Learner Resources Essay Example for Free

Learner Resources Essay Review the range of resources available within the organisation for a selected curriculum area. Prepare, use and evaluate one of them in their teaching. Analyse the strengths and challenges of the selected resource and how it has supported learning. INTRODUCTION Selecting the use of resources is a vital aspect of enhancing not only the learning experience for the student, but also the effectiveness of the teacher’s delivery. The fact that students do have varying learning needs and styles, would suggest that the teacher would need to consider the various learning resources available that could help fulfil the student needs. Therefore it is important that the use of resources are fully integrative of the teaching strategies used, hence complimenting to the effectiveness of these strategies. Teaching/learning resources that can be used are: †¢ Printed materials †¢ Photographs and slides †¢ Posters †¢ Models †¢ Chalk/Black Boards †¢ Flip charts †¢ Overhead transparancies †¢ Audi tapes and compact discs †¢ Tape slide sequences †¢ Video tapes and film †¢ Laboratory equipment †¢ Real objects †¢ Computer based resources However, whilst there is a great deal of choice available to the teacher it is important to evaluate the options available fully in order to ensure that the aims and objectives of the session are met and that resources are not chosen in an unstructured way. Rather, the resources, should be a complimentary tool to enhancing the learning experience. This can ensure effective student learning, however, if not evaluated fully, this can have a detrimental effect. Cox and Harper (2000: 57-58) pose general questions to consider when evaluating resources: †¢ Are the materials appropriate to the learning outcomes? †¢ Are they suitable in terms of the characteristics of the students? †¢ Are they clear and attractive and consistent with a professional approach to teaching? †¢ Are they reasonably cost effective? †¢ Are they suitable for the way they will be used? †¢ Are they free from discriminatory language or images? Therefore, when evaluating the most commonly used resources that have been undertaken on the Certificate of Personnel Practice Course at Barking College the above considerations will be taken into account. The table below analyses the learning resources that have been used within the teaching context on the Certificate in Personnel Practice course at Barking College. The resource most frequently used within the sessions conducted on the Certificate in Personnel Practice course is the use of the Powerpoint (see Appendix A for example of powerpoint presentation taken from Week 12 of the course). It was felt that the Powerpoint presentation enabled the greatest opportunity to convey information to a full class of students, whilst given the learners an opportunity to feedback, through questions and answers. As stated by Armitage et al (2003: 127) this method gives the potential for dynamic graphics, greater and easier to use colour and ‘live’ demonstration of interactive software and the Internet’. Additionally, Davies J et al (1993) suggests that if it is apparent to the students that little attention is given to the quality of the resource then motivation will be affected. Therefore, the session would benefit in continuously gaining student feeback on the effectiveness of this resource. Previously, overhead slides had been used, but as mentioned the use of Powerpoint has become very cost effective, through storing presentations on disk. As well as sharing this with other members of the teaching team it can be shared with the students as well. Specifically, Powerpoint allows the student to print out user-friendly handouts of the slides, which is effective for note taking. Through identifying some of the limitations of the Powerpoint the sessions include the active use of the whiteboard to write down student contributions and amendments. The need for further additional resources to compliment the Powerpoint is also needed. The use of handouts has identified further that assessments and participatory groupwork is imperative. Therefore, as with all resources it is important that there is not over-reliance on one particular resource, as this would not appeal to all learning styles and is limited in meeting the strategies adopted by the teacher. Therefore the use of complimentary and additional resources is imperative. Case studies have been identified as an ideal way of ensuring assessment, whilst obtaining active student involvement either individually or as a group to contribute. So will therefore, be used more readily in future sessions to compliment the Powerpoint resource Conclusion Different resources have their strengths and weaknesses, with some having a more positive/ negative effect on the learners than others. Therefore, a range of resources have been continuously used on the course in order to not only meet the needs of the learner but the aims and objectives of each individual session. BIBLIOGRAPHY Armitage, A et al (2003) Teaching and Training in Post-Compulsory Education. Maidenhead: Open University Press Cox, A and Harper, H (2000) Planning Teaching and Assessing Learning: A Reader. London: Greenwich University Press Davies, J et al (1993) Adult Learning, Adult Teaching 3rd edn. Cardiff: Welsh Academic Press Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (1992) Manual of Learning Styles, 3rd edn. London: Peter Honey Petty, G (2004) Teaching Today: A Practical Guide, 3rd edn. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes