Registering and Logging In

I can’t log in successfully what should I do?

· If you are a first time user of Flexways, check that you have registered first. Click on the ‘register’ button under the ‘New Users’ heading and fill in the registration form.

· Under the ‘Returning Users’ heading, in the email log on box, check that you have typed in your email address correctly and/or that it is the same email that you used in the registration process.

· Check that you have typed in the password that you used in the registration process.

Check that you do not have caps lock enabled.

· If your have forgotten your password, click on the ‘Recover it here’ link below the ‘Forgotten your password?’ wording near the ‘log in’ button.

The ‘Recover Your Password’ page is shown.

· Type in your email address in the box and then select the ‘Submit’ button.

Your password will be sent immediately to your specified email address.

Setting Goals – Scenario Builder

There isn’t anything in particular that I want to achieve in the area of flexible learning. I don’t even really know what I could do. Where do I start?

For people who are very unclear about what their goal is, or even about what flexible learning is, the 'About Flexible Learning' section is a good place to start. They can access a brief overview of flexible learning there, and read some case studies that might give them some ideas of what they could do.

My project involves designing, developing, teaching and supporting students. How can I include all of those, when I can only choose one in Stage1?

Many of you could find yourselves in the position of being responsible for a variety of roles, and this is difficult to implement in a single Flexways plan. One of the reasons for this is that the number of skills that would have to be included in that single plan would be so large that the plan would be unwieldy. There are a number of options available to you:

· You could divide the project into a number of components with a separate Flexways plan created for each component.
· You could use the unguided (‘Create Your Own Goal’) pathway in which you write your own goal and then include any skills you wish from the skills checklist. This means that you will need to identify the skills you need to accomplish your goal for yourself, rather than have Flexways do it for you.
· If there is a group of you all involved in a single project, you could each focus on a different aspect of it when constructing your plans. The Team Plan section of Flexways enables you to do this.

What I want to do doesn’t seem to be covered by the options in the Scenario Builder. What can I do?

If you still want to use the guided pathway, you will have to make the selection that fits most closely to your project or goal. Otherwise, you need to use the unguided approach that allows you to write your own scenario or goal.

We are working on a project as a team. How should we approach developing our Flexways plan?

The new version now allows you to work together collaboratively on a team plan. You do this by initially drafting a goal for your team which invited team members discuss and clarify. Using the Scenario Builder or the Custom Goal (unguided) pathway you then participate in a process in which the team chooses a set of relevant skills and particular skills are assigned for each team member to develop. Team members then select learning strategies and resources for the development of their skills. The also work out evidence for attaining skills and deadlines for their completion.

The team planning process can be conducted entirely online. The leader of the team over sights the process, using interactive forms, the Discussion forum and email to consult and communicate with team members.
To work on a team plan as either a team leader or team member you need to access the team planning area. It is within this area, highlighted in blue, that you can find and convey information about your teams, and access the Flexways team planning tool.

From the ‘My Notices’ page (the first page you come to once you log on), select the ‘My Teams’ tab to go to the team planning area.
Setting Goals – Tailor your own goal

How can I browse the checklist before I make my selection?

When you use the ‘Scenario Builder’ you can use the ‘Expand All’ button to open up all the sub-categories and skills associated with your given scenario. Similarly, if you are using the ‘Create your own goal’ pathway, you can use the ‘Expand All’ button to open up all the sub-categories and skills of the Flexways Skills Checklist. Opening up all the categories in this way, gives you the chance of surveying all of the skills at once.

Alternatively, you can select the ‘Skills Checklist’ link under ‘Learning’ on the left-hand navigation bar to access the total list of the Flexways skills.

How can I find the skills that relate to my goal easily?

Flexways attempts to set out skills that are relevant to your scenario when you use the ‘Scenario Builder’. From this list of skills you can use the headings of the categories and sub-categories to guide you in your skill selection. When you use the ‘Create your own goal pathway’, you will be more reliant on using the headings and sub-headings to help you focus on your selection. For example, if your goal is principally concerned with developing resources, the most relevant skills will be found in that section. However, be aware that for many projects you may need to draw on different sections of the checklist if you want your professional development plan to be comprehensive. For example, if you are focusing on teaching and facilitation skills, you may also need to include some skills from the assessment and student support sections.

Selecting Skills

How do I decide which skills to include in my plan?

There are a number of factors for you to consider as you select skills. You are likely to already have a number of the skills listed and these will not need to be included. Also, some skills may not be relevant to your particular situation. For example video-conferencing may not be a communication technology that you plan to use in your project, or you may be developing online resources, but not conducting any assessment online.

If you are left with a long list of skills that seems daunting, then you need to prioritise, and select those skills that are most important, or of most interest to you, to learn first. You can return and do a new plan to address other skills when you have completed the first one.
For team plans, the team goes through a ‘skills audit and needs analysis’ process to work out what skills are relevant to the goal, who already has certain skills, and what skills individual members would like to develop.

Can I come back later and add or delete skills to my plan?

Yes, for individual plans you can go back to ‘Stage 2; Choose Some Skills’ and add or delete skills. Flexways will update your selection of skills and allow you to go through the other stages to add yours choices to do with learning strategies, resources, deadlines, and benchmarks for achievement for each of your new skills. At the same time, Flexways will remove skills and their associated entires for any skills that you have chosen to delete.

For team plans, once the team leader has assigned skills for team members to develop as an outcome of the ‘Stage Two: Skills Audit and Needs Analysis’ process, you have to continue with these skills.

How do I decide if I already have a skill to a high enough standard?

Flexways does not include detailed standards for assessment, it is beyond its scope. Many of the skills can be acquired at different levels. You need to self-assess whether you have sufficient expertise at a particular skill to meet the needs of your project. If you are not sure, the easiest way to find out is to consult with peers, or your professional development facilitator.

How many skills should I include in my plan?

This will depend on how much time and effort you are planning to put you’re your professional development, and on the complexity of the particular skills you have in your plan. As it is important that you keep plans manageable and achievable, Flexways sets a limit of 10 skills per plan. This applies to both individual and team plans.

Working through and completing several plans is more effective and encouraging than feeling stuck forever in a seemingly endless process. If you find you have a very long list of skills that you need to acquire, it is probably best to prioritise the list and just select those skills that they wish to acquire first. You can then come back and create another professional development plan once you have acquired those skills.

Identifying Ways to Learn

How can I work out suitable learning strategies and resources to include in my plan?

The redeveloped functionality allows you to choose a number of learning strategies and a number of resources for the development of skills. This applies to both individual and team plans.

Learning Strategies
To help you make your choices relating to learning strategies, Flexways prompts you to look at the ‘Professional Development Strategies’ and ‘Learning Styles’ of the information section of the Flexways site. The information on these pages is intended to help you gain a better understanding of the professional development process, to consider a wide range of learning strategies and to develop an insight into the importance of your own learning preferences. Access these pages under ‘Learning’ on the left hand navigation bar.

Resources
To help you make your choices relating to resources, Flexways sets out a number of recommended resources aligned to each skill for you to choose from. You can also add your own resources in the given text box. The first five most highly recommended resources for a given skill are highlighted in a list. From this list you can explore the sites and tick those that appeal to you. By clicking on ‘Show me more resources’, you have the option of going through more suggested resources and selecting those which seem suitable.

You can make a record of your own resources under ‘Add Custom Resources’, giving the title and a short description of the resource. To find your own resources, Flexways prompts you to explore the ‘Find Resources’ section of Flexways. Access these pages under ‘Learning’ on the left hand navigation bar. The ‘Find Resources’ section of Flexways includes annotated links to the most significant resources developed to support flexible learning in the Australian VET Sector. You can also find a wealth of resources by selecting the 'Toolbox Central' link.

As you look through this section you can use copy (Ctrl C) and paste (Ctrl V) functions to copy the name of the resource and the web address into the text box for each skill of your plan.
You can also conduct your own web searches for resources by accessing the ‘Search’ function on the left hand navigation bar.

Do I need to complete the learning strategies and resources for all my skills in one sitting?

No, you can work on a couple of skills, and then come back and do some others later. This applies to both individual and team plans. However, for team plans you need to remember that the team leader needs to ultimately ‘confirm’ your planning about ‘Ways to Learn’ before you can move on to ‘Stage Four: Evidence and Completion Dates’.