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How to Make Your Course Address the Individuality of Learners

• Rationale
  • The Three Brains
  • Diversity
  • Potential Learning Dynamics [pdf]
  • All People Do Learn [pdf]
• Use these assessments for your students
  • Reading Style Inventory (Adult) [pdf]
  • Alert Scale of Cognitive Style [pdf]
  • Multiple Intelligences Inventory for Adults [pdf]
  • Other Surveys
• Give your students the big picture.
• Vary presentations to learning styles and multiple intelligences.
  • Multiple Intelligences for Adult Literacy and Adult Education
• Encourage emotional involvement.
• Strategies for Learner-Centered Distance Teaching
• Make learners feel recognized and known in your course.
  • Ways to Do Introductions in a asynchronous discussion area (bulletin board)
  • Ways to Do Introductions in a chat room

Additional Readings

• Instructional Strategies for Online Courses "Because learners have different learning styles or
  a combination of styles, online educators should design activities that address their modes of
  learning in order to provide significant experiences for each class participant."
• Schools, Skills and Scaffolding on the Web "In the excitement of bringing the Internet into our
  classrooms, we sometimes forget to prepare our learners appropriately."
• Creating Powerful Online Courses Using Multiple Instructional Strategies "Because two learners
  may participate in the same class, but have different learning experiences (Tyler, 1949), online
  educators must organize situations that address the various facets of learning in order to provide
  significant experiences for each class participant."
• Active & Cooperative Learning in the College A listing and description of very specific activities
  that could be adapted for online learning.
• Web-Enhanced Learning Environment Strategies for Classroom Teachers "This paper presents
  a model for conceptualizing the components of the WWW and merges resources with six sound
  pedagogical classroom practices. Six Web-enhanced learning environment strategies result from
  this merger."
• Learning Styles and Experiential Learning "Educational research shows that people have different
  learning styles or preferences, and that adults learn most effectively when the learning has an
  experiential component."