Been to the wiki course outline week 9 link of Samuel Manns eluminate presentation -today that is. Out of this presentation and discussion sustainability is going to take participation. Are we including manageability of workloads, mandatory professional development, workbased upskilling one example comes to mind is information technology nouse and digital information literacy?!

Some feedback about the DFLP08 eluminate session with Sam Mann for a sustainablity tick that is. My observation was that going on the level eluminate participation (partly due to small group of three) meant the Eluminate software which has a clunky single directional audio connectivity could be re-envisaged resemble face-to-face discussion that would enable more participation –

The key requirement contained in Otago Polytechnic’s sustainable strategy introduced in 2006 welcoming measures… “that every graduate may think and act as a “sustainable practitioner”. Departmental heads identify and factor in sustainable measures triple bottom lines for teaching and learning in their faculty.

1. What does it mean to be a sustainable practitioner in your field? (and what progress are you making towards this)

2. How is this understanding being reflected in your programmes (Graduate profiles, learning outcomes etc)

3. Evidence of how this is making a difference in teaching and learning.

Social, ecological and economic sustainability.

Higher-education learner profiles, including online, information-age, and adult learners, are changing in ways that are self perpetuating but not always socially, ecologically and economically sustainable. I want to note some of these trends and refer back to these to scope and shape my course re its flexiblity and design. The focus on the positives and negatives in some of the 32 trends affecting distance education outlined in An Informed Foundation for Strategic Planning (Howell, S. L., Williams, P. B., & Lindsay, N 2003)

Is it Ethical to confine this to bottom line analysis. What could follow

Ecological Sustainability

In terms of ecology, having been overlooked when we are considering our ecological impact of educational design on our environment, (including resources used and levels of toxic non-biodegradable waste products). Where our lines are being drawn today frames our projections and determines our genuine strategic goals and the outcome. Being on the back foot is our legacy. What if was to remain a habitual stance, inform our thinking it will follow that this will in time polarise those involved in collaborative innovative solutions. How do we envisage scope our projected goals today for future options when at the present time the bottom line for ecological sustainablity is a paper recycling policy in the corner of offices at Otago Polytechnic. A bottom line by definition is unsustainable so first things first. Bottom lines necessitate action, imply having no other option. There is no question in my mind -these actions should be priortised, however at the same time it is also important to distinguish these as remedial and plan at the same time in a proactive way to ensure there will be sustainable times ahead when there will be room to choose. This is the challenge.

In terms of flexible learning and its social sustainability we might consider issues relating to access and equity, cultural diversity, and research and education.

1. Social access and equity, cultural diversity, and research and education
Information-age learners who tend to be practical problem solvers, trial-and-error to logic, so prioritise doing over knowing. By needing to know the rationale for what they are learning, given the right conditions and support therefore more likely to become in favourable self-directed, and goal- and relevancy-oriented. Modern literacy includes not only text but also image and screen literacy, publishing work in type not handwriting, multimedia.—it involves navigating and critical evaluation of information and reassembling knowledge from disparate fragments

2. Multitasking is a way of life for information age learners, not only are they are motivated by professional advancement, external expectations, the need to better serve others, social relationships, escape or stimulation, and pure interest in the subject. Their demands include time and scheduling, money, and long-term commitment constraints.

3. Higher education out-sourcing and partnerships are increasing the need for faculty development, support, and training is growing. An EDUCAUSE publication (2002) cites Green’s survey of the role of computing and information technology in U.S. higher education, chief academic and information technology officials rated “helping faculty integrate technology into their instruction” the single most important IT issue confronting their campuses over the next two or three years.

4. Some faculty members are resisting technological course delivery. As long as distance education contributions are not considered in tenure and promotion decisions, and as long as professors have their own, traditional ways of delivering their courses, many faculty members will be reluctant to participate in online courses (Oravec, 2003).

In terms of economic sustainability we might consider our finance and accounting structures, our work loads, and cost benefits. It is an extensive and complex consideration with increasing levels of importance today

1. While their life experiences make them autonomous, staying connected is essential, and there is zero tolerance for delays. (Oblinger et al., 2001; Jones & Pritchard, 2000) Education is adopting the characteristic status of a commodity, making consumers of students and putting them in a position to shop around for the best deal (Johnstone et al., 2002; Pond, 2003; West, 1999; Dubois, 1996).

2. In the role of consumers, students do tend to feel insecure about their ability to succeed in distance learning, find instruction that matches their learning style, and have sufficient instructor contact, support services, and technology training (Dortch, 2003; Diaz, 2002; Dubois, 1996). to be able to meet the challenges in self-organized distributed learning networks for lifelong learning

3. Traditional faculty roles are shifting or “unbundling”- disaggregating faculty instructional activities and reassigning or contracting out these pedagogic bundles.

The infrastructure of advancement in digital technologies means computers double in speed decrease in cost, and high-speed network connections which also help enrich access and transfer of information, enabling collaboration via distance media and provide many benefits of networking over the face-to-face instruction.

Our huge issue of sustainability today is a humungous issue tomorrow going by ecological, economic and social trends, an extensive and complex serial variation of literacies and digital information technologies. With networking and collaborating via digital software and information sharing tools comes describing, modelling, defining and creating 2nd life, thus we can learn about the global scale of position we are in, we can inform others …. which in itself is not enough to turn things around and shift our intervention beyond the bottom line. The challenge as I see it is another catch cry -to turn adversity into advantage.