Speaker bio's

Weltec

neil.bechervaise@weltec.ac.nz; mary.weddell@weltec.ac.nz; paulene.crook@weltec.ac.nz

Interactivity and learning styles: an assumption challenged

One of the great advantages of online access is anonymity. Students in class are identifiable because they respond, or they don't. Online students have time to think, to consult and to prepare required responses. Presuming they have the stamina, they can consider and, if they need to, adapt the demands of materials to their own needs.

This paper explores an intersection between the promised potential of an ever-increasing range of interactive design opportunities and our increasing understanding of the complex demands of various student learning styles. User testing results from the recently completed Generic Trade Training Skills project are used to suggest that meeting student needs are more complicated than just addressing learning style differences.

Presentation notes (PDF 397 KB)
Discussion paper (PDF 186 KB)

Neil Béchervaise is an experienced educator with a long-standing interest in the issues addressed and neglected in e-learning development. As a learning designer, he has authored programmes for hospitals, businesses, trades and tertiary providers in Australia and Canada, and presented internationally as a researcher in education, business and adult learning. Dr Béchervaise is currently an adjunct professor in business at Swinburne University in Melbourne, and Learning Design Coordinator responsible for developing flexible learning materials at Weltec. He has published 18 books, including a collection of his poetry, numerous academic papers, and several widely used senior English, communications, and film textbooks.