the Best Tips for Facilitating Learning?

the Best Tips for Facilitating Learning?

There are many strategies for facilitating learning both inside and outside of a classroom setting. Determining learning styles, focusing on teamwork, and promoting active learning strategies will help strengthen effective teaching. Some teaching approaches will involve small group work, student presentations, and peer instruction, and others might focus on facilitating learning through activities such as hands-on experiments or in-class projects and films.
Small group work and peer facilitated learning strategies have been found to be incredibly successful in many settings. Students as young as grade school can benefit from this learning method, and it is also increasingly common in university settings, especially for science and engineering problem sets. The peer facilitation setup usually involves groups of four to eight students and one facilitator or mentor for each group. Working in teams, the students can conduct experiments, hold discussions, or solve complex problems sets with the help of the facilitator, who is also sometimes another student.
Facilitators generally focus on guiding the group’s discussion rather than simply lecturing or explaining all of the concepts. Instead of directly answering students’ questions, facilitators will often direct the question back at the group, encouraging others to work out a response. This strategy allows students to take a more active role in their own learning, both by figuring out answers on their own and by explaining those answers to the group. Students in these settings will often be asked to give brief, informal presentations or work one-on-one with other group members to explain difficult concepts. This teaching style often helps to prepare students for the professional world, where peer learning and collaboration happen on a daily basis.
Many individuals also benefit from understanding their own unique learning styles. Those with auditory learning styles might benefit from lectures, while slide presentations might be more effective at facilitating learning for those with visual learning styles. Hands-on teaching strategies have also been found to be effective because they frequently incorporate multiple learning styles as well as group work.
Individual work is also an important component of successfully facilitating learning. Not only will it benefit students in the short-term by providing extra review time for difficult concepts, but it will also help them in future higher education and professional settings when they will be more responsible for their own learning. By reinforcing course concepts multiple times in different ways, teachers will be able to better ensure that their students are learning effectively and building solid study habits for the future.

Different Types of Learning Strategies

Different Types of Learning Strategies

Learning strategies can vary by subject matter, student learning styles, instruction styles, and more. Many strategies transfer across subjects and styles, while others will work specifically for one area of study only. A teacher or instructor may want to consider narrowing his or her focus to determine what, exactly, he or she needs to know to tackle an instructional or learning issue. An English teacher, for example, may need to know about learning strategies regarding vocabulary, while a science teacher may need to know about strategies for information retention and application.
Grouping is one of the most common learning strategies that transfers across subject matter. This process involves placing information into logical groups for easier recall of information later on. A carpenter may, for example, group the different wood cutting processes by identifying the project he is most likely to use those processes during. Building a baseball bat, for example, will involve using a lathe, chisels, sandpaper or other sanding tools, and so on. A person learning a complex vocabulary list may group the words according to category; words like "genus" and "species" might be grouped subconsciously in the "zoo" category, while "simile" and "metaphor"
Many students tend to be visual learners, so learning strategies will focus on creating an image to go with complex information. It may help a student to understand voltage currents by envisioning a battery inside a camera, or to associate the concept of a story's plot by drawing a plot pyramid. Teachers who understand these learning strategies can incorporate them into lessons to connect with a wider audience of students. It may not be feasible to include all learning strategies into a lesson, but more than one strategy can be included to make learning easier for several students.
Hands-on and kinesthetic learning strategies involve movement and practice by doing. These strategies are especially useful in the math and science fields. Students who are hands-on learners benefit from activities rather than lectures; a student learning about sentence structure may not understand the concept written on the board, but when given paper cut-outs of various words, he or she may be able to construct the sentence by manipulating the pieces of paper. Learning objects such as these are vital for hands-on learners; manipulation and movement help such learners grasp complex tasks and ideas more easily. Moving around the room or space may also help the students understand concepts as well.

Auditory Memory involves listening skills

 Auditory Memory involves listening skills

 Auditory memory involves being able to take in information that is presented orally to you, process that information, store it in your mind and then recall what you have learned. Basically, it involves the task of attending, listening, processing, storing, and recalling. This, for many students, even those who are not disabled, can be an extremely difficult task.

Auditory memory if often compared to visual memory. In both, it is important to pay close attention, searching for details, and then process and remember the experience. But I would have difficulty dividing Visual Memory into different categories. Auditory Memory, however, can be divided into many areas. I chose six categories for use here, but several of these could be subdivided. The image for this page, quite appropriately shows many different pathways that are intertwined.

Auditory Skills can be difficult for children to learn

Children face a difficult task as they learn to distinguish similar sounds and then to use these sounds properly. The face several challenges. They must hear the differences in deal and teal, beer and peer, cheap and jeep and sheep. This is a difficult task. When adults try to hear and create certain sounds in other languages, we have more difficulty than the children. When I tried to learn some Korean, I could hear the sound that is half-way between an l and an r but, no matter how how I tried, I simply couldn’t make that sound.

Other problems include substituting one sound for another. Remember may become rerember. Animals may become aminals. These aren’t due to an inability to create the sounds. They sounds are just in the wrong places.

But, unless you have a speech impediment or you are studying a difficult foreign language, this problem is unlikely to affect you.

Listening to and interpreting the many ways people speak

Just as we learn from observing someone’s body language including facial expressions, it helps if we pay close attention to voices. Some people speak in a higher pitch when they are anxious. People may speak more quietly, or more often loudly, when they are angry. There are times when people speak rapidly; there are times when they pause or speak more. Perhaps they are thinking. Perhaps they want you to know this is important. Sometime their voice squeaks.

In addition to being aware these behaviors, it helps to be able to recognize people’s voices  There are a good number of people who call me on the phone and expect that I will recognize their voice. obviously, if you are dating someone, they will expect you to recognize their voice. Don’t just expect this to happen naturally. Learn to pay close attention to voices, to their pitch, to how rapidly they speak, to their accents.

Musical Memory

Musical memory is an entirely different area of Auditory memory. First, most musicians can listen to music and identify the instruments.  I can recognize a piano, guitar, banjo, violin, bass, clarinet, saxophone, flute, drum, cymbals and a few other basic instruments. But could I recognize a viola, a cello,  mandolin, french horn, trumpet, cornet, trombone, and others? Maybe in some circumstances, but most of the time, Music is not my field.

A second area of musical memory has to do with pitch. When someone plays middle C, some people can sing the note and others cannot. You might be able to echo the sound immediately but be unable to recall the pith within minutes. Some people can hear any note and know what it is, exactly. Generally such abilities are developed when people are very young. If you were not exposed to music and the difference in pitch before you were three, you are less likely to learn it later in life.

Then there is the question of tune. This is the easiest for most people. In fact, we sometimes hear a tune and cannot keep that tune from running through our heads. In fact, learning a tune come so naturally that the music helps us remember the words. While we may not sing well, we still enjoy singing.

Others don’t enjoy singing, but are constantly listening to music. Their form of auditory memory may be in recognizing the voice of a singer or familiar musical group.

Recognizing non-musical sounds

I remember a mechanic who could listen to the sounds  my car made and accurately diagnose the problem. When I listen to the  National Public Radio show, Car Talk, I hear the Car Talk Guys asking people to imitate the sounds their car makes. Even with poor imitations, they can come close to the problem.

People who work with animals or who spend a lot of time with their pets can tell what different animal sound mean. A quiet growl might mean I’m getting ready to attack, or I’m feeling nervous, or that cat better back off.

For me, this area includes bird calls. I know talented bird guides who not only recognize the calls of all the birds in their area, they can imitate the calls so well that they call the birds and the birds come to see who is calling. I am able to recognize a dozen or so calls, but the others, even though I can repeat them when I hear them and see the bird who is singing, within minutes, I have forgotten what it sounded like. The ones I remember I can put in “Human Language” like “Peter, Perter, Peter, or witchery witchery. It isn’t easy.

Auditory Memory and following Directions

While your syllabus gives the details about your term paper, the professor might, at any time, make changes. Usually this is announced at the beginning or end of class. The professor might say, I know this is different from what I wrote on the syllabus, but instead of a summary of research, I want you to choose only three sources and compare and contrast their methods and conclusions”

You might try to write quickly and get it all down, but that’s hard. Would you remember what was said long enough to get the important details down?  Or perhaps you are in a lab and the professor lists the things you definitely should not do and gives you directions for the experiment. You don’t have paper handy. Will you remember the directions?

Educational therapist, Addie Cusimano, says students with poor auditory memory may watch the teacher and appear to be paying close attention but they don’t get it.

They often absorb and make sense out of very little of what is being said They might remember a word here or there, or part of a thought, but often do not truly understand much of the information presented orally to them. Students with auditory memory deficiencies frequently experience difficulty comprehending orally presented directions. They often think they have understood directions for completing their assignments, when actually they have understood very little. As a result, assignments are often completed incorrectly.                                                                  — Addie Cusimano, Chapter Five.

This is especially true for students identified as ADD or ADHD.

Auditory Memory in the Learning Process.

Many students are able to read a chapter in the book and remember the main ideas. But in a lecture, they seem to remember little or nothing. Ask them what the lecture was about and they check their notes to find out. That is a problem. On the other hand, there are some students who shine in this area.

My son, Tony, who has great difficulty in reading (he is dyslexic), learns best by listening. He got through college by going to all his classes and listening intently. He didn’t take notes because he wouldn’t be able to read it anyway. He didn’t need notes. He apparently compensated for not being able to read by concentrating on learning to listen.

The funniest example of his skills in this area took place when Tony was 12 years old. On a train trip to visit his sister at Yale, people asked if he was a Yale student. He explained that he was a graduate student, that he was doing research in particle physics. He told them about his research and what they were learning.. When he told us this story, I was stunned. “How could you tell them about particle physics?” I asked.

“Simple,” he said. “Don’t you remember that program on Nova a couple months ago? It was all about particle physics.” I had trouble remembering the program. Tony remembered it in such detail that he could spend an hour explaining it. But no, he didn’t remember his lectures in college this well. As he explained, “I can only remember the really interesting stuff.”

So how do youdevelop a stronger auditory memory? With visual memory, you pushed yourself to study a photograph and observe the picture very carefully. Simply making the decision to pay close attention makes a big difference. But if you were to practice this skill, studying a variety of scenes, studying faces, studying buildings, studying the location of chess pieces, studying facial expressions, you would show great improvement in your visual memory.

Similarly, you can practice your auditory memory. Listen to a book on CD and stop every few minutes to sum up or even recite back, just what you heard. Listen to what a character  on TV says and try to sum in up in detail. See if you do better taking notes and remembering or simply listening. Taking notes helps some of us focus on finding the main ideas. You might even try to play a few bars of a song and sing it accurately. Reflect on what methods are helping you most in this area.

When you talk to a friend, or possibly your date, focus on listening to exactly what they are saying. forget about what you have to say on the subject, at least for now. LISTEN INTENTLY. Now you can ask them intelligent questions. “If I remember correctly, you said……. . What was it that made you think this way. You can practice your auditory memory or listening skills, and at the same time impress the other person that you are such a wonderful listener. They will get the feeling that you really care about them and what they think.

Simple ways we use Auditory Memory

1. Simply repeating information helps us remember. You meet someone interesting and your new friends tells you his or her phone number. You repeat in at least three or four times. You will forget it before you get home but you’ll remember it long enough to find a napkin and borrow a pen to write it down. Just keep repeating it.

2. Think of a word that rhymes with your new friend’s name. Scary Terry, Bad Chad, Susie’s a doozie. Harvery is Marvie. Peter is sweeter. Judy’s a cutie. Richard is Richer. Some of these rhymes aren’t exact, but they’ll do. You picture Richard with hundred dollar bills coming out of his pockets and you’re remember that he’s rich or richer and you’ll remember his name

3. Now try to add rhythm, possibly music. Let’s say you meet a young man named Harry Dean. You repeat the name several times, doing it rhythmically. It reminds you of a line from a simple song: “merrily, merrily, merrily.”

Row, Row, Row your boat, Gently down the stream.
Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Life is but a dream.

But what you hear now is “Harry Dean, Harry Dean, Harry Dean, Harry Dean.  Life is but a dream.”  And you picture Harry, of course, rowing his little red boat. And if you think that Harry Dean is like a dream, that helps too.

Or you meet Mary Matthews. Mary, Mary, Mary. I don’t know about you but I am reminded of

My mind would revise this to “Mary, Mary, not contrary. How does your garden grow? With Mathews and Pathways, all in a row.” I wold picture a hundred tiny garden gnomes, all named Matthews. If her name was Mary Lamb, it would be just too simple. Just sing Mary had a little lamb.

Read a simple book of nursery rhymes, especially the very short ones. And you don’t need to stick to  names that rhyme with Mary. I could almost as easily have thought “Yvette, Yvette, with your hair of jet, How does your garden grow?”  Tony, Tony, Are you lonely? And how does your garden grow. Michael, Michael, on your bicycle…  Jack, Jack, with your big back pack… Andrea, Andrea, from a faraway landia…

Another favorite song I use for remembering names is Bingo.

There was a farmer had a dog, and Bingo was his name-O.
B-I-N-G-O.  B-I-N-G-O.  B-I-N-G-O. And Bingo was his name-O.

You just met Amanda Gillis. Try it this way. The A and N are on the same note.

“Farmer Gillis had a daughter. Amanda is her name-O.
A-  M-  A-N – D- A,   A-  M-  A-N – D- A,   A-  M-  A-N – D- A,  Amanda is her name-O

4. This method isn’t just for learning names. You can create a simple rhyme and maybe sing it to a familiar tune to learn vocabulary.  Let’s try Osmosis. to the tune of Are You Sleeping? or  Frere Jacques. Wikipedia lists the words in 62 languages.

Through a Membrane, Semi-permeable, Os-mo-sis, Os-mo-sis.
From Higher Concentration, to Lower Concentration. Osmosis. Osmosis.

Would I do this for every person I meet? for every new vocabulary word? Absolutely not. If I can remember the name or the word easily, I wouldn’t waste my time. But there are names that I want to be absolutely sure to remember. There are vocabulary words that I keep forgetting. Those are the times you want to use a little extra effort.

Educational Technology

Educational Technology

Educational technology refers to various forms of technology that can be used to improve or enhance the learning process for students. The exact nature of such technology, however, can change fairly often as new hardware and software become available for students and teachers. This sort of technology can be used both in and out of the classroom, and can be utilized by teachers or enhance the ability of students to learn materials on their own. Educational technology often includes computer software that allows students to communicate with each other online, smartboards used in the classroom, and educational video games.
One of the most important aspects of educational technology is that it is constantly changing and advancing as progress in technology in general is made. A number of educators commit a great deal of time and effort to finding ways to effectively use new technology in and out of the classroom. Entire schools and degrees are now offered to students through virtual classrooms over the Internet, providing new educational opportunities for students all over the world.
These online classes are one of the major ways in which educational technology has changed how many people view education. Using various utilities and software applications, online classes allow students to view video of lectures given in a classroom, which can even be a virtual classroom in which a teacher is standing in front of a digital image that can change to reflect the material being discussed. Students can also use educational technology to communicate with each other online, using forums to create lasting records of class discussions and sharing resources to create group projects through telecommunications.
Educational technology can also include classroom hardware such as smartboards. These are effectively dry erase whiteboards that connect to a computer to act as both whiteboard and monitor. Teachers can type information or play videos on a computer — all displayed on the smart board — and use special markers to draw and interact with the data from the computer. This educational technology allows teachers to create more unique and experiential learning opportunities for students.
There are also a number of software developers looking into video games as a form of educational technology. While educational games have been maligned by some gamers in the past, a few developers have found ways to make educational games fun and provide learning through entertainment. Such games often encourage players to develop stronger language skills by using words and spelling to create effects on the game world, demonstrating advancement and success through effective communication. These games often have a positive influence on young players, who learn to associate achievement with the use of critical thinking and problem solving skills.

What Does an Educational Technologist Do?

An educational technologist combines his knowledge of technological tools with educational content to enhance learning for students. The technological tools usually involve computer hardware, software, and Web-based products. Becoming an educational technologist generally requires a graduate degree in education, instructional design, educational psychology, or a related field. Job opportunities for educational technologists are found in educational institutions, government agencies, instructional software companies and in other private entities.
Many educational technologists consider themselves educators. In a practical sense, the goal of the educational technologist is to help individuals advance their knowledge of a particular subject or skill, using technology as a tool. The educational technologist must have an understanding of how people learn and the technological challenges that sometimes interfere with the learning process. A software implementation that may seem logical to a software developer, for example, may not be the best feature from an educational standpoint. In this case, an educational technologist can work with the developer to create a more optimal learning tool.
The majority of educational technologists come from a background in education, psychology, or instructional design. Some may have a background in programming or a degree in a technology-related subject, although this is usually not a requirement. In most cases, the role of the educational technologist is to have an in-depth knowledge of how hardware and software products facilitate learning. An educational technologist who has an understanding of varied learning styles can help to develop instructional technology that accommodates the visual, auditory and kinesthetic needs of individual learners.
In many cases, educational technologists bring together the worlds of technology and content creation. An educational technologist might work with a software developer to ensure that the product is user-friendly. Working with the content writer might involve requests for shorter paragraphs and formatting that can be viewed more easily on a computer screen. The improvement recommendations are generally based on observing and understanding the challenges and needs of the end user.
Job opportunities for educational technologists have increased with the demand and use of technology as a learning tool. Schools and universities employ educational technologists to enhance curricula and create online learning programs. Government agencies need the help of these experts to create and deliver Web-based training programs to employees and the public. Companies that provide instructional software hire educational technologists to ensure that their products are user-friendly. Many large companies and organizations use the services of educational technologists to improve internal training processes and the delivery of information to employees.

this blog is designed to help you out to overcome as much as any obstetrical that you encounter throw ur way in learning English  as  a second language 

Active Learning

Active Learning

Active learning is when students learn information by participating in the educational content rather than listening only. It can include discussions, group learning, and activities that allow the students to experiment and explore. Active learning promotes teaching strategies that allow students who learn differently to be engaged in the classroom.
One technique for active learning is to allow discussion among the students in a classroom. Most teacher lectures involve the students listening and taking notes. Promoting the students to have open discussion about the educational topic gets them actively asking questions and debating answers. Classroom discussion usually does need to be supervised and allows the students to talk about the topic in detail. This can help some students to retain information better.
Once the teacher has presented new information on a topic, the students can then take turns teaching each other the same material. This is another example of active learning. The students will recall the information by taking on the teacher role. Each student may present the information in different ways, which may help the lesson sink in better.
Students can also actively learn by getting into groups. Student groups are usually comprised of three to five people. The group can have its own discussion or conduct an experiment based on the educational material. The experiment allows the students to get hands-on learning experience while working with each other.
Experiments are a big part of active learning, as they help the students discover information on their own. Experimenting can involve predictions, group discussions, and learning-by-doing. When a student finds out the answer on his own, it not only helps to learn the topic, but also can improve self-esteem in the classroom.
Games and other activities that get the students out of their seats are more forms of active learning. Many educational games can involve index cards, art supplies, or props. These physical items can help some students learn the educational facts and retain them visually for later use. Allowing students to get out of their seats helps them to release some energy while still learning.
With the rise of educational technology, computers have become a great active learning tool. Students can use educational software to write, conduct online experiments, or do research. Students can also have fun playing games that are educational and later discussing what they learned on the computer with the class.

Accelerated learning

Accelerated learning

Accelerated learning allows students to move through secondary school or college more quickly than their peers. The different types of accelerated learning that are most common include skipping grades, subject matter acceleration, early entrance to school or college, and advanced placement. Other types of accelerated learning include curriculum compacting, self-paced instruction, early graduation, correspondence courses, and credit by examination.
Parents, teachers, school psychologists, or other interested parties may begin the accelerated learning process if they decide that a student is intellectually and physically capable of moving beyond his or her current academic level. Students must be able to adapt and succeed with accelerated teaching methods. Once a consensus is reached that a child can benefit from moving ahead academically, he or she may participate in some form of accelerated learning. If a student excels in class and seems bored with the curriculum, it might be beneficial to present him or her with additional academic challenges. Active learning works well for advanced learners because it allows the curriculum to fit the student instead of trying to pigeonhole the student into the curriculum.
Experimental learning often means allowing a child to move ahead in his or her studies. Skipping grades — for example, bypassing fourth grade and moving right to fifth grade — is a common form of accelerated learning. Subject matter acceleration might include taking accelerated reading or accelerated math classes without bypassing a class grade.
Advanced learners may have an accelerated graduation date and advanced coursework while they are in school. Early entrance to school or college occurs when children or teenagers demonstrate an aptitude and the ability to excel in classes and to accept additional challenges. Advanced placement (AP) courses are a form of action learning where secondary school students take courses like accelerated reading or accelerated math in order to receive college credit. AP students will have already earned multiple college credits upon high school graduation.
Many advanced learners aren't challenged in the classroom and work better at their own pace. Curriculum compacting is a form of experimental learning where students can bypass certain introductory academic activities in the classroom. Students instead focus on classes like accelerated math or accelerated reading or other advanced activities and studies. Self-paced instruction, sometimes called independent study, allows students to choose their own pace and tempo for learning. Early graduation occurs when students have completed courses needed to graduate ahead of their class.
Advanced learners often take advantage of accelerated teaching methods; combined classes are an example of this sort of experimental learning. Students are given the opportunity to study and interact with others in more advanced grades, which may lead to skipping grades or taking AP courses. Dual enrollment is similar to an AP course of study; secondary students participating in dual enrollment will earn high school credits while taking middle school classes. High school students can receive college-level credits while taking high school classes.
Some forms of accelerated teaching methods take kids out of the classroom altogether. Correspondence courses are a form of action learning for advanced learners. Students may take classes online or by mail in addition to or in place of traditional classroom learning. Credit by examination allows students to take tests or to participate in some activity that demonstrates their skills and abilities, which may result in bypassing coursework or skipping grades.