Abstract
For decades, flexibility has been a focus of attention and efforts in the field of education. Flexibility in learning, which emphasises student choice, has been considered one key to enhancing education quality and satisfying highly diverse student needs. It is often associated with the terms ‘open learning’, ‘distance learning’, and ‘e-learning’. With the increasing application of information and communication technologies in the field of education, flexible learning has been especially closely associated with e-learning and sometimes is considered to be the essence of the term. Since the ambiguity of the term could be counterproductive in discussions of flexible learning, a systematic review of the relevant literature is badly needed to put the meanings of the term in perspective. This paper provides a critical review of the literature relevant to flexible learning. The development of the use of ‘flexible learning’ and the implementation of the term are summarised. In this paper, the term ‘flexible learning’ is redefined with an aim to clarify its relationship with relevant terms and a proposed system of its dimensions. Suggestions for future research are also provided.
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The work described in this paper was partially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (UGC/IDS16/15).
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Li, K.C., Wong, B.Y.Y. (2018). Revisiting the Definitions and Implementation of Flexible Learning. In: Li, K., Yuen, K., Wong, B. (eds) Innovations in Open and Flexible Education. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7995-5_1
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