GoDigital_EN: Material for reading "Using different learning methods in accordance with female learner’s abilities to learn"

Material for reading "Using different learning methods in accordance with female learner’s abilities to learn"

3.1 The variety of the learning methods which could be suggested for female learner

Active learning is the form of learning where the learner actively participates to learn and get real-time feedback.

Unlike passive learning, active learning is not about passively reading, listening or watching to consume information. Active learning requires engagement. True lifelong learners understand this principle, so they get the “unfair” advantage to succeed in life.

Experiential learning is the form of learning where the learner learns by doing and reflecting upon their performance. It’s a combination of practicing and reflecting forms of active learning.

Some learning methods to turn passive learning into active learning (all of them can be suggested for female learners):

1. Highlighting and Annotating

Advise your learners while reading, they can highlight, take notes, write their own comments and so on. When the learners do this, it becomes more of a two-way conversation instead of passive consumption.

2. Reflecting and Questioning

After learning, the female learner can take some time to reflect on how she can apply the information into her life. The learner can also ask herself good questions to extract the most out of her learning. “What if”, “How can I”, “Why” questions are a few examples she can get started with.

3. Brainstorming and Ideating

Sometimes, it’s best to use creativity to come with ideas about anything related to what we learn. Advise your learners to write ideas down. The more they practice, the more creative they become.

Learners may also create mind maps of the information they learn to ideate or distill everything down to the important takeaways.

4. Tracking and Game-Based Learning

This method is best when learners are applying a habit, trait, lesson, routine, and so on in their life. They can use pen and paper, an app, or a spreadsheet to do it (depends on the complexity of the task).

If you as a coach want to take it even further, you can use gamification and set points, badges, rewards, competitions, etc. to engage your learners. But keep in mind that gamification is not just about external motivators, you should also consider learners' intrinsic motivations to fall in love with learning.

5. Discussing and Peer Reviewing

Encourage the learners to discuss the digital sector, digital jobs with a group or a friend who is also knowledgeable about the topic and the discussions would help deepen the learners' understanding and may expose them to new information. the learners can also find an online community of people interested in the same topic and get support, accountability, help, and so on as added bonuses.

A similar way to learn is to do peer reviews within your group where the learners evaluate each other and give feedback.

7. Experiential Learning

A lot of times, we need wisdom from our own experiences that we can’t get from reading books or listening to someone lecturing us.

So remind your learners don’t wait until they’ve gathered all the information out there. Instead, step into the real world without having complete knowledge and learn from own experience through constant reflection and feedback.

8. Repeated Exposure

Due to the complexity of a topic or the passion the female learner has for it, she may want to learn more about a topic no matter how much she learns. For those, repeated exposure from different perspectives is the best way to learn and expand knowledge.

However, this doesn’t mean the learner can be passive about learning these subjects. As the learner becomes better, remind her to think about how she can learn more in depth to master the topic.

9. Active Recalling

Active recall is a method that helps the learner memorize a topic by transferring the information from the short-term memory to the long-term memory.

10. Self-Testing and Self-Evaluating

Self-testing has a unique value that the learner can’t get from simply learning or practicing. The learner needs discipline and courage to admit what she does not understand or what she finds hard to do. Ignoring those things would be one of the worst mistakes a learner can make. Because the female learner needs to have a strong foundation before she moves on to an advanced level.

Remind your learners to take an extra step to evaluate themselves so they can learn better and grow faster. This is how we will find our strong and weak points, so we know what to focus on.

Learning a subject or skill is an art. Learners should know that they could easily fool themselves by learning passively most of the time. That is where the above learning methods come in to help learners become better at the art of learning IT issues.

3.2 Guide female learners to identify their best abilities to learn

Learning styles describe individual preferences for how we like to learn and how we best retain new information. Identifying our learning style involves understanding how we tend to learn best. The female learner can use this information to her advantage when she studies by using learning approaches that work well for her, such as writing out notes, creating mind-maps, using models or reciting out loud. This can assist the learner with their own learning process, for example, to remember information or to gain some skills.

There are many different learning style models that attempt to explain differences in learning between individuals. One of the most widely known is the VARK model, which includes the Visual, Auditory, Read/write and Kinesthetic learning styles – these are detailed below. Encourage your learners on which activities they tend to prefer when studying to determine which learning style they tend to use. Note that your learners may utilise more than one learning style.

VARK

Source:
https://www.uow.edu.au/student/learning-co-op/effective-studying/identify-your-learning-style/

Visual

Visual learners learn by sight. These learners benefit from:

Images and diagrams
Graphics and visuals
Charts
Maps
Mind-maps
Flashcards

Auditory

Auditory learners learn by hearing. These learners benefit from:

Listening
Speaking
Group discussions
Verbal repetition
Sound recordings
Mnemonic devices

Read/Write

Read/write learners learn by reading and writing. These learners benefit from:

Reading
Writing
Making detailed notes
Re-writing notes to revise
Viewing information in word form

Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic learners learn by touch. These learners benefit from:

Movement
Tactile representations
Models and materials
Physical interactions
Hands-on approaches
Experience and practice

3.3 Learning methods in accordance with female learner’s abilities

The coach should suggest the appropriate learning methods in accordance with female learners’ abilities and preferences to learn. For example, for the visual learners the coach can suggest:

Mark important notes with coloured pens or highlighters.
Solve problems step-by-step, so everything is visually laid out.
Use diagrams, symbols, shapes, and graphics to help retain information.
Provide access to multimedia tools interactive intelligence games.

For the Auditory learners, the coach can suggest:

Study with a friend,
Instead of taking written notes, try to record notes and listen back to them.
Read text aloud, especially key headings and important topics.
Repeat phrases to remember them.

For the Read/write learners, the coach can suggest:

Take notes during the lesson.
Read the material, write notes during the reading.
Read material repeatedly.

For the Kinesthetic learners, the coach can:

Suggest learning by walking around, watching, and participating.
Stimulate their learning by doing, for example, coding, practical work with applications.
Encourage them to perform real-life experiments from what they have learned, for example, graphic design, video making etc.

Also, it could be a combination of different methods according to learners’ preferences.

3.4 The most important learning topics to be addressed for female learners

It is important to identify what are the most important learning topics to be addressed for female learners during the coaching on the topic of “digital market” and guide your learners to be successful.

An emerging classification in the EU identifies three main categories of digital skills and competence for learners/citizens:

● Digital competence: also referred to as digital literacy, encompasses a set of basic digital skills, covering information and data literacy, online communication and collaboration, digital content creation, safety and problem solving. Digital competence is about the ability to apply those digital skills (knowledge and attitude) in a confident, critical and responsible way in a defined context (e.g. education). Since 2006, digital competence is one of the eight key competences in the EU for lifelong learning.

● Job-specific digital skills: a set of specific digital skills for those involved in jobs including the use and maintenance of digital tools such as 3D printers, CAD software and robots.

● Digital skills for ICT professionals: a set of advanced, highly specialised, digital skills for those involved in the ICT occupations, for example, programmers and cyber security experts who are expected not only to use but also challenge and innovate existing information and communication technologies and create new solutions.

The learners should be introduced with digital competencies and guided to identify their strong and weak sides of abilities. So, the female learners will be able to choose the most appropriate training courses to gain the necessary skills for the digital sector.