Would you try using a power drill without first reading the instructions, if you had never used one before?
Some people are very good at working out, minus instructions, how tools work…and they do a good job. However, for many of us a more likely scenario is: we get the tool working, but not quite as effectively as it should; we then realise we’ve missed a part and try to undo what we did; try another way; it still might not work, so we then go back to the instructions and read up.
Just as you get the most out of a power drill or any piece of equipment or technology if you know how to use it properly, the same goes for an online literacy intervention program.
A well-designed online literacy programme should, to some degree, be intuitive. We need these resources to be as instinctive and easy to start using as possible, so that tutors can get up and running quickly and support their students.
However, for any good tool, there needs to be some level of input on the practitioner’s part. From experience, I see that the students who benefit most are the ones who have a tutor who has dedicated some time to becoming confident in the resource they are using.
A good online literacy intervention program will have easy to follow instructions and perhaps an online practitioner’s course to show the tutor how to use it effectively with students. There is always going to be (and should be) some effort involved in getting up and running. A good program needs time.
Here’s why…
The more you know, the more effective the resource…
A good intervention program will be designed with the essential methodology, that underpins learning, at its core: revisiting, structured, cumulative and multi-sensory learning. The more we, as educators, understand about why the exercises are designed the way they are, the more accurately we will deliver the program.
Literacy intervention programs are sometimes specialist tools that have been adapted for use by teaching assistants, teachers and home educators. It is therefore important that the tutor takes time to learn how to use it, and it is the program developer’s responsibility to provide an easy way to do this. An online course is a great way to understand how a tool works; it can be done in your own time and at your own pace, giving opportunity to really explore and get to grips with the program.
Better experience for the student…
A child very quickly picks up on uncertainty. The more confident tutors are with a program themselves, the better they will be able to guide the student. If a student is not shown from the offset how to do something with at least some level of confidence from the tutor, the child will quickly question or doubt, possibly subconsciously, the effectiveness of the tasks they are being asked to work on.
The classic analogy, “It’s like riding a bike”, springs to mind. Our aim is to get that child ‘riding’ the program confidently and smoothly - we know the program will get the student to where he should be more quickly, but he first needs to be shown how to ‘ride the bike’.
Better experience for the tutor…
When technology “doesn’t work” it can be very frustrating. We’ve all been there: you don’t have much time; you’re run off your feet; and you “WANT IT TO WORK NOW”! If it doesn’t, we blame the equipment – it’s the easiest thing to do. But deep down (more often than not) we know it’s because we haven’t given it the time and focus it needs. It’s very simple: if we want to do a good job, if we care about the effectiveness of what we’re doing, then we must make time.
So, yes, the experience of using an intervention tool and its overall effectiveness does depend on its user, or rather the ‘deliverer’.
The good news is that some online resources out there have been designed to make it as easy as possible to get set up and started with students. And once you know what you’re doing…well...it’s like riding a bike.
Hannah MacLellan worked as a Dyslexia & Literacy Specialist at Dyslexia Action for many years and now works with the Units of Sound development team. She has considerable experience working with and providing advice, training and support to schools, colleges, community centers and parents. Units of Sound has a home version, Literacy that fits, which is designed to get parents/guardians supporting their child at home without all the training that is involved with most intervention tools used in schools.
Some people are very good at working out, minus instructions, how tools work…and they do a good job. However, for many of us a more likely scenario is: we get the tool working, but not quite as effectively as it should; we then realise we’ve missed a part and try to undo what we did; try another way; it still might not work, so we then go back to the instructions and read up.
Just as you get the most out of a power drill or any piece of equipment or technology if you know how to use it properly, the same goes for an online literacy intervention program.
A well-designed online literacy programme should, to some degree, be intuitive. We need these resources to be as instinctive and easy to start using as possible, so that tutors can get up and running quickly and support their students.
However, for any good tool, there needs to be some level of input on the practitioner’s part. From experience, I see that the students who benefit most are the ones who have a tutor who has dedicated some time to becoming confident in the resource they are using.
A good online literacy intervention program will have easy to follow instructions and perhaps an online practitioner’s course to show the tutor how to use it effectively with students. There is always going to be (and should be) some effort involved in getting up and running. A good program needs time.
Here’s why…
The more you know, the more effective the resource…
A good intervention program will be designed with the essential methodology, that underpins learning, at its core: revisiting, structured, cumulative and multi-sensory learning. The more we, as educators, understand about why the exercises are designed the way they are, the more accurately we will deliver the program.
Literacy intervention programs are sometimes specialist tools that have been adapted for use by teaching assistants, teachers and home educators. It is therefore important that the tutor takes time to learn how to use it, and it is the program developer’s responsibility to provide an easy way to do this. An online course is a great way to understand how a tool works; it can be done in your own time and at your own pace, giving opportunity to really explore and get to grips with the program.
Better experience for the student…
A child very quickly picks up on uncertainty. The more confident tutors are with a program themselves, the better they will be able to guide the student. If a student is not shown from the offset how to do something with at least some level of confidence from the tutor, the child will quickly question or doubt, possibly subconsciously, the effectiveness of the tasks they are being asked to work on.
The classic analogy, “It’s like riding a bike”, springs to mind. Our aim is to get that child ‘riding’ the program confidently and smoothly - we know the program will get the student to where he should be more quickly, but he first needs to be shown how to ‘ride the bike’.
Better experience for the tutor…When technology “doesn’t work” it can be very frustrating. We’ve all been there: you don’t have much time; you’re run off your feet; and you “WANT IT TO WORK NOW”! If it doesn’t, we blame the equipment – it’s the easiest thing to do. But deep down (more often than not) we know it’s because we haven’t given it the time and focus it needs. It’s very simple: if we want to do a good job, if we care about the effectiveness of what we’re doing, then we must make time.
So, yes, the experience of using an intervention tool and its overall effectiveness does depend on its user, or rather the ‘deliverer’.
The good news is that some online resources out there have been designed to make it as easy as possible to get set up and started with students. And once you know what you’re doing…well...it’s like riding a bike.
Hannah MacLellan worked as a Dyslexia & Literacy Specialist at Dyslexia Action for many years and now works with the Units of Sound development team. She has considerable experience working with and providing advice, training and support to schools, colleges, community centers and parents. Units of Sound has a home version, Literacy that fits, which is designed to get parents/guardians supporting their child at home without all the training that is involved with most intervention tools used in schools.
