Monday, 15 June 2015

Who is your Learner?


First, ASSURE begins by looking at the student in particular. Almost nothing you prepare is successful except you have taken a moment to look at the individual learners.

For instance, if it is now made mandatory that all teachers must analyze their learners' abilities prior to teaching; this will ensure that teachers will be able to make a distinction by knowing where the learners are at the beginning of the instruction, and the teacher will be able to make every effort to assist all learners to be successful in their learning process. This new path will help the teachers’ in understanding their learners. I really feel that figuring out and understanding your learners is very essential to design and execution of pedagogy in the class room.

In the process of analyzing the learners let me dissect the analysis into the following categories explaining for instance why we need this process in technology integration.

Analysis Parameters
Examples of Data Source
What is its value before lesson Design
Entry Behaviors
Observation

·      It enables you to adapt your lessons to best suit the needs of your student,
Prior Knowledge of Topic Area
Prior teaching experience

·      Here you get to know areas in which they are weak, their previous techniques for studying and the ways in which you can integrate it in new learning
Attitudes Toward Content and its delivery
Interviews

·      Here you will be able to categorize learners into those for instance who like reading texts on papers, online texts, like group work, do not like group etc such that special consideration is given to all.
Motivation
Discussion

·      This will define for you the desire of the student  to perform well on exams.
Education and Ability
Collaboration

·      The teacher is able to identify students the difficulties in pronunciation of terms, letters etc
Learning Preferences
Documentation; handbook, manual, etc.

·      Indeed the learners prefer multi sensory learning in that teacher is able to help his/her learners achieve that by providing all the necessary alternatives available.

Recall that it's not all about the technology and media, it's about the learners and the vital decisions designers and instructors make to ensure successful teaching/learning process.

6 comments:

  1. A good analysis Mustafa. Iam a visual learner. Your table did it for me.
    I would also add that analysing learner knowedge also helps the teacher to establish the strengths and skills the learners have so as to use it to scaffold learning. Does adapting lessons to suit learners needs also pressuppose modification of objectives?

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    1. Thanks Florence, I think so because for a lesson to interest learners, objectives designed should always be in accordance with the ABCD model of which objective modification can be easily taken care of.
      ciao!

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  2. Thanks for such good observations Mustafa. Your column about data sources within the table is of great help to me. I recall at my school we had the students' bio-data card to be filled by every student with the help of the class teacher of a particular class. But since it was introduced by the school administration without sensitizing other teachers about it, they never used it and it died out!!!

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    1. Thanks Sul, BioData registration system is now the most recent system used in capturing good amount of data on every aspect. But prior sensitization on how to use is a requisite as you have pointed out.

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  3. Yes Mundu, analyzing the learner helps you know at the beginning of the lesson where they are at that particular time and you can then teach them well.

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  4. True Mustafa. Analyzing the learners helps you to get to know the categories of learners you have in order to prepare well for them. You learn their ways and how to handle them and this puts the learners at ease and the teacher is in position to achieve the lesson objectives.

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