Meet All Learners’ Needs
We incorporate inclusivity in catering to the different needs of all learners in our interactive learning resource. During teaching, there are a number of our applied teaching methods, such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic, to meet the needs of students with varied learning styles. For auditory learners, ample audio material features native speakers rendering dialogues and pronunciation exercises. Subtitles, visual aids, and infographics support the spoken language and are useful for visual learners. Many interactive activities also involve kinesthetic learners, who need to use their verbal skills, such as role-plays and conversations in virtual settings. For example, in our lessons on ordering food at a restaurant, they read and listen to typical expressions, watch interactive videos, and participate in partner practices and role-plays. This integration therefore ensures all students are catered for, and none are left behind in the learning process.
Adapting to Unforeseen Circumstances
When faced with unforeseen issues—like a pandemic requiring students to work from home—the learning resource becomes very resilient and adaptive. We move seamlessly into an online platform that ensures no breaks in learning. We do this by providing training sessions on how to operate our online tools, so students and educators are comfortable using the technology. For example, our restaurant ordering lesson can be successfully delivered using online tools such as Zoom for group activities and Google Forms for pre-assessments and reflections. We also provide virtual office hours and discussion forums to keep up the interaction and support. These steps ensure that each learner will be provided with materials and support to continue the language learning process independently of any extraneous factors.
Breaking Barriers to Learning Success
Our latest design continues to consider usability and a supportive learning environment to reduce potential barriers. This includes ensuring all our materials are available in multiple formats: text, audio, and video for different individual preferences in learning. Furthermore, we inlay accessibility features such as closed captions, transcripts, and adjustable playback speeds. Further aiding the learners, we add instruction and clear navigation within our platform. For example, in our ordering at the restaurant lesson, students are presented with different activities to suit different styles of learning, and cheat sheets are provided for their practice sessions. By designing for potential problems, we open up more routes to learner success, and the challenge of obtaining a new language becomes possible for all.
Comment:
Hello Menoa,
I think it is truly fantastic how many applied teaching options you and your group are offering in your interactive learning resource. It is obvious that your group met with inclusion at the forefront when you created your blueprint. I think your comment about planning for potential difficulties and encouraging success is such an essential mindset for creating an educational resource. By the looks of it, your lessons are about acquiring language skills in a foreign language and I think that makes that message more important. When you are encountering people with different life experiences and cultural influences than what the instructor has experienced, it is even more important to be mindful of potential barriers that your learners may face in the process of learning especially if it is created with a different cultural context in mind.
I really enjoyed reading your post this week!
Thank you!