She integrates her staff development program with working as an educational designer and evaluator in specific projects where staff are using communication and information technologies. Her field of research involves looking at relationships between academics' beliefs about teaching and learning and their design and use of computers in teaching and learning. In this talk, I will try to define flexible learning in a way that focuses on the learning needs of students. Flexible learning environments must provide much more than just broadening access to learning resources in time and place. They must enable teachers to meet the learning needs of an increasingly diverse group of students who have a wide range of skills and fears .
New environments create possibilities and challenges for both teachers and learners.
For example, new communication modes give us new possibilities but effective use of these possibilities means that we need new skills in designing learning experiences and skills in effective use of technology. Both teachers and learners need to develop these new skills in ways that enables growth and avoids fear . Curtin University of Technology Professor Tom Stannage recently took up his appointment as Executive Dean for the Division of Humanities at Curtin. Previously he was Professor of History at the University of Western Australia, and formerly Research Fellow and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University. Professor Stannage received the inaugural Prime Minister's Award as Australian University Teacher of the Year in 1997, and also the National Humanities Award for Teaching Excellence.