Learners with Disabilities
This module will be especially useful to administrators who seek to create “expert learning systems”— interrelated learning communities—where all individuals (teachers, volunteers, administrators, etc.) are expert learners who can assess their own needs, set personal and professional learning goals, and monitor their progress. Topics included in this module include the importance of dismantling discrimination and supporting individual variability when designing expert learning systems.
The purpose of this module is to introduce adult educators to two key terms: self-advocacy and learner agency. By completing this module, educators will learn the value these concepts bring to the classroom and identify ways they can design learning environments to facilitate and build self-advocacy and learner agency among their learners.
Adults need to feel a sense of belonging in the classroom. This module focuses on strategies for developing a sense of belonging for adult learners and allows educators to reflect on why teaching adults is different than teaching children. Strategies for how adult educators can support community building in the classroom and beyond are also included.
This module expands the view of literacy to include reading, writing, and other forms of media. The concepts in this module will help adult educators reflect on current approaches and consider new strategies to ultimately help adult learners see why reading and writing truly matter, therefore providing them with the motivation to persevere even when presented with difficulties.
Many adult learners struggle to learn math. This module focuses on improving math instruction for all adult learners, including those with learning differences. Topics in this module include math anxiety, the impact of stereotypes on math learners, the importance of developing growth mindsets, and many others. The module concludes with examples of classroom activities that adult educators can use in their math learning spaces beginning today.
Everyone has unique learning abilities and struggles. The purpose of this module is to identify how research-based learning strategies can increase engagement and access for all learners. Through this module, adult educators are introduced to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines which provide a framework to help educators create learning spaces which work better for all students. Additionally, straightforward strategies that educators can use to immediately start implementing UDL are presented.
This module focuses on the why and how of helping adult learners set goals. After completing this module, adult educators will feel better equipped to develop and teach a wide range of learners the skills needed to create and monitor meaningful, obtainable goals.