Learner-Created Materials
Slidecast
Learners create and use these materials. They are recommended for experienced instructors and instructors who are good at improvising and thinking on their feet.
Benefits of learner-created materials
- Learners are learning, retaining, practicing and reinforcing the material before they begin to work with it.
- Learners experience ownership and accountability for their own resources, notes and material.
Challenges of learner-created materials
- They require far more work and input from the instructor than working with any other kind of materials
- Learners do not always interpret instructions they way the instructor intends them to be interpreted.
- Instructor assumptions about what is self-explanatory may be challenged.
Tips for using learner-created materials
- Begin slowly, for both yourself and the learners.
- Start with a small project and reflect on the process.
- Stay focused and flexible in the classroom.
- Model the task for the learners.
- Show a sample piece in order to clarify your expectations.
- Explain to the learners why they are doing this activity.
- Make the instructions transparent.
- Scaffold the activities, working in small pieces toward a polished final copy.
