Flexibility

My first blog will be about flexibility, focussed on how a teacher can be flexible during a course. Therefore I will describe five different types of flexibility that can be used in the classroom. By being more flexible as a teacher, usually leads to more motivated learners because they feel ownership over their own learning and the course. But being flexible requires a lot of the teacher.
Furthermore I found a website that supported being flexible. On website you can design your own e-learning coure. E-learning is a way of flexible learning, because you can decide yourself when and where (as long as there is a computer and Internet) you learn. With this site, a teacher could redesign his lessons so that the content can be learned on-line.
the site is: http://designing.flexiblelearning.net.au/ 

five types of flexibility:
1. Flexible in topics of the content
A teacher can be flexible in the content of a course, by that I mean that the learners can decide what they want to learn. There are different levels of flexibility. For example, learners can decide the subject of a course, if they want to learn about something, a course will be designed. A more controlled level of flexibility is that learners can decide the subgoals of a course. In this case the subject and main goal is already chosen by the teacher. If there is no flexibility on this aspect, the content of the course is set by the teacher and the learners can't make any decisions about the content of the course.
2. Flexible in time schedule

If the teacher want to be flexible in the time schedule, he can decide with the learners when the lectures should take place. For example, if many learners only want lectures in the early morning or only on one day a week they can look at the possibilities. If the schedule only concerns one learner, this is not to difficult. If this is with a whole class, the teacher has to negotiate with the learners in order to come to an agreement. If the teacher is not flexible on this aspect, it means that there is a set schedule that can't be changed.
3. Flexible in assessment
A teacher can also be flexible in the way he assesses learners. Traditionally an assessment is equal for every learner, every learner makes the same test. The teacher could be flexible in this aspect by giving learners a choice in how they want to be assessed. Examples are assessment by a test, writing a paper, making a presentation or designing an object.
4. Flexible in materials
It is very easy for a teacher to use materials he is familiar with, this is in his comfort zone. This way lessons usually look alike and can be experienced as boring. If the teacher is flexible in using different materials, learners usually are more concentrated. Examples of being flexible with materials can be using different kind of multimedia (interactive white-boards, computers, television and radio) or different kind of concrete materials (posters, power-point sheets, newspapers, or lesson-materials such as counting racks).  These can be used to enrich the classroom environment, support the content or to enhance the lessons.
5. Flexible in group size
With flexibility in group size I mean that the teacher can give the possibility to let the learners choose if they want to work in group, pairs or alone. Usually if the teacher thinks of an assignment, he also decides how and with who the learner should complete the assignment. By letting the learners choose, the teacher is  more flexible and giving the learners more ownership of the course.