out the main theme and why students should learn about it.

 During class, think about and watch your audience-your students.

 Vary your delivery to keep students’ attention.

 Make the organization of your lecture explicit.

 Convey your own enthusiasm for the material.

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 Be conversational.

 Use verbal support.

 Use Statistics and Testimonies.

 Story Telling.

 Maintain eye contact with the class.

 Use Suitable Language.

 Use concrete, simple, colorful language.

 Use the make me feel important (MMFI)

 Vary the pace at which you speak.

 Loudness

 Intonation

 Pause

 Don’t plan to lecture for a full period.

 Budget your own time carefully.

 Use  Body Gestures

 Adopt a natural speaking stance

 Use facial expressions to convey emotions.

 Use Movement to emphasize an important point or to lead into a new topic

 Use movements to hold Students’ attention.

 Use Graphics

 Use  PowerPoint and  Slide ware Presentation

 Develop Listening Skills

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Closing the Lecture

 Tell them what you told them.

 Ask the students for questions.

 Draw some conclusion for the class.

 Finish forcefully.

 Strengths of Lecture strategy

Lectures are a straightforward way to impart knowledge to students quickly.

Instructors also have a greater control over what is being taught in the classroom

because they are the sole source of information. Students who are auditory learners

find that lectures appeal to their learning.  A lecture is often easier to create than other

methods of instruct Lecture is a method familiar to most teachers because it was

typically the way they were taught. Because most college courses are lecture-based,

students gain experience in this predominant instructional delivery method.

EXPERIMENTAL/DISCOVERY

What is Discovery Learning

Discovery Learning was introduced by Jerome Bruner, and is a method of

Inquiry-Based Instruction. This popular theory encourages learners to build on past

experiences and knowledge, use their intuition, imagination and creativity, and search

for new information to discover facts, correlations and new truths. Learning does not

equal absorbing what was said or read, but actively seeking for answers and solutions.

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The 5 Principles of Discovery Learning Model

The Discovery Learning Model integrates the following 5 principles:

 Principle 1: Problem Solving.

Instructors should guide and motivate learners to seek for solutions by

combining existing and newly acquired information and simplifying knowledge.

This way, learners are the driving force behind learning, take an active role and

establish broader applications for skills through activities that encourage risks,

problem-solving and probing.

 Principle 2: Learner Management.

Instructors should allow participants to work either alone or with others,

and learn at their own pace. This flexibility makes learning the exact opposite of a

static sequencing of lessons and activities, relieves learners from unnecessary

stress, and makes them feel they own learning.

 Principle 3: Integrating and Connecting.

Instructors should teach learners how to combine prior knowledge with

new, and encourage them to connect to the real world. Familiar scenarios

become the basis of new information, encouraging learners to extend what they

know and invent something new.

 Principle 4: Information Analysis and Interpretation.

Discovery learning is process-oriented and not content-oriented, and is

based on the assumption that learning is not a mere set of facts. Learners in fact

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 learn to analyze and interpret the acquired information, rather than memorize the

correct answer.

 Principle 5: Failure and Feedback.

Learning doesn’t only occur when we find the right answers. It also occurs

through failure. Discovery learning does not focus on finding the right end result,

but the new things we discover in the process. And it’s the instructor’s

responsibility to provide feedback, since without it learning is incomplete.

The Discovery Learning Model Techniques

The discovery learning educational sessions should be well-designed, highly

experiential and interactive. Instructors should use stories, games, visual aids and other

attention-grabbing techniques that will build curiosity and interest, and lead learners in

new ways of thinking, acting and reflecting.

The techniques utilized in Discovery Learning can vary, but the goal is always the

same, and that is the learners to reach the end result on their own. By exploring and

manipulating situations, struggling with questions and controversies, or by performing

experiments, learners are more likely to remember concepts and newly acquired

knowledge.

The Discovery Learning Model Key Advantages And Drawbacks

Discovery learning has many key advantages, such as:

 It encourages motivation, active involvement, and creativity

 It can be adjusted to the learner’s pace

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  It promotes autonomy and independence

 It ensures higher levels of retention

However, as all models, it has also few drawbacks that can be summarized as follows:

 It needs a solid framework, because the endless wandering and seeking for

answers might be confusing.

 It shouldn’t be used as a main instruction method, because it has limitations in

practice and might produce inadequate education.

 Instructors need to be well prepared and anticipate the questions they may

receive, and be able to provide the right answers or guidelines.

 At a certain level, it rejects the idea that there are significant skills and knowledge

that all learners should need to learn.

MONTESSORI

What is Montessori Education?

Montessori is a method of education that is based on self-directed activity,

hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make

creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher

offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. Children work in groups and

individually to discover and explore knowledge of the world and to develop their

maximum potential.

Montessori classrooms are beautifully crafted environments designed to meet the

needs of children in a specific age range. Dr. Maria Montessori discovered that

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experiential learning in this type of classroom led to a deeper understanding of

language, mathematics, science, music, social interactions and much more. Most

Montessori classrooms are secular in nature, although the Montessori educational

method can be integrated successfully into a faith-based program.

Every material in a Montessori classroom supports an aspect of child

development, creating a match between the child’s natural interests and the available

activities. Children can learn through their own experience and at their own pace. They

can respond at any moment to the natural curiosities that exist in all humans and build

a solid foundation for life-long learning.

The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) was established by Maria

Montessori in 1929 to protect the integrity of her work and to support high standards

for both teacher training and schools. Today, AMI continues to uphold Maria

Montessori’s vision while collaborating with contemporary research in neuroscience and

child development. Montessori Northwest is proud to be an official teacher training

center of AMI, training teachers to work with children from birth to age twelve. Why

become a Montessori teacher? Why choose AMI?

Montessori environments support the learning of children from birth to middle

school:

INFANT/TODDLER: For children aged birth to three years

 provide a safe, engaging and nurturing environment for the child

 promote trust in themselves and their world

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  develop confidence in their emerging abilities

 develop gross motor coordination, fine motor skills, and language skills

 offer opportunities to gain independence in daily tasks

PRIMARY (ALSO CALLED THE CASA OR CHILDREN’S HOUSE): For children aged

three to six years

 foster the growth of functional independence, task persistence and self-

regulation

 promote social development through respectful, clear communication and safe,

natural consequences

 contain a large variety of materials for the refinement of sensory perception and

the development of literacy and mathematical understanding

 offer opportunities for imaginative exploration leading to confident, creative self-

expression

ELEMENTARY: For children aged six to twelve years (Lower Elementary, ages six to

nine; Upper Elementary, ages nine to twelve)

 offer opportunities for collaborative intellectual exploration in which the child’s

interests are supported and guided

 support the development of self-confidence, imagination, intellectual

independence and self-efficacy

 foster an understanding of the child’s role in their community, in their culture

and in the natural world

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ADOLESCENCE (ALSO CALLED ERDKINDER OR FARM SCHOOLS): For

adolescents aged twelve to fifteen years

 ideally a working farm in which adolescents engage in all aspects of farm

administration and economic interdependence, but also include non-farm

environments in urban settings

 assist the young adult in the understanding of oneself in wider and wider frames

of reference

 provide a context for practical application of academics

 emphasize the development of self-expression, true self-reliance, and agility in

interpersonal relationships.

 Dr. Montessori died before the educational approach to this level was completed.

Consequently, there is currently no AMI teacher training program for this level.

However, many Montessori adolescent learning environments exist, with

Montessori professionals working towards standards for this level.

Above all, Montessori classrooms at all levels nurture each child’s individual

strengths and interests. Montessori education encourages children to explore their

world, and to understand and respect the life forms, systems and forces of which it

consists.

NON-GRADE SCHOOL

Briefly, nongradedness is defined in terms of respect for, and optimism about,

individual differences. It calls for the provision of a pleasurable, challenging, and

rewarding learning atmosphere where there are maximum opportunities for productive

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interaction between the learners. Within a non-graded setting the curriculum is both

integrated and flexible. Similarly the timetable for the academic progress of each unique

child is flexible. The learning of facts, although important, is recognized as subordinate

to the mastery of concepts and methods of inquiry. The assessment of students is

holistic and individualized, and evaluation is continuous, comprehensive, and diagnostic.

The entire program within the non-graded setting, especially if there is a team of

teachers involved, is more under the control of the teacher(s) than is the case in grade-

structured situations. Research and experience generally support the conclusion that

pupils in non-graded settings work harder, albeit more comfortably, and achieve more

and better results than graded students do. There is also rather strong research

evidence that children in non-graded settings enjoy better physical and emotional

health.

Development of Graded Education

Graded education was introduced and developed during the years 1848 to 1870,

beginning with the Quincy Grammar School in Boston. The Quincy school came into

being largely to provide a manageable school organization at a time when schooling in

expanding cities became a much larger enterprise than had existed in the familiar one-

room school serving pupils of multiple ages. It also grew out of assumptions that

undergirded and made possible efforts toward universal education. Because little was

known or believed in those years about stages of human development and the

unevenness of readiness within age groups, the assumption was made that students

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may logically be grouped together by age, or actually within a twelve-month span, and

taught a specific and common body of skills and subject matter.

Well into the twentieth century, the patterns of fairly rigid gradedness, with

attendant nonpromotion/promotion practices, launched at the Quincy school became, in

effect, universal. All the same, at that point in social history the system was in fact a

significant and creative advance, appropriate to the assumptions and perceptions

involved. The teachers were usually quite uneducated and insufficiently trained, and

therefore there evolved the system of requiring them to master only a one-year

segment of the educational program. In this way, a form of primitive specialization

occurred. There was also a pattern of very strict supervision by the employers.

Search for Other Models

Before long, the disadvantages of the graded system's rigidity had become

apparent, and by the end of the nineteenth century there were various efforts to create

different schooling models and achieve greater flexibility. These efforts continued well

into the twentieth century, handicapped to some extent by the publishing industry's

success in producing agegraded textbook series that made it easier for teachers to

manage their work. In the same period, socalled normal schools and later, colleges,

produced teachers whose preparation assumed that each would work alone in a self-

contained classroom and, except for those in smaller multigraded schools, with

materials deemed suitable for one age-group of children.

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 Along with the search for more appropriate, flexible, and child-oriented

arrangements to replace the entrenched gradedness, several influential and helpful

developments occurred. Progressive education was very likely the most dramatic

example. Also influential were some well-known examples of nongradedness in Europe,

which in the 1920s caused many venturesome American teachers, especially from cities

in Wisconsin and New York, to visit pilot programs that were located in Jena, Germany,

and in several cities in Holland. Some of these programs continue to flourish in the early

twenty-first century.

Over the years the label "nongraded" proved to be slightly confusing and

insufficiently informative, and scholars and administrators found that labels such as

"continuous progress" were more descriptive. Beginning with milestone research and

related articles by Walter Rehwoldt and Warren W. Hamilton in 1956 and 1957, the

discussion of nongradedness increasingly involved reference to interage or intergrade

grouping, for which the term multiage was soon frequently substituted. Also in the

1950s, the nation's first experience with formally organized team teaching, and with a

related notion, the use of teacher aides/helpers, redefined the organizational framework

within which, it was increasingly argued with the support of research evidence, a

demonstrably preferable setting could be provided not only for the pupils but also for

the collaborating adults who worked with them.

Some elementary schools chose to organize classes in a pattern similar to

departmentalization, with each teacher responsible for one content area, such as math

or social studies; but it was not until 1957 when there was a sudden burst of interest,

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nurtured by seventeen universities being funded by Ford Foundation grants to support

teacher-teaming and related arrangements, that the virtues of self-containment came

to be seriously questioned. Some of the funded model projects, which soon sparked

nationwide interest, called for aggregating multiage pupil groups (e.g., children six to

seven and eight years of age) to be taught by teams of four to eight collaborating

teachers. This development led to a kind of architectural revolution, because standard-

size classrooms could no longer accommodate various-sized pupil aggregations. It is of

interest to note that, as of the beginning of the twenty-first century, it seems probable

that a great many elementary schools continue to provide at least some space flexibility

to accommodate teaming arrangements.

Research Findings

The 1993 book Nongradedness: Helping It to Happen presents what is probably

the most comprehensive analysis/summary of research about nongradedness. It

provides a conservative yet positive story about the "substantial and generally favorable

body of research on nongradedness." Not surprisingly, several of the studies show that

benefits increase over time: that is, the longer that pupils are in such programs, the

greater the improvement in achievement scores. Another conclusion of interest is that

boys, African Americans, underachievers, and lower-socioeconomic pupils perform

better and feel more positive toward themselves and their schools in a nongraded

environment. Mental health and school attitudes also benefit.

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 In summary, then, both logical analysis and examination of the sparse but

convincing research now available support the organizational arrangement that calls for

(1) multiage pupil grouping to permit numerous learning opportunities, (2) teacher

teaming to enable both specialization of functions and continuous professional

partnerships and exchanges, (3) flexible architecture to permit a great variety of

instructional groupings, and (4) the absence of grade-related nomenclature and the

psychological pressure it presents. It is to be noted and appreciated that the classroom

procedures and the flexible structure of a multiple-year curriculum enhance the

atmosphere and, as research indicates, stimulate both good learning and what can

accurately be described as the mental health of all participants.

PROCESS APPROACH

Why the Process Approach to Learning Matters So Much?

School science programs are traditionally designed to give children lots of

information, have them memorize that information, and then ask them to recall the

information on written tests. That approach may be a significant reason for students’

less-than-enthusiastic response to science, because that type of instruction does not

allow for the active involvement of students in their own learning, nor does it allow

children opportunities to think creatively about what they are learning.

Yet, teachers and parents intuitively know that when students, no matter what

their abilities or interests, are provided with opportunities to manipulate information in

productive ways, learning becomes much more meaningful. This is a process approach

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to learning – an approach which provides students with an abundance of projects,

activities, and instructional designs that allow them to make decisions and solve

problems. Through this approach student get a sense that learning is much more than

the commission of facts to memory. Rather, it is what children do with that knowledge

that determines its impact on their attitudes and aptitudes.

A process approach to science is one in which children do something with the

concepts and generalizations they learn. It implies that students can manipulate,

decide, solve, predict, and structure the knowledge of science in ways that are

meaningful to them. When teachers and parents provide opportunities for students to

actively process information – particularly information related to nature (or old rotting

logs) – then learning becomes more child-centered. This results in attitudes,

perceptions, and beliefs that the natural world can be actively explored and personally

investigated – and that the environment, both near and far, is full of incredible learning

possibilities…along with a whole lot of fun!

Advantages of Process Approach

The process-based approach provides the seven pieces missing from technique-based

attempts to learn and teach trail development:

Language

The eleven concepts of the Foundation Level, plus words such as "shaping" as a

more accurate term for natural surface trail design, construction, and maintenance,

create easy-to-use nouns and verbs to both shape our thoughts and describe complex

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aspects of trails. This language facilitates learning, teaching, communication, and

learning to treat trails as an integral part of a rich whole. It also establishes a new set

of "primitives" that can be used to think about and communicate even more complex

ideas while shaping our thoughts in the process.

Forces, relationships, causes and effects, and human factors

These are thoroughly described, mostly in the Foundation and Upper Levels, and

integrated as the basis or an aspect of nearly all decisions. By basing everything on

forces and relationships instead of particular techniques, we consciously work as much

or more with the "why" of situations than with the "how" or "what." By concentrating

on relationships, you'll learn to relate dozens of aspects of trails that previously seemed

separate (or that weren't even apparent to you).

Means of predicting change over time

By looking at trails as instances of basic human and natural forces and

relationships, predicting change over time is explicitly built into the Foundation Level

(and hence incorporated into higher levels, too). In fact, predicting change over time is

a major aspect of the Foundation and Middle Levels as well as one of the keys to

sustainability.

A common base that works with EVERY type of trail use and location

Again, by explicitly looking at trails as instances of the same human and natural

forces and relationships, it's easy to understand and work with any type of trail

anywhere. Different trail uses merely exert different amounts of the same forces and

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have different degrees of the same basic relationships. And by working with locations

and sites in terms of their base factors—soils, slopes, climate, runoff, drainage

characteristics, interactions with trail use, sustainability of drainage, and more—any site

can be understood. The Foundation Level provides most of the common base. In

addition, it's easy to work with new materials, trail uses, and shaping techniques since

you work with these in terms of their base forces and relationships.

A process that generates sustainability, enjoyment, and stewardship at the

same time

By design, all three levels examine human and physical forces and their

interactions, predict changes over time, and account for myriad variables. Also by

design, these are performed with three overarching goals: (1) to be as sustainable as

feasible (low impact, low maintenance), (2) to be as enjoyable as feasible, and (3) to

engender as much appreciation, respect, and sense of stewardship as possible by

skillfully combining human and physical aspects in satisfying ways. "Satisfying" is

defined largely by human factors in the Foundation Level, especially in the concept of

harmony.

A process that encompasses all of trail design, construction, maintenance,

and management

By combining all of these in a clear, concise, three-level system, it's much easier

to see their connections and consider all of them with any given decision. The process

unites the known and previously unvoiced pieces of trail design, construction,

maintenance, and management into a single process. It provides a concise, structured

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way to think and make decisions using a system of thought very similar to that used by

skilled trail designers.

Effective, workable, easy-to-perform trail evaluation

The Foundation Level provides an easy yet comprehensive evaluation of how

well a trail accommodates basic forces and relationships. The eleven concepts of the

Foundation Level all provide a concept of how each can be maximized, so evaluation

simply looks at how much the potential of each concept is realized. This is done without

needing quantitative measurements and can take many variables into account, making

the evaluation process quick and flexible enough to be useful. The Upper Level provides

a more comprehensive evaluation that evaluates a trail on all three levels.

More Advantages

Easy to learn.

Because the process builds on what you already know, people find it easy to

learn. Even the Foundation Level, which puts a new foundation under everything you

know about natural surface trails, is comprised of familiar, even everyday, concepts.

In workshops, I present the Foundation Level and part of the Middle Level to a room

full of people in one classroom day—and they stay eager and awake because it relates

so well to their real problems and what they already know.

Helpful to novices and professionals alike.

Whether you're a novice or a seasoned professional, you'll find fresh insights in

the structure, clarity, relationships, feeling, and language of trails once you understand

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them via this generative process. Even if you have experience, the Foundation Level

puts a profound new foundation under everything you already know. In fact, because

the process is so comprehensive and puts so much emphasis on skillful combination of

human and physical aspects, it's rewarding to practice.

Attractive to volunteers.

Because the process is so close to nature and human feelings as it weaves

sustainability, enjoyability, and stewardship at the same time, volunteers love it. And

because the process is direct, simple, and describes the real world so well, they can

learn it easily and quickly. Volunteers using this system will make quantum leaps in

their ability, effectiveness, and usefulness. Those volunteers who really "get into it" will

be dynamos as they spread the word, attract and energize volunteers with their energy,

and potentially begin to teach staff about the process.

Builds consensus.

People using the system, including a roomful of strangers, can come to

remarkable consensus in a short time because the process tends to lead everyone in

the same direction. This is possible because part of the process is built on feelings,

which we tend to feel in common, rather than opinions that tend to be more arbitrary

and typically range all over the board. In fact, using this process is probably the best

way to reach consensus in any review/comment situation.

Shapes our thoughts in holistic ways.

As mentioned previously, the process uses language and constant emphasis on

learning basic physical and human forces and relationships to shape our thoughts in

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naturalistic ways. The idea of building trails like small roads becomes unthinkable. You'll

carefully consider you previously took for granted or didn't even think to consider. You'll

see and use the rich web of relationships that determine how we feel about trails, how

trails make us feel, what works and what doesn't. And you'll be inspired to do your best

for the trail, for the site, and for the visitors.

NON-TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS

A. OPEN LEARNING

There’s a mounting pressure on today’s colleges and universities to demonstrate

their worth. As tuition costs continue to climb, affordability is becoming a bigger barrier

to access in higher education.

In response, dozens of institutions are rethinking how they deliver education by

democratizing access to textbooks, lesson plans, and even courses themselves. It’s a

movement called open learning that enables students to have greater control over

what they learn, where, and when.

What Is Open Learning?

The goal of open learning is to broaden access to education, which can be

done in a variety of ways. Dr. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, lecturer for Northeastern’s

Master of Education in Higher Education Administration program and associate director

at the Center for Advanced Teaching and Learning Through Research, breaks open

learning down into three dimensions:

 Open courses

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  Open educational resources

 Open pedagogies

“There’s this larger value system at play in open learning, including a concern for

access, accountability, and affordability,” Matthews-DeNatale says. “If you look at

higher education, those are the big issues that everyone is trying to figure out.”

Here is a closer look at how those issues are being addressed through the three

dimensions of open learning.

Open Courses

Open courses are what most people typically think about when they hear “open

learning”—particularly massive open online courses (MOOCs). As opposed to traditional

online models, MOOCs are free and available to anyone with an internet connection. Six

years ago, when MOOCs were at their height, enrollments could exceed 230,000,

although the typical class size averaged 25,000 students. Only 15 percent typically

completed their courses, however, causing many to question MOOCs’ effectiveness.

“A number of early providers made basic mistakes in relation to online learning,

such as focusing solely on content instead of creating opportunities for students to

interact with each other or their teacher,” Matthews-DeNatale says. “But MOOCs did put

on everyone’s radar the value of learning experiences that are open in a different kind

of way.”

Since then, multiple colleges and universities have introduced derivatives of

MOOCs, such as “MicroMasters”—online graduate-level courses centered around a

particular field of study that can be applied toward a full master’s degree program—

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and Teach-Outs, which are short learning experiences focused on a specific current

issue. Through these different offerings, institutions can engage with a broader base of

students in ways that are more affordable and attainable for the learner.

Says Matthews-DeNatale:

One thing people say about MOOCs is, “People didn’t finish,” but the

question is, “Are we using a traditional educational lens to judge that

learning experience?” If we have on-ramps where people can dabble with

something and say, “Now that I’ve done this, I want a more formal

relationship with that domain,” that’s great. Perhaps it’s also OK for

students to stop after they have gotten to the level of learning that meets

their present interests and needs, without pursuing credit or a degree.

Open Educational Resources

Open educational resources (OER) also enable students to tap into and explore a

field of study in a more approachable, cost-effective way.

Matthews-DeNatale defines OERs as “high quality online resources that are made

available by experts in the field at no cost.” Rather than ask students to spend an

average $1,285 on textbooks per year, professors are utilizing content that’s available

either under open licensing or in the public domain. By not committing to a singular

textbook, faculty have more flexibility to customize their course resources. In turn,

learners receive a deeper, more personalized education that’s been shown to improve

access and student outcomes.

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 To ensure OERs are of high quality, guides such as the CARE

Framework and TEMOA Rubric have been created to help educators benchmark and

evaluate the quality of open resources.

Some colleges and universities are now looking at how they can better support

faculty in the use of OERs. Matthews-DeNatale highlights The State University of New

York’s (SUNY) OER Services, which provides access to openly licensed textbooks and

courses developed by SUNY faculty, as well as OpenStax, a nonprofit started by Rice

University to provide educators with access to open resources.

Open Pedagogies

Educators can take the concept of openness one step further by pursuing open

pedagogy, which Matthews-DeNatale describes as “engaging students in real work that

they can share beyond the boundaries of the classroom.”

David Wiley, a thought leader in open learning, suggests faculty transition from

“disposable assignments,” which students throw away upon receiving a grade, to

“renewable assignments,” which challenge students to create materials that can be

shared with the public.

In Matthews-DeNatale’s class, students are tasked with creating learning

experiences that would be beneficial in their own environment. One professional who

worked in financial aid, for example, created a two-week online experience to help

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undergraduates and their peer mentors learn how to make informed decisions on

complex student loan repayment options.

“She turned around and used the mini-course immediately in her workplace,”

Matthews-DeNatale says, “but it was also an online resource that would be helpful for

anyone throughout the nation. The idea is: How can we create content that would also

be useful for other people that we can give away?”

The Benefits of Open Learning

Open learning is helping democratize education, by making it more affordable,

accessible, and attainable to students, no matter their location or income level. It also

helps students explore new industries before investing in an often costly, more formal

education.

“I think we are just beginning to tap into the opportunities made possible

through the open approach,” Matthews-DeNatale says. “Open learning could be a key

component to solving some of the hardest problems in education.”

In an open education system, every professional can pursue lifelong learning.

DISTANCE LEARNING

Distance learning has been around for a long time and has evolved in a

significant number of ways. Open learning basically combines online education with

flexible to no admission requirements.

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Which are the 4 ways open learning helps students?

1. Fewer admission requirements

2. You can make your own schedule

3. Little need to travel

4. You choose the courses

Find online study programmes

In online education you, the student, play the leading role, as institutions are

making all the efforts to provide you with a comfortable and complete study experience.

With open and distance education, you’ll be guided and instructed about how you can

improve your learning style, rather than simply read and memorize a text.

If you find this fitting to your way of learning, don’t wait any longer and find an

open or distance course that meets your study goals or personal interests.

Online learning

A form of distance education where the primary delivery mechanism is via the

internet. Online courses or programs could be delivered synchronously or

asynchronously. All instruction is conducted at a distance, although ‘online learning’ is

sometimes used for blended learning where most of the study time is spent online but

not all.

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Blended learning

These are courses where both online and face-to-face teaching are combined.

This can take various forms:

 having a full classroom load combined with some work done online either inside

or outside of class time

 dropping one or more classroom sessions per week, to allow more time for

studying online (which I personally prefer to call ‘hybrid’ courses),

 running full class sessions for several weeks, with the rest of the semester being

done fully online (or vice versa)

 face-to-face summer semesters on campus, with online teaching preceding

and/or following 

 lab or practical work on campus at weekends or evenings, with the rest being

done online.

Flipped classroom

This is one form of blended learning where a lecture is pre-recorded, and studied

online by students out of class, then the classroom time is used for discussion or

activities related to the recorded lecture.

e-Learning

e-Learning as a term has more or less been replaced in recent years by ‘online

learning’ in North American higher education, but is still used strongly in the corporate

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training sector and is a useful term for embracing all forms of digital learning, including

fully online, blended, hybrid and digital classroom aids.

Open learning

Open learning is primarily a goal, or an educational policy. An essential

characteristic of open learning is the removal of barriers to learning. This means no

prior qualifications to study, and for students with disabilities, a determined effort to

provide education in a suitable form that overcomes the disability (for example, audio

tapes for students who are visually impaired). Ideally, no-one should be denied access

to an open learning program. Thus open learning must be scalable as well as flexible.

Open-ness has particular implications for the use of technology. If no-one is to be

denied access, then technologies that are available to everyone need to be used.

Open educational resources (OER)

In recent years, the move to open content has widened the meaning of open

learning. The open content movement would like to see all digital learning materials

available free of charge to anyone with access to the Internet.

Open educational resources are somewhat different from open learning, in that

OER are primarily content, while open learning includes both content and educational

services, such as specially designed online materials, in-built learner support and

assessment, and particularly policies for inclusion, such as the removal of barriers due

to cost or lack of prior qualifications.

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 Open educational resources cover a wide range of formats, including open

textbooks, video recorded lectures, YouTube clips, web-based textual materials

designed for independent study, animations and simulations, diagrams and graphics,

some MOOCs, or even assessment materials such as tests with automated answers.

OER can also include Powerpoint slides or lecture notes. In order to be open

educational resources, though, they must be freely available for at least educational

use.

Distance education

Distance education on the other hand is less a philosophy and more a method of

education. Students can study in their own time, at the place of their choice (home,

work or learning centre), and without face-to-face contact with a teacher. Technology is

a critical element of distance education.

Flexible learning

Flexible learning is the provision of learning in a flexible manner, built around the

geographical, social and time constraints of individual learners, rather than those of an

educational institution. Flexible learning may include distance education, but it also may

include delivering face-to-face training in the workplace or opening the campus longer

hours or organizing weekend or summer schools. Like distance education, it is more of

a method than a philosophy, although like distance education, it is often associated with

increased access and hence more openness.

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Differences and similarities

Open, distance, flexible and online learning are rarely found in their ‘purest’

forms. No teaching system is completely open (minimum levels of literacy are required,

for instance), and few students ever study in complete isolation. Even fully online

courses may encourage students to meet face-to-face for short periods, with or without

an instructor, and most fully online courses supplement the online study with print

readings such as text books. Thus there are degrees of open-ness, ‘distance’,

‘flexibility’, and ‘virtuality.’.

Although open and flexible learning and distance education and online learning

mean different things, the one thing they all have in common is an attempt to provide

alternative means of high quality education or training for those who either cannot take

conventional, campus-based programs, or choose not to.

References:

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/chalk-talks-engage-all-

students/

http://www.vkmaheshwari.com/WP/?p=2435

https://elearningindustry.com/discovery-learning-model

https://montessori-nw.org/what-is-montessori-education

https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2297/Nongraded-Schools.html

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https://dawnpub.com/why-the-process-approach-to-learning-matters-so-

much/#:~:targetText=This%20is%20a%20process%20approach,make%20decisions

%20and%20solve%20problems.&targetText=A%20process%20approach%20to

%20science,concepts%20and%20generalizations%20they%20learn.

https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/what-is-open-learning/

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