As educators we are continually required to be flexible and respond to change in new and dynamic ways. Flexible teaching and flexible learning have become the mantra of the education community.

In this conference we examined new conceptualisations of flexibility in relation to the myriad of education contexts that exist in our society. Participants had opportunities to explore and discuss the challenges of change from a variety of perspectives, in four strands that reflect different dimensions of change, all of which are important for education as we enter the new millennium. In Changing Learning Contexts we reflected on the ways in which students, teachers, and curricula have changed in terms of aspects such as the impact of new information technologies, location, time and the characteristics of students.

Changes in the Workplace looked beyond schools and universities to the locations where we, as school or university teachers, industry instructors or trainers, and facilitators make a unique contribution to lifelong learning and the wellbeing of the nation in a variety of ways. In a climate of change we need to be aware of ways in which Supporting Change will benefit all stakeholders. This strand explored strategies to support change from the personal to the systemic level.

Finally, our decision-making should be informed by high quality research that links theory to practice. This will require new ideas and Changing Research Paradigms that will assist us to reconceptualise practice and develop more effective teaching and learning strategies.

Please click on Title for list of papers under each theme.

Changing Learning Contexts

• New environments for learning
• Virtual institutions / classrooms
• Characteristics of teachers / learners
• Teaching and learning contexts / strategies
• Authentic activity / tasks
• Roles and responsibilities of teacher and learners
• Diversity of students
• Harnessing new technologies to improve the quality of education
• Student / teacher roles and interactions

Changes in the Workplace

• New skills for new work
• Life long learning
• Redefinition of role of work/worker
• New forms of communication
• New information technologies
• Digital and non text information
• Development of industry/education partnerships
• Outcomes based performance evaluation

Supporting Change

• Staff development
• Preparing students for the new millennium
• Extension of graduate outcomes
• Innovations in teaching to support learning
• Focus on collaborations for learning
• Personal development and change
• Creating partnerships for learning
• Changing curricula
• Adapting assessment techniques
• Understanding the Information Society

Changing Research Paradigms

• New research methodologies
• Investigations of impact of teaching and learning in context
• Role of technology
• Investigations of students lives as full time, part time, on site or remote
• Policy for change
• Investigating classroom home and workplace learning
• Linking learning institutions - national and international Invitation to Submit Abstracts