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The Internet is becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. So, too, is the ease of communication by means of television. The power of these two technological tools in education has been combined in so‐called ‘flexible learning’. This study investigates the experience of students in a master’s degree programme in taxation, which is presented by means of flexible learning. In general, students experience this mode of learning very positively and would advise others to enrol for the same course. They acknowledge that the benefits of flexible learning far exceed any possible drawbacks.

Defines “open learning” and related terms, especially “flexible learning”. These terms focus on the provision of choice to individuals, over various aspects of the learning process. Describes critical stages in the evolution of open learning, including the Open University, National Extension College, collaborative developments with further and adult education colleges, the Open Tech Programme and the Training Agency′s flexible learning project in schools. Reviews progress in applying open learning: much has been achieved in extending learner autonomy, through the development of packages, associated support systems, and information technology. The national vocational qualifications framework requires the deployment of open approaches to learning delivery. Finally, surveys current challenges to the education and training systems and outlines responses to these, based on the achievements of open learning.

Working in the UK, Sadler‐Smith, Down and Lean, in their article “‘Modern’ learning methods: rhetoric and reality”, Personnel Review, Vol. 29 No. 4, 2000, pp. 474‐90, have shown that distance learning methods are neither favoured nor perceived as effective by enterprises pursuing training that yields a competitive edge. They have suggested that these methods need to be integrated with other more conventional on‐job training methods. This paper, based on Australian research, shows a tension between the requirements of flexible training methods based on distance learning methods, and the characteristics that typify learners and their workplaces. That identified tension is used to suggest how an integration of training methods may be effected in workplaces.

Four learning modes, interacting through students as different learning systems, are mapped into a cone-of-learning continuum that allows tertiary institutions to visually re-consider where within their cone-of-learning, they choose to position their learning approaches. Two forms of blended learning are also distinguished. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Undergraduate law, business, IT, and creative arts student perceptions are structural equation modelled (SEM) into traditional, blended-enabled, blended-enhanced, and flexible learning systems.

Within the SEM derived learning cone-of-learning continuum, a migration from traditional learning systems towards blended and flexible learning systems typically offers higher-net levels of undergraduate student learning experiences and outcomes.

The authors do not capture learning system feedback loops, but the cone-of-learning approaches can position against chosen competitors. The authors recognise benchmark, positioning, and transferability differences may exist between different tertiary institutions; different learning areas; and different countries of operation. Cone-of-learning studies can expand to capture student perceptions of their value acquisitions, overall satisfaction, plus trust, and loyalty considerations.

The cone-of-learning shows shifts towards flexibility as generating higher student learning experiences, higher student learning outcomes, and as flexible technologies mature this demands higher student inputs. These interactive experiential systems approaches can readily incorporate new technologies, gamifications, and engagements which are testable for additional student deep-learning contributions. Experiential deep-learning systems also have wide industrial applications.

Understanding the continuum of transitioning between and across deeper-learning systems offers general social benefit.

Learning system studies remain complex, variable systems, dependent on instructors, students, and their shared experiential engagements environments. This cone-of-learning continuum approach is useful for educators, business, and societal life-long learners who seek to gauge learning and outcomes.

A previous article in this journal, by the same author, reported on research that indicated that flexible training for business learners in the workplace needed to take account of their need for instructor guidance and direction, and of their preference for learning in affiliative environments with fellow learners and trainers. In this article the use of computer‐mediated communication (CMC) is explored as one training method that can assist with flexible training of this clientele. Some specific strategies for the successful use of CMC are suggested.

Universities across the globe have had to rethink how the significant resources devoted to learning, teaching, and assessment might be reconfigured to better support student learning across different modes of delivery. A focus on ‘flexibility’ in assessment arrangements supports the need to be responsive to the requirements of a changing and increasingly uncertain higher education landscape across Africa and elsewhere in the world. This chapter explores how professors and lecturers in higher education can deliver effective assessment processes that meet the demands of online and blended learning environments. Flexibility in assessment is about responding to students’ individual learning needs as well as the needs of the curriculum. The key is making assessment relevant to the students. The proliferation of learning technologies and tools, coupled with the increasing diversification of student profiles and pathways through programmes, provides the context for developing flexible assessment. Here technology is a key enabler for personalised and active blended learning experiences. This chapter considers practical ideas and strategies for inclusive, authentic, and flexible assessment task design, delivering effective feedback, and ensuring quality and consistency within assessment processes – all of which are relevant in an era of COVID-19 pandemic disruptions in higher education.

Impactful pedagogies in Higher Education are required to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. This chapter outlines an inclusive, flexible, and work-based learning curriculum design framework to respond to these needs. Two cases from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) are used to illustrate this framework in a transnational educational context in Sub-Saharan Africa. Case one explores the impact of a Railway Operations Management program in South Africa, where the views of two cohorts of 137 recent graduates were gathered through an online questionnaire. Case two examines the views of Optometry/Orthoptics students who undertook an intensive two-week clinical work experience on the train-based clinic (Phelophepa train) in South Africa; data was gathered through an online questionnaire from 58 participating students since 2014. Both examples highlight transformative personal experiences and impacts of their education beyond just their studies – to a clearer sense of personal and professional pride, to becoming role models for their families and to developing meta-cognitive skills to support lifelong learning. In the Railway Operations Management example, additional benefits were seen to their organization – through improved interpersonal skills, decision-making, and problem-solving and creating knowledge-sharing – whereas in the Optometry/Orthoptics case life-changing impacts to patients were delivered through this work experience.

This paper discusses the redevelopment of MSc Civil Engineering and Construction Management of a modern university in the Midlands of the UK in recent years, with the aim to offer flexible future learning opportunities for built environment professionals and address the sector's skill shortage concerns (Augar Review, 2019 and 2021; Department for Education (DfE), 2020 and 2021; Foresight Review, 2017).

The research method is insider action research and a case study approach. It involves interviews with external and internal stakeholders who contributed to this redevelopment and review of relevant documents related to the development.

The research finding showed that both the internal and external stakeholders welcome the proposed redevelopment of postgraduate courses in Civil Engineering and Construction Management. They found the course offers opportunities for civil engineering and construction professionals to further develop their skills and to address government initiatives on flexible and future learning. The online offer of the course is attractive to potential students. It has brought a substantial financial return to the university and created a new international presence of the course and the university.

It has been argued that an insider research approach may have an advantage in accessing information compared to other research methods. The case study approach may have limitations on generalisability.

This research can be used as an example for other universities that aim to enhance their existing offers to address government initiatives and enhance financial viability.

This paper is a pilot study examining a university's response to skill shortage and government proposal on flexible learning for adults through redevelopment and enhancement of the offer of the existing postgraduate courses.

Although flexible training is widely supported by enterprises and government, there are considerable challenges in ensuring successful training outcomes. The evidence is that business learners, at a vocational training level, are not typically well‐equipped for the self‐directed learning required by flexible training, nor do they prefer to learn from textually presented learning packages. This paper suggests a number of strategies that may be used to prepare both learners and enterprises for successful outcomes from flexible training.

On a basis of research and literature review, Smith, in 2001, suggested a model for the development of preparedness of learners and their workplaces to support the flexible delivery of training in enterprises. Using the model as a framework, he then developed a detailed set of strategies that may be used in operating workplaces to develop learners and workplaces for effective flexible delivery. The research reported here was designed to test that strategy set in 12 different enterprises to assess the feasibility of their implementation in operating workplaces. The research shows that a majority of suggested strategies are feasible for implementation; some are feasible with qualification; and a minority were not seen as feasible.