Lesson 3 – Strategies to Support All Learners
The demographics and lived experiences of today’s students vary greatly. Effective and thoughtful integration of face-to-face and online teaching strategies can reduce the barriers to learning that many students face, ensuring that students feel supported and valued members of the learning community.
Next, read through the following strategies (Note: This is not an exhaustive list; there are many more strategies and you might also have developed strategies that have worked with your students!):
Adopt Open-Educational Resources (OERs) as much as possible
OERs are teaching and learning materials created and publicly available for free. OERs can include online textbooks, journals, multimedia, and even full courses. OERs make education more affordable and accessible to students.
For more information, see Algonquin College’s Library website on OERs and/or their video What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?
Communicate clearly and frequently
Use the Announcements tool within the LMS and/or send emails to the class to introduce yourself, clarify expectations for the hybrid class, remind of assessments due dates and seek feedback from students. To create a more welcoming environment, consider sending a brief video introduction rather than just in written form.
Design a detailed Weekly Schedule, ensuring to highlight what students are expected to do during each weekly hybrid learning hour.
Create an asynchronous online opportunity to get to know each other
Using a Discussion Board within the LMS or a third-party ed-tech tool such as Padlet, invite students to introduce themselves to one another, sharing their interests, hobbies, where they’re from, what they hope to learn from the course, etc. This is a low-stakes way to help build community early in the course, reducing anxiety when starting a new course and in face-to-face icebreakers.
Hold space for students to check-in outside of face-to-face classrooms
Raising your hand in a large public space amongst peers can be anxiety-inducing. Some cultures may also think it is impolite to question the teacher. Offer optional virtual or face-to-face drop-in times for students to ask questions and connect with you one-on-one.
Provide content in multiple means of representation
Wherever possible, include content in a variety of different media. This may include a website, online text such as an open educational resource (OER), video, podcast, infographic. Ensure that students have a choice of which resource they engage with to learn content. This is also in alignment with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and aims to reduce barriers to learning by meeting student preferences and needs.
Use in-class time to facilitate active learning tasks
Active learning is “learning by doing” rather than by only listening or watching. Students are engaged through exploration, problem-solving, discussion, practicing skills, peer feedback, and reflection. By using asynchronous time to introduce content and key concepts, more time in-class can be used for active learning activities.
Not only is active learning a strong pedagogical strategy for all students, but active learning within face-to-face teaching has also been found to reduce gender equity gaps as well as between white and Black students and first-generation students (Shief et al., 2011). However, this is also alongside effective hybrid course design and a culturally inclusive curriculum.