Reaching non-traditional learners
- 1. Reaching non- traditional learners Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 2. Whom do you teach? Who are your learners? Please tell us what you know about your students. Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 3. Non-traditional learners A non-traditional learner is any student whose learning needs are different from what you (or your institution) is used to dealing with. Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 4. Traditional learners When we are developing curriculum for a traditional group of learners, we tend to focus on the content that we will be delivering.Content Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 5. Content is not enough! Content Learner Audience Learning Environment Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 6. Sometimes more focus on one or another Content Learner Audience Learning Environment Content Learner Audience Learning Environment Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 7. Adult Learner Groups vary by Life-stage Sub-groups Characteristics relevant to training Youth Often fresh out of school with school expectations. Usually fully- or partially text literate; often technologically literate as well. May lack clear motivation for training. Often unemployed or partially employed. Often more adaptable to cultural diversity. Mid-Adult Schooling may have been completed some time ago. Usually at least partially text literate. Technological literacy may vary widely. Often fully- or partially employed. Usually has a clear motivation for training. Cultural factors may influence training. Senior Schooling may have been completed a long time ago (or not at all). Level of text literacy may vary widely. Often lacking technological literacy. Often partially- or unemployed. Cultural factors may strongly influence training. Physical factors of the training environment (lighting, acoustics, temperature) may need adaptation. Multi- generational High-quality training for multi-generational groups of learners requires considerable trainer expertise. Multiple trainers and small-group activities may be necessary. Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 8. Adult Learner Groups vary by gender composition Sub-groups Characteristics relevant to training Primarily male Often at least partially-literate and employed. Scheduling may need to be adapted to employment. Cultural factors may strongly influence training. A male trainer may be preferred. Primarily female Accommodation for young children may need to be provided. Scheduling may need to be adapted to school and family care needs. Older women may lack text literacy. Cultural factors may strongly influence training. A female trainer may be preferred. Mixed gender Cultural factors may strongly influence how men and women participate in the training. Training involving couples may increase transfer of learning and training success (especially for women). Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 9. Adult Learner Groups vary by Literacy level Sub-groups Characteristics relevant to training Non- or partially (text) literate Curriculum must rely on resources other than books, presentation of text. Videos, images, audio provide better resources. Demonstrations, role-plays, discussions are more suitable teaching strategies. Assessment must be non-text based. Fully (text) literate Curriculum can include books and presentation of text. Homework and self-study may be expected. Some assessment may be text based. Professional group Learners may have fairly consistent levels of literacy, prior learning related to the subject, and motivation for the training. Training expectations may be quite high. Multi-level (text) literacies High-quality training for multi-level literacy groups requires considerable trainer expertise. Content should be delivered in more than one way. Groups and activities which involve both strongly- and weakly-literate individuals may work well. Non-technologically literate Learners may lack confidence in using digital tools, or they may completely lack exposure. Trainers may use computers and digital resources with caution, utilizing (or beginning with) more traditional learning resources until learners are ready to try the new tools. Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 10. Adult Learner Groups vary by Employment status Sub-groups Characteristics relevant to training Non- or sporadically- employed Training may be more flexibly scheduled. Motivation for training of youth and mid-adult learners may be very strongly employment-related. Some upgrading of basic literacies may be necessary. Learners retired from the workforce may have widely varying literacy levels, interests and motivations for training. Employed full- or part-time Training must accommodate work schedules. If most learners are employed by the same employer, some employer buy-in will be invaluable for the success of the training. Self-employed Training must respect participants’ time commitments, including seasonal and daily patterns of entrepreneurial activity. Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 11. Adult Learner Groups vary by Cultural factors Sub-groups Characteristics relevant to training Unilingual and/or unicultural Learner groups who share a common language or culture may still vary widely in terms of most other factors. If the trainer is from outside the culture, s/he will benefit from direct knowledge about how members of the cultural group prefer to learn and work together. A translator may be necessary. Multilingual and/or multicultural Learners who come together to learn in a multicultural group often share a common language. However, those who can speak a language may not be able to read or write it (and vice versa). If the trainer is from outside the multicultural milieu, s/he will benefit from direct knowledge about intercultural differences which could affect the learning experience. Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 12. Adult Learner Groups vary by need for Special Accommodations Sub-groups Characteristics relevant to training Learners with disabilities Learners with mental, physical, or emotional disabilities may need special accommodations for a successful learning experience. The nature of the accommodation will vary with the type and degree of disability. Post-Conflict Prolonged conflict situations can have profound impacts on learners’ health (physical, emotional, mental), motivation, gender and intercultural dynamics, and formal education history. Educators need accurate field knowledge to design training for these special learner audiences. Other? Have we forgotten anybody???? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 13. Other topics in this series Content Learner Audience Learning Environment Learner Audience Analysis Adapting Curriculum for Gender inclusion Adapting Content for Readability Gina Bennett for COTR International Learning Environment Analysis Adapting Delivery for Learning Styles
Editor's Notes
- #3: This is just to get some discussion going. Start by asking: Who is currently working directly with students? If not everybody has their hand up, ask ‘who has worked directly with students in the past?’ Then: “I want you to tell me about your students, either your current students or the ones you most recently worked with”. It’s important that we DON’T provide too much direction on the answers! We’ll be expecting answers like “my students are mostly young adults, mostly male.” “They are not overly motivated academically” or “they are very focussed on getting a good job” or “mostly they are in class because their parents want them to be”. While they are offering descriptions, you can write down bullet points on a whiteboard or flipchart. We will be looking for commonalities & differences in the answers. When they are done, can the group summarize anything about the results? Can we identify a group of ‘traditional’ learners from these results?
- #4: For the most part, “school” is still considered a place and an activity for the young. Children who successfully complete secondary school may then enter a college, training institute, or university. In most cases, young adults comprise the “traditional” student in post-secondary education.
- #5: Because these “traditional” learners are the more-or-less expected learner audience for higher education, most learning environments and training strategies are designed with them in mind. Curriculum development consequently becomes centred on the choice of content for the curriculum. Curriculum developers ask “What should we teach? What learning objectives must be met? What textbook should we use?”
- #6: Adult learners may vary a great deal in their educational backgrounds, training motivations and expectations, background knowledge, literacy level, etc. etc. Remember: Any individual who does not conform to the usual training expectations of the trainer or the training institution can be considered a “non-traditional learner.” When designing curriculum or training programs for non-traditional learners, it is a serious mistake to consider content choices alone! Good training design must take into account three integrated factors: • Content (what you will teach) • Learner(s) (who you will teach) • Environment (where you will teach)
- #7: When you are developing curriculum, these three factors may not be weighted evenly. For example, if your training program is directed towards a unique learner group; e.g. mostly older unemployed women in a post-conflict zone, your program design may need to be highly adapted for the learners. If your training program must take place in an isolated mountain community without electricity, your most serious adaptions may involve the learning environment. Nevertheless, all 3 are very important. Conducting a Learner Analysis will help you to take into account and plan adaptations that will better meet the needs of a unique group of learners. Conducting an Environmental Analysis will help you plan training that will fit a unique training environment. And Content, of course, still has to be considered as well as many sub-factors (choice of trainer, activities, resources, etc.).
- #8: Conducting the Learner Analysis (which we’ll look at in a future workshop) helps you discover detailed information about the characteristics of the learners, & this is a good place to start. Let’s begin with some characteristics that apply to groups of learners rather than individuals. A summary of learner audience characteristics should reference life-stage, gender, literacy level, and cultural factors; as well as employment and special accommodations when relevant. Of course, training planned for a group of learners may still require customization during the training session to accommodate individual variations in learning styles and needs. Let’s think about the variety of learner audiences and group characteristics that can affect training. First of all, adult learner audiences can vary according to Life-stage. [we can either post the table & talk about it, or just post the sub-group column & ask participants to fill in the details – characteristics relevant to training)
- #9: [Again: we can either post the table & talk about it, or just post the sub-group column & ask participants to fill in the details – characteristics relevant to training)
- #13: Can you think of other learner sub-groups?
- #14: Conducting a Learner Analysis will help you to take into account and plan adaptations that will better meet the needs of a unique group of learners. Conducting an Environmental Analysis will help you plan training that will fit a unique training environment. Content, of course, still has to be considered as well as many sub-factors (choice of trainer, activities, resources, etc.). We hope that the Workshops and discussions we have planned will get us all to think of some new ideas & help you plan a unique, effective educational program for a non-traditional training situation.