H3 - How to create assessment opportunities that meet the needs of learners

Assessment is essential to learning, as it will allow you to see how your learners are progressing, and will highlight any areas in which your learners are struggling. Assessment is also essential when you are teaching an accredited course as there will be certain assessment criteria that learners will have to meet to gain the qualification. By discussing the options with learners you are making sure that the session is inclusive, as some learners may decide to not part take in the course due to the written assessment methods. Also you are creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment.

There are many different ways in which learners can be assessed, and often there is flexibility when doing an accredited course for learners to submit work or pieces of assessment in different ways. It is important to find out from your learners what and how they would prefer to be assessed, and where possible try to accommodate that. You may find that some learners are better at demonstrating rather than writing about topics. Where this is the case it may be possible for the learner to have an observation or a recorded discussion of a topic rather than to write a written assignment on the topic. Voice recording is another method of assessment that will allow tutors to assess the learning, without the use of written assignments.

Learners who have visual impairments may require additional help or support if the assessment is written, or if there is an exam at the end of the course. By discussing options with the learner you are able to determine what support is required, also the discussion will make the learners feel supported and valued. The support may take the form of a scribe, who will write for the learner, or 1:1 support to help complete a written assignment.

When an exam is used at summative assessment it can often be difficult for learners who have English as a second language, it is important to explain to the learner the support that will be put in place for them, such as an interpreter or a dictionary that will support them in understand the text that they will given.

Without talking to your learners about their   additional support needs, for any assessment methods learners may feel isolated or excluded which may affect their attendance or participation on the course. Therefore when discussing assessment methods it is important to go through the options with learners, to put their minds at rest and also to ensure you are providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment.

H1 - How to Select Inclusive Learning and Teaching Techniques

It is very important to make sure that your session is inclusive, and you can help to do that by selecting different learning and teaching methods. There are many different Learning and Teaching methods that can be used during a lesson; choosing which techniques to use will depend on the learners that are in your class. Choosing inclusive learning and teaching techniques will allow the entire group to be involved and ensure that your session is inclusive.

It is important that you discuss with your learners what their support needs and requirements are. Once you know the needs and requirements you are able to plan your session to ensure that all learners are included.

Ice breakers are a good way to get learners interacting with each other and help to get the learners to know one another and can start to break down barriers that learners may have. Ice breakers can be simple getting to know each other tasks which can consist of finding out a few facts about your partner, this doesn't require any writing, so is often a good way to build up a  within the group without any learners feeling threatened.

A practical activity may be more appropriate for learners that learner kinaesthetically and that possible struggle with written work. By using this teaching and learning methods you are starting to take away some of the barriers that learners may face in their learning journey. The result of removing or partially removing barriers is that the learners will feel included and able to learn.

A tutor led demonstration is a teaching and learning method that works well with hands on, psycho motor session. This allows all learners to participate regardless of ability levels or learning styles. A tutor led demonstration may help learners that learn visually, however it may be that some learners have hearing difficulties there for when doing a tutor led demonstration it is import to make sure instructions are given both verbally and visually, written down. Therefore you are able to ensure that all learner and learning styles have been catered for.

A pyramid technique can be used to get everyone in the group involved in a topic; the pyramid technique starts off as an individual task, then moves to pairs, small groups, then the whole group. This technique allows everyone's views to be heard and considered, not just the more dominant members of the group. This technique can be used in order to gain the consensus, or generate a definition on certain topic. By using a pyramid technique there is not as much pressure put on individual learners to generate their own definition, but allows them to gather their own thoughts then discuss them with the other learners.

Ensuring your teaching and learning methods are inclusive and will meet the needs of your learners will help learners feel valued and supported. As mentioned earlier it is essential to find out if your learners have any needs or need any support, as then you will be able to choose the appropriate teaching and learning methods for the learners and their learning styles. 

H2 - How to Select Resources that Meet the Needs of Learners

Resources can come in many forms and used in many ways, so it important to ensure that resources are accessible to all learners. Resources can help aid learning, so it is crucial to select resources that also meet the needs of your learners.

Where possible it is important to discuss with learners what their needs are and what extra support they require in order for the session to be inclusive. Some learners may not disclose their additional needs for a variety of reasons; therefore there are some steps you can take to ensure that learners will still be able to participate. For example, making sure that all resources that are word processed are written in 12 point text, and in an easy to read font, such as Arial, this will help learners with the reading of text. Also you can make sure that the text used on PowerPoint presentations is large enough to read from where learners will be sitting. This will not help learners that have severe difficulties in reading text; however it will eliminate some of the issues.

For some learners with visual support needs, the black text written on white paper can affect their ability to read the text, therefore printing handout or other text document on different coloured paper can help dramatically with their learning. This is just one way of selecting an appropriate resource that meets the need of learners. For learners who have visual impairments, there are many different changes we can make to resources to make them accessible to the learners. Making handouts and other resources available in a larger text print or Braille will allow learners with visual impairments to be included in the lesson. By making documents available in larger fonts or in Braille you are ensuring that your session is inclusive.

            Learners who have hearing difficulties may struggle if you are teaching a session without the use of a PowerPoint or handouts, therefore it may be beneficial to the learner to provide them with a written resource as to what they are going to be doing, and what you will be discussing in the session. This will allow the learner to still feel included in the sessions, rather than wondering what is going on. As if the leaner feels like they are missing out on what is going on in the sessions it might affect their decision to continue on the course.

            By talking to learners and finding out which resources and support they require in advance of the session you are able to ensure that the session is inclusive before the course starts which will have a positive impact on the learner and the learning that will take place. 

H4 - Supporting Learners to develop their Functional Skills

There are many was to embed ICT skills into a session, which will allow learners to build on their skills. ICT can be used in most sessions and could include tasks such as typing up work into a Word document, or using Power Point to create a presentation to present to the rest of the group. Getting learners to do a presentation will also embed language skills as well as ICT skills. Another way to embed ICT skills into a session is to get learners to do research on-line on a topic. In some sessions there may be a lack of ICT resources, in which case it may be more difficult to embed skills, however you could make sure that you give a handout containing links to websites relevant to your session. By providing links it will encourage learners to access them in their own time; there you have embedded skills into your session without the ICT resources in the classroom.

Numeracy skills can also be embedded in most sessions; it can be as simple as putting in a graph, bar chart, or pie chart into your presentation, or handout. This will allow your learners to get used to seeing charts and could help them to understand how they work, therefore embedding numeracy skills into your sessions. Also you could use terms such as 50% rather than half, which again will allow your learners to understand numerical terms better. Time keeping skills can also be embedded into a lesson by giving learners timetables to show what time they start their lessons, and also by informing learners that breaks are given every 45 minutes. In our organisation student are reimbursed for their travel costs, such as bus tickets, one way of embedding numeracy skills into a session could be to ask the learners to total up their travel costs rather than us working it out for them.

Literacy skills can be embedded into your sessions in a number of ways; this could include getting your learners to create posters, or handouts. You could also get learners to read out or present their work to the rest of the group, which would embed both language and communication skills into your session. Also providing a print out of your Power Point (if you have one) is another way of embedding literacy and language skills, as learners will be able to follow the Power Point at their own pace, and also gives learners a resource they can take away. Literacy and language skills can also be embedded in lessons by getting learners to take part in role play situations, or discussions on a certain topic. Language skills could be embedded into a session when starting a new topic or subject area by providing learners with a glossary which will provide learners with definitions of new terms.