Understanding Learning Needs and Gaps

Task 1:

Introduction

Learning needs are referred to the gap existing between the present level of skill and knowledge of the learner and the level of skill and knowledge required to execute a set of tasks or a single task. The learning needs are required to be considered on the context of the current social, physical, emotional intellectual development of the learner in the classroom. In this assignment, the point of referrals used to meet learning needs of learners is described. Later, the role and use of initial and diagnostic assessment and its importance to identify the needs of the learner is discussed.

Describing points of referral to meet the needs of learners

All the needs of learners cannot be fulfilled by the teachers within the limited time in the classroom or school and thus different points of referrals are used to meet the learner’s needs. The tutorial support system is a nature of referral point used by the learners to meet their learning needs. In tutorial support system, teaching session is organised by the teacher or instructor to teach information regarding any subject to one student or a group of students to specifically meet their personal learning needs (Ma'arop and Embi, 2016). This is an effective point of referral for meeting learner's needs because in tutorial support system the tutors provide one-to-one teaching session to help the student practically and with personal issues which arise while learning to holistically meet all the learning needs of specific learners. In my organisation, tutorial supports are provided to children through videos and online chatting where I being the Art and Design teacher inform each student regarding the way they can overcome their personal issues and be able to draw and design effectively. During online chatting in tutorial support, students are asked to take different time slots so that all the learner’s needs can be individually meet by me. The educational website is another point of referral used to meet the needs of the learners where various learning videos and programs are present that informs in simpler terms and ways to solve different subject matters and activities. In the website, the students are allowed to post their learning queries and needs where it is seen that many experienced teaching professional and students resolve the mentioned queries (Henrie et al. 2015). This is helpful for the learners to meet their needs as using these websites as referrals they are able to learn at their own pace and meet the personal learning needs appropriately through discussion with experienced professionals. The specialist supports the learning field act as referral for meeting the needs of the learners who are struggling or falling behind academically. They mainly work closely with guidance counsellors, teachers and principal to inform them regarding the way learning curriculum is to be framed so that the needs of academically unsuccessful learners are appropriately met (Morgan, 2016).

Explaining the importance of identifying and meeting individual needs of learners

The importance of identifying individual learner’s needs is that it helps the instructors to effectively plan the curriculum where inclusive learning is allowed (Schroeder and Terras, 2015). This is because identification of needs of individual learners leads the instructors understands the way teaching is to be provided and which resources are to be managed in organising the curriculum so that all the students are equally able to achieve improved learning and development. As mentioned by Jackson (2016), identity of learner’s individual needs is essential so that instructors can determine the way learners are to be motivated. This is because identifying the needs leads the instructors to understand the resources to be made available for the learners and the skills to be supported so that they are motivated to learn effectively. As argued by Hart (2015), identifying the needs of the learners is essential as it creates a learner-centred process of learning. This is evident as determination of the needs of the learner’s results instructors to plan the curriculum which is focused on meeting learner's needs, in turn, forming a learner-centred approach of teaching. The meeting of the learner’s individual needs is important to help them develop wider skills and provide progression opportunities for the learners in future (Gajewski and Mather, 2015). This is because meeting individual needs of learners helps to minimise their skill and knowledge gap faced while studying which in turn assist them to have improved knowledge to progress for understanding and developing further intricate information in education. The meeting of learner’s needs is important as it helps the teachers to achieve quality studying in the classroom settings (Pereira and de Oliveira, 2015). This is because meeting the needs helps the teachers to resolve the challenges faced by the learners, in turn, avoiding barriers previously experienced while studying that consequence to improve the ability of the learners to study hard and achieve quality results. For instance, a student in my Art and Design class would often be distracted and avoid drawing. In this aspect, I evaluated him and identified that his needs include support to help him imagine for drawing. This led me to understand that he lacks imagination and in the process, I made arrangements in the class through pictures and videos to help him imagine to draw.

Analysing the role and use of initial and diagnostic assessment in agreeing individual learning goals

Initial assessment in learning initiates from the entry of the learner in the education field and continues till individual learning plan for the learner is completed. As mentioned by Wiliam and Thompson (2017), the role of initial assessment in learning is to identify support and learning needs of an individual at the initiation of a learning program. This means that the initial assessment has the role to identify current knowledge and skills of the learners while entering a learning course. The initial assessment is used to determine the proficiency of the learner to enter the course and the way the learning is to be structured so that it is able for them to learn as well as improve their current skills and knowledge through the course (Wiliam and Thompson, 2017). As argued by Looney et al. (2018), lack of proper initial assessment of the learner leads in formation of a learning program and plan that does not address the needs of the learners. This means that failure to execute proper initial assessment would lead the learner to be admitted to any improper learning course and fail them in the first stage of the learning cycle in the program. The diagnostic assessment is executed after the initial assessment where its role is to lead the instructor to identify the individual strength, weakness, skill and knowledge of the learner prior to any instruction (Van der Kleij et al. 2015). This is effective as it helps the instructor able to get direction regarding the way the learner is to be helped through the curriculum to assist them in achieving proper education. As commented by Lee (2015), diagnostic assessment is used to primarily analyse the difficulties of the students and have guidance regarding the way lesson and curriculum are to be planned. This is an effective step as failure to execute diagnostic assessment would lead the instructors unable to improve current knowledge and skills of the learners through the lessons. As argued by Andrade and Heritage (2017), failure to execute effective diagnostic assessment led the instructors to fail to meet the unique and specific learning needs of the learners. This is because improper diagnostic assessment provides fewer details to the instructors regarding the way the lesson is to be broken down to enable the learner to improve and achieve better skills and knowledge through the program.

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Using methods of initial and diagnostic assessment determine learning goals of individuals

The methods of initial assessment for determining the learning goals of the learners include examination of the curriculum vitae (CV) and application form. The examination of learner’s CV and application form informs about the current knowledge and skill set possessed by the learner (Gibson et al. 2015). Thus, the examination informs the instructor to understand whether or not the learner has basic knowledge and skill to enter the learning program. For example, as Art and Design teacher, I analysed the application forms of the students to be included in my class 2 where I found that two students do not have any knowledge are experience regarding drawing or designing. This led me to understand that the two students may not be suitable for the art and designing program in class 2 and require being included into preliminary art and design program to help them develop knowledge to be included in the present program in class 2. The basic skill testing is a method of initial assessment where the instructor examines and analyse the learners to determine their basic abilities and knowledge to be included in the learning program (Kalyuga and Singh, 2016). This is effective as it helps the instructors understand the way the lesson is to be planned so that the gaps in skills and knowledge of the learners are resolved and they do not face barriers for the gaps of existing skills to get educated. The Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) is the process of diagnostic assessment where the instructors determine the way development and training of the learners are to be arranged so that they do not face the current difficulty in lesson and able to accomplish the program properly (Littlejohn et al. 2016). This is evident as in LNA the instructors are able to understand the barriers being faced by the learners in the lesson that is posing difficulty for them to accomplish the program. It makes the instructors determine the way the learners are to be directed and trained so that they are able to successfully accomplish the lesson.

Recording individual goals of the learners

In order to record learner's individual learning goals, analysis of the application form, learning needs analysis and evaluation of their basic skill set are done. The application form analysis is done for student A who is to be admitted in art and designing class in the primary section. The analysis of the form informs that the learner has knowledge and skill to differentiate between colours but has no existing skill and knowledge to draw or paint. This is because in reply to the question whether the learner can draw, choose colours and paint the information given is that the learner is able to choose the colour but have never drawn or painted any picture before. Thus, the individual learning goal of Student A is to be educated about way to draw and use proper colours to present a beautiful picture. The basic skill set assessment is done for student B who had autism. In the basic skill set, the child was provided colours and was asked to draw and paint a picture. However, he did not respond to draw and when a picture was given to her she was seen to properly paint it. The assessment led to develop the record of learning goal for Student B is that the individual is to be made able to draw pictures by using imagination. The Learning Needs Analysis of student B is done where the learning recorded is that she is to be helped with imagination to draw a picture. This is because during the analysis it is seen that without providing an object as an example for the topic to be drawn the learner never draws which informs she faces difficulty with imagination.

Conclusion

The above discussion informs that referral to be used to meet learner’s needs student tutorial system, student website, student services and others. The initial assessment is followed by diagnostic assessment and the methods used in recording the goals of learners through the assessments are analysis of CV and application form, basic skill test, learning needs analysis and others.

References

Ma'arop, A.H. and Embi, M.A., 2016. Implementation of blended learning in higher learning institutions: A review of the literature. International Education Studies, 9(3), pp.41-52.

Henrie, C.R., Halverson, L.R. and Graham, C.R., 2015. Measuring student engagement in technology-mediated learning: A review. Computers & Education, 90, pp.36-53.

Morgan, J.L., 2016. Reshaping the Role of a Special Educator into a Collaborative Learning Specialist. International Journal of Whole Schooling, 12(1), pp.40-60.

Schroeder, S.M. and Terras, K.L., 2015. Advising experiences and needs of online, cohort, and classroom adult graduate learners. The Journal of the National Academic Advising Association, 35(1), pp.42-55.

Hart, S., 2015. Engaging the learner: The ABC's of service–learning. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 10(2), pp.76-79.

Gajewski, A. and Mather, M., 2015. Remediation Strategies for Learners at Risk of Failure: A Course Based Retention Model. College Quarterly, 18(1), p.n1.

Pereira, N. and de Oliveira, L.C., 2015. Meeting the linguistic needs of high-potential English language learners: What teachers need to know. Teaching Exceptional Children, 47(4), pp.208-215.

Looney, A., Cumming, J., van Der Kleij, F. and Harris, K., 2018. Reconceptualising the role of teachers as assessors: teacher assessment identity. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 25(5), pp.442-467.

Van der Kleij, F.M., Vermeulen, J.A., Schildkamp, K. and Eggen, T.J., 2015. Integrating data-based decision making, assessment for learning and diagnostic testing in formative assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 22(3), pp.324-343.

Gibson, D., Ostashewski, N., Flintoff, K., Grant, S. and Knight, E., 2015. Digital badges in education. Education and Information Technologies, 20(2), pp.403-410.

Andrade, H.L. and Heritage, M., 2017. Using formative assessment to enhance learning, achievement, and academic self-regulation. Routledge.

Kalyuga, S. and Singh, A.M., 2016. Rethinking the boundaries of cognitive load theory in complex learning. Educational Psychology Review, 28(4), pp.831-852.

Littlejohn, A., Hood, N., Milligan, C. and Mustain, P., 2016. Learning in MOOCs: Motivations and self-regulated learning in MOOCs. The Internet and Higher Education, 29, pp.40-48.

Task 2:

Introduction

Assessment is regarding as the main component of education because it assists the student to understand the gaps they are facing in knowledge and skills, in turn, motivating them to respond to the gaps so that their skills and knowledge can be improved. In this assignment, the purpose and types of assessment method used in education and training are to be explained. Later, the effectiveness of the assessment method to meet the needs of learners is explained.

Explaining the purpose and types of assessment used in education and training

Analysing the effectiveness of assessment methods to meet individual needs of learners

The effectiveness of written examination is that it allows the instructors to provide feedback against the answers of the learners helping the learners understand the gaps in their skills and concepts in studies (Afghan et al. 2018). This is beneficial to meet individual needs of learners as it alerts them about their shortage of skills and talents that are to be fulfilled to be a better student. This is evident as based in the written examination I could individually provided feedback to the students regarding the things they are to focus on to develop holistic concept of drawing different nature of birds. The limitation of written examination is that there lack of reliability and authenticity regarding successful implementation of the knowledge and developed concept in practical field (Fareed et al. 2016). This is evident the written examination avoid me to understand the way concept mentioned regarding the drawing of the bird is to be actually implemented practically by students during drawing in the class. For example, few students may draw the eyes of the bird so small that it would not be properly represented in the drawing thus making them fail to be successful. Thus, written examination is unable to make me as an instructor be reliable and ensure authenticity that the developed concept by students regarding bird is to be successfully implemented while drawing practically. The effectiveness of practical observation is that it helps the students develop important real-life skills apart from theoretical knowledge (Norton, 2018). This is beneficial to meet the needs of the learners to act properly in the practical field. It is evident as through practical observation of the students while drawing I was able to identify which learners lacks expertise in which aspects in art and designing of scenery and accordingly helped them to develop those skills so that they are able to draw a perfect scenery as instructed. However, the limitation with practical observation is that it is time consuming (Pianosi et al. 2016). This is evident as I took increased amount of time to understand during practical observation which student lacks what nature of practical skill in art and designing of the scenery.

The effectiveness of self-assessment is that it leads the learners to understand their weakness and strength as well as determine way to act in future (Kearney et al. 2016). This is evident as I was able to make each of the learners in my class through self-assessment understand regarding which aspects in drawing and designing they are to focus more in future so that their need to become an academically successful artist is accomplished. The limitation of self-assessment is that the learners may provide wrong information regarding their strength and weakness (Brown et al. 2018). This is because they may think one skill to be strength whereas in reality it is actually their weakness. Thus, using self-assessment as a instructor would make me unable to have sufficient and reliable information about the skills gaps faced by the learners making me to educate them in hindered manner.

Conclusion

The above discussion informs that the methods of assessment to be used include verbal and written examination, peer review, professional discussion and others. They are effective in identifying skills gaps of the learners, in turn, helping to develop a proper educational plan that meets all the needs of learners.

References

Afghan, S., Memon, M., Waqar, S.H., Sikandar, R.I. and Memon, M.I., 2018. Students' Feedback of Written Examination: A Public Sector Medical University Experience. Annals of PIMS-Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, 14(2), pp.191-194.

Brown, C.E., Back, A.L., Ford, D.W., Kross, E.K., Downey, L., Shannon, S.E., Curtis, J.R. and Engelberg, R.A., 2018. Self-assessment scores improve after simulation-based palliative care communication skill workshops. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, 35(1), pp.45-51.

Donnelly, L.F., Larson, D.B., III, R.E.H. and Kruskal, J.B., 2018. Practical suggestions on how to move from peer review to peer learning. American Journal of Roentgenology, 210(3), pp.578-582.

Fareed, M., Ashraf, A. and Bilal, M., 2016. ESL learners’ writing skills: Problems, factors and suggestions. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 4(2), pp.81-92.

Fraile, J., Panadero, E. and Pardo, R., 2017. Co-creating rubrics: The effects on self-regulated learning, self-efficacy and performance of establishing assessment criteria with students. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 53, pp.69-76.

Hsia, Y.T., Jong, B.S., Lin, T.W. and Liao, J.Y., 2019. Designating “hot” items in multiple‐choice questions—A strategy for reviewing course materials. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 35(2), pp.188-196.

Kearney, S., Perkins, T. and Kennedy-Clark, S., 2016. Using self-and peer-assessments for summative purposes: analysing the relative validity of the AASL (Authentic Assessment for Sustainable Learning) model. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(6), pp.840-853.

Knoll, A.R., Otani, H., Skeel, R.L. and Van Horn, K.R., 2017. Learning style, judgements of learning, and learning of verbal and visual information. British Journal of Psychology, 108(3), pp.544-563.

Kostohryz, K., 2016. The Doctoral Comprehensive Examination in Counselor Education: Faculty Members’ Perception of its Purposes. The Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 8(3), p.6.

Lichtenstein, J.D., Erdodi, L.A. and Linnea, K.S., 2017. Introducing a forced-choice recognition task to the California Verbal Learning Test–Children’s Version. Child Neuropsychology, 23(3), pp.284-299.

Michaels, S. and O’Connor, C., 2015. Conceptualizing talk moves as tools: Professional development approaches for academically productive discussion. Socializing intelligence through talk and dialogue, pp.347-362.

Milner-Bolotin, M., 2015. Learning physics teaching through collaborative design of conceptual multiple-choice questions. The Canadian Journal of Action Research, 16(2), pp.22-41.

Nkambule, T. and Mukeredzi, T.G., 2017. Pre-service teachers’ professional learning experiences during rural teaching practice in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga Province. South African Journal of Education, 37(3).pp.12-23.

Park, I.H., Hong, J.M. and Shin, S., 2016. Strategies of Peer-Assisted Learning and Their Effectiveness in Nursing Education: A Systematic Review. Korean Medical Education Review, 18(2), pp.106-113.

Pianosi, F., Beven, K., Freer, J., Hall, J.W., Rougier, J., Stephenson, D.B. and Wagener, T., 2016. Sensitivity analysis of environmental models: A systematic review with practical workflow. Environmental Modelling & Software, 79, pp.214-232.

Appendix

The effectiveness of multiple-choice examination is that it allows the learners to be forced to demonstrate their every extent of knowledge in answering a single question (Milner-Bolotin, 2015). This is beneficial to meet the needs of the learners as the examination helps the students to think and understand the facts they have learned rather than interpreting the information in someone else’s words resulting in better critical thinking ability of the learners. The effectiveness of the assignment is that it increases the learning capability of the students by leading them to use their brains to answer questions (Ndumbaro and Mutula, 2019). This effective to meet the needs of the learners by making them improve their existing skills to more effectively accomplish studies. The effectiveness of verbal examination is that it helps the student orally demonstrate their concepts learned whereas professional discussion is effective for the learners to share with the instructors the needs to be fulfilled in learning (Knoll et al. 2017; Nkambule and Mukeredzi, 2017). These are beneficial to meet the needs of the learners by arranging the curriculum in such a way so that the identified needs to be fulfilled are covered. The effectiveness of peer-review is that the instructors are able to get insight into the demands of the learners which are not informed and it helps the learners realise their weakness in skills and knowledge which are unknown to them from the perspective of their close peer who are studying along with them (Park et al. 2016). Thus, it is beneficial to meet the needs of the learners as peer-review helps the learners improve the skills and knowledge which they could not realise on their own are their weakness and affecting their educational achievements.

Task 3:

Introduction

The instructors or teachers require communicating with the learners so that they can inspire the learners to participate and develop knowledge in the class. In this process, proper communication theories are to be analysed to understand the method of communication to be used for successful interaction with the learners. In this assignment, the analysis of benefits and limitation of communication methods used in the personal area of specialism is to be presented.

Analysing the benefits and limitations of communication methods and use of media in own area of specialism

My personal area of specialism is to act as an Art and Design teacher for elementary, grade 1 and 2 classes. According to UK education system, the learners below the age of 5 years are present in the elementary class, learners who are 5-6 years of age are present in grade 1 and learners of 7-8 years of age are present in grade 2 (hmc.org.uk, 2018). Thus, based on the age of the learners I tried to use different communication methods and media to interact with them in helping them learn the lesson. According to Piaget's Cognitive Developmental theory, the children who are 2 to 7 years of age are present in the preoperational stage where one of their major characteristics is that they think symbolically and adapt to use pictures and words for representing objects. Moreover, in this phase, the learners are found to have an ego and they are able to get better with using languages (Crain, 2015). This informed that in my area of expertise where most of the learners are within 2-7 years of age I require to use audio-visual media of communication as visuals would act as symbols and audio would act as language to make the learners understand and develop the ability to draw and design. The audio-visual media of communication uses both verbal and non-verbal methods of communication as it is compilation of visual images as well as spoken words. As asserted by Wilson et al. (2018), benefit of audio-visual communication in learning is that it makes the process of learning conceptual and effective in nature. This is because the visual images accompanied by audio direction helps the learners minutely understand each aspect of the lesson making them develop clear concept regarding the facts. For instance, in my field of expertise when I asked the children to draw a picture of bird by using alphabet C and explained the process verbally none of them was able to draw the picture. However, after I used an audio-video where direction of drawing a bird from letter C was shown in step-by-step method it was seen at the end of the class all the students of elementary class has been successful to draw the bird. This indicates that verbally communicating instructions to learners is not effective and it is required to be accompanied by visuals to teach learns of 2-7 years of age as mentioned in Piaget’s theory. As commented by McGowan et al. (2017), audio-visual media of communication in learning is beneficial to attract the attention of the students. This is evident as when I was communicating the students in grade 1 verbally about the way to draw scenery I found three of the student was not focusing on my direction and was looking at other pictures hanged on the wall of the class. However, after my verbal direction when I started to show them a video where through images the scenery is being drawn and direction of drawing are given through the audio I found that the students who previously avoided to show concentration was showing focus to listen and see the video to learn to draw the scenery. The benefit of audio-visual media of communication is that it helps to enhance the energy of the teachers as well as learners and provides a realistic environment for the students to study (Noel et al. 2017). This is evident from the instance as when I used the audio-visual method of communication in grade I to inform them how to draw the scenery. In the setting, it was seen that all the learners were energised to look at the visuals which made me as the instructor be energised to further inform them by drawing on board about the facts mentioned in the video. As asserted by Johnston et al. (2018), limitation of audio-visual media of communication is that technical problems may arise which would create barrier to use it as communication. This is evident as when I personally made a video with pictures to show the grade 2 student about the way to design a simple flower I failed to play the video on the screen in the class due to technical faults in the projector. It led me to use the board to communicate them regarding the way to design a flower but due to lack of colourful visual images, many students were seen to be distracted and avoid paying attention to the lesson. As argued by Zhao et al. (2018), the limitation of using audio-visual media of communication is that it is time-consuming and requires wider space. This is evident as the time taken to provide instruction about drawing pictures verbally takes much less time than showing the audio-visuals to the children to lead them to learn about art and design.

The Vygotsky’s theory informs that children are to be provided opportunities to play with objects and interact with one another as it is the way in which they have the opportunity to develop better concept and stretch their knowledge (Whyte et al. 2015). Thus, following the theory, I used objects and images as media and verbal mode of communication to lead the learners to properly learn lesson regarding drawing and designing. As mentioned by Shire et al. (2015), advantage of verbal communication is that it helps in clarified and transparent understanding of instructions. This is because verbal communication helps the learner and instructors to discuss and resolve queries. For instance, while I was verbally communicating with learners of grade 1 about the way to draw a house by showing a playhouse structure as few of the students were confused regarding the way to draw a door on the house. Thus, they questioned me regarding their confusion during the class and I helped them by providing clear explanation, in turn, clarifying their confusion regarding the way to draw door on the house. As commented by Wang et al. (2017), verbal communication is beneficial as it requires less time to communicate information and assist to deliver immediate feedback. This is evident as while communicating information verbally about how to draw a house it was completed in much smaller time frame than explaining the same by using a drawing video of the house to the learners of grade 1. The disadvantage of verbal communication is that the message may be passed to others in distorted manner (Scott-Barrett et al. 2019). In the settings, where I was acting as Art and Design teacher it was found that the direction I have given the previous day through images and oral communication about the way to draw the picture of a house was informed to absent students in the class in a distorted manner. This is evident as when I asked the absent students to communicate with their friends the next day and show me by drawing the picture of a house I found both the students who were absent has not been able to draw the house properly. It indicates that since the information was communicated verbally without any form of evidence to be shown thus it led the message to be distorted when it reached others. The other limitation of verbal communication in learning is that it is unsuitable to communicate longer information and is not effective when the group is spread out (Rose et al. 2016). This is because vital information is lost in the process of verbal communication as all the important aspects of message and the way it is constructed are not appropriately remembered by all. The powerpoint is used as medium to communicate with the learners in my area of specialism that is teaching art and design to elementary, grade 1 and grade 2 students. The benefit of powerpoint presentation is that it supports and encourages process of learning by facilitating presentation of the material in clarified and systematic manner (Xin and Leonard, 2015). This is evident as when I communicated to the grade 1 students regarding the way to draw a bird through power point presentation I found that it was much easier for me to mention point about each step of drawing in compact manner. The advantage of using powerpoint presentation is that it allows the instructors to have opportunity to edit text and add slides whenever required (Bekhet, 2017). It is evident as I was required to make last few minutes changes in presentation of way to draw a bird for grade 1 learners which was able to be done since it as power point presentation. This is because in audio-visual media I required to have to shoot the whole video again to make the last few changes however in powerpoint I just added few slides that helped me to develop the presentation properly. The benefit of powerpoint presentation is that it is simple to make and motivates the learners to have better concentration to focus on information. It also leads to create scope for interactive learning as the students are allowed to interact with the teacher at the same time (Nottingham et al. 2017). The limitation of power point presentation is that equipment failure may lead to create barrier in communicating information through the medium (Corbett et al. 2016). This is because similar to audio-visual medium power point also requires electrical equipment for it to be shown and communicated to learners. In some cases, it is seen that sometimes the power point presentation files gets corrupted (Kumar and Owston, 2016). This is a limitation for the media as corrupted files cannot be opened and showed to the learners for educational purpose by the instructors. Another limitation of the powerpoint presentation is that if the slides made are unattractive in nature then it is unable to draw the attention of the learners to focus on learning the information communicated through it.

The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is web-based platform where through the use of digital technology the instructors interact with the learners. The benefit of using VLE is that it provides opportunity to the learners to develop knowledge regarding the subjects as per their own pace without having to travel long distances to attend learning programs (Wang et al. 2016). This is evident as not all learners have the same ability and efficiency to learn things within short-span of time. The other benefit of VLR is that it helps to save time and money as well as it is convenient in nature (Schmidt et al. 2017). This is because students and teachers do not have to travel thus saving money and time. Another benefit of VLE is that allows flexibility in teaching and promotes better communication as well as connection between teachers and learners (Glaser and Schmidt, 2018). This is evident in VLE the teachers and students are allowed to use forums and message boards for communicating with one another at any time. The limitation of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is that create issues for learners who are uncomfortable with technology (Parsons, 2015). This leads the learners to lag behind and unable to reach proper success. The limitation of VLE is that it does not allow human-to-human contact which limits the opportunity for the learners to get educated through group learning and face hindrance with brainstorming, discussion as well as executing role-play activities (Miller and Bugnariu, 2016).

Conclusion

The above discussion informs that according to Piaget theory both visual and verbal communication is required in early years. In my area of expertise, I have used audio-visual media, verbal method of communication, powerpoint presentation media and virtual learning media to communicate with learners.

References

Crain, W., 2015. Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory. In Theories of development: Concepts and applications (pp. 132-170). Routledge.

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Rose, V., Trembath, D., Keen, D. and Paynter, J., 2016. The proportion of minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder in a community‐based early intervention programme. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 60(5), pp.464-477.

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Nottingham, C.L., Vladescu, J.C., Kodak, T. and Kisamore, A.N., 2017. Incorporating multiple secondary targets into learning trials for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 50(3), pp.653-661.

Corbett, B.A., Key, A.P., Qualls, L., Fecteau, S., Newsom, C., Coke, C. and Yoder, P., 2016. Improvement in social competence using a randomized trial of a theatre intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 46(2), pp.658-672.

Wang, X., Laffey, J., Xing, W., Ma, Y. and Stichter, J., 2016. Exploring embodied social presence of youth with Autism in 3D collaborative virtual learning environment: A case study. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, pp.310-321.

Schmidt, M., Beck, D., Glaser, N. and Schmidt, C., 2017, June. A prototype immersive, multi-user 3D virtual learning environment for individuals with autism to learn social and life skills: a virtuoso DBR update. In International Conference on Immersive Learning (pp. 185-188). Springer, Cham.

Glaser, N.J. and Schmidt, M., 2018. Usage considerations of 3D collaborative virtual learning environments to promote development and transfer of knowledge and skills for individuals with autism. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, pp.1-8.

Parsons, S., 2015. Learning to work together: designing a multi-user virtual reality game for social collaboration and perspective-taking for children with autism. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 6, pp.28-38.

Miller, H.L. and Bugnariu, N.L., 2016. Level of immersion in virtual environments impacts the ability to assess and teach social skills in autism spectrum disorder. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(4), pp.246-256.

Task 4:

Introduction

Inclusive learning and education are important as it allows building a culture of equality of higher achievements and opportunities for all individuals as well as helps the children in building flexible attitudes to accept diversity. In this assignment, the effectiveness of learning and teaching approaches used by me in an inclusive setting is to be discussed. Moreover, the areas of improvements to be made in this respect are also to be identified.

Analysing the effectiveness of learning and teaching approaches

In inclusive teaching, use of visual signs and images is seen to be one of the effective approaches. This is because visual demonstrations of information through images and signs help the children get attracted to learning and contributes to promote their critical thinking skills and learning (González et al. 2015). In my settings, while educating about art and design in elementary stage I found that there is one child named P who had Down’s syndrome was learning in the same environment with other children without special needs. Thus, to ensure inclusive learning is established I implemented the teaching approach of using visual images and interactive videos to inform all children inclusively about the way to draw a bird from letter C. The approach was effective in nature because Down’s syndrome children often face difficulties to understand verbal information due to their low intellectual performance but visual signs and images help them interpret messages effectively helping in formation of successful interaction (de Mello Monteiro et al. 2017). This was evident as the use of visual images was seen to attract the children in the class without special needs to minutely hear the instruction as well as I found it helped P to understand the instruction and apply it to properly draw a bird from alphabet C. In another situa

Reviewing the effectiveness of personal practice in planning, delivering and assessing inclusive teaching

P as special needs learner:

Planning: The planning to use visual signs and images to educate a Down’s syndrome child in inclusive setting is effective. This is because visual demonstration encourages the normal children to show concentration to learn due to attractiveness and it helps Down’s syndrome children to fruitfully understand the instructions avoiding their difficulty faced with interpreting verbal information (Felix et al. 2017).

Delivering:

After delivering the approach, the learners, as well as the child named P, informed that they all have understood the information properly by nodding when I individually asked them if they properly understood the instructions. Moreover, delivering of the approach was effectively made is evident as the formal feedback achieved regarding the lesson approach from my manager and the child’s parents were positive.

Assessing: In order assess the success, I personally evaluated each sketchbook of the children in the classroom as well as P’s and I found that all have been able to properly draw a bird from letter C. This led me to assess that the approach was successful in nature.

J as special needs learner:

Planning: The planning to use sign language along with interaction through visuals and verbal manner was effective in this scenario because I found that the autistic child has difficulty in understanding long sentences and instruction verbally. However, the normal children may not understand sign languages and this led me to combine both sign language and verbal instructions. It is done so that J who was facing difficulty due to autism to understand verbal communication properly as well as other children learn the lesson without hindrance.

Delivering: The delivering of the approach was beneficial and proper as it was appreciated by the manager. Moreover, J's parents, as well as other parents and students, also provided positive feedback that each of them is satisfied with the way I teach them in the inclusive settings. However, J’s parents pointed out that I require improving my sign language skill as J was reported to be facing few difficulties in understanding few of instruction provided through sign language in the class.

Assessing: In order to assess the effectiveness, I performed a class test. I found that all children were able to draw a proper house and has coloured it appropriately as instructed before but J was found draw the scenery with few mistakes. This mentioned that I have partially achieved the goal of educating grade 2 children way to draw scenery in the particular class session.

T as special needs learner:

Planning: The planning to use audio-visual approach to educate in inclusive setting where a partially deaf child was present is effective as it would help the child interpret from the video the instructions given regarding any subject even if the individual cannot gear properly.

Delivering: The delivering of the plan was seen to be ineffective in nature. This is because T's parents later reported that the child is facing an issue with learning in the class as he cannot understand visual images and information properly since they were not clarified properly.

Assessing: The assessment of approach informs that it was unsuccessful to meet the learning goal of teaching children of grade 1. This is evident as the child named T was seen to have failed in understanding from the video regarding the way to draw a house as at the end of the class when I checked his sketch it was improperly done.

Identifying areas of improvement

The area to be improved is that I need to understand how teaching approaches are to be made in a better way to teach a child with partial deafness in inclusive settings. The information regarding it is to be collected from online teaching tutorials and training. Moreover, I think I also require improving my sign language skill as it was reported by the autistic child that he faced issues with understanding few of signs used to instruct in the class. This is to be done by me by attending sign language training program for teachers. I also need to improve my skills to interpret during teaching if the children are able to properly understand my instructions by analysing their facial expression. This is because only after the feedback and test I able know that J was facing issue with understanding my instruction in the class and not prior when I was teaching.

Conclusion

The above discussion informs that sign languages, visual images, audio-visual mode and others are to be used as approach to teach in inclusive settings. It was found that I require improving my sign language skills as well as analysing skill to understand if the students are able to interpret my instruction properly during the class.

References

González, C., Noda, A., Bruno, A., Moreno, L. and Muñoz, V., 2015. Learning subtraction and addition through digital boards: a Down syndrome case. Universal access in the information society, 14(1), pp.29-44.

de Mello Monteiro, C.B., da Silva, T.D., de Abreu, L.C., Fregni, F., de Araujo, L.V., Ferreira, F.H.I.B. and Leone, C., 2017. Short-term motor learning through non-immersive virtual reality task in individuals with down syndrome. BMC neurology, 17(1), p.71.

Shield, A., Meier, R.P. and Tager-Flusberg, H., 2015. The use of sign language pronouns by native-signing children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(7), pp.2128-2145.

Moore, J.W., Russo, K., Gilfeather, A., Whipple, H.M. and Stanford, G., 2018. A Comparison of Error-Correction Procedures Within Audio–Visual Conditional Discrimination Training. Journal of Behavioral Education, 27(4), pp.532-543.

Felix, V.G., Mena, L.J., Ostos, R. and Maestre, G.E., 2017. A pilot study of the use of emerging computer technologies to improve the effectiveness of reading and writing therapies in children with Down syndrome. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), pp.611-624.