Let's remember back to when I was in a classroom. One year I taught second grade. While the learning styles of my students will vary all these students are about first to third grade developmentally. They are all being raised in the current year and in the same community. Planning lessons andlearning opportunities for this group has a lot of commonalities.
Now consider planning for a teaching staff. The staff I am thinking of has teachers born from 1960 to 1987. Their digital competencies vary greatly. They were raised in different states in different socioeconomic groups.
Some of these teacher just need to be give a clue and they are off mastering the concept. These are the high flyers. Some teachers need step by step instructions that guide them through. They want a handout to refer to later. These are the lego learners. Some teachers are the elbow learners. They need you at their elbow giving them the information at their speed following their directions.
All of these groups present challenges. The high flyers are ahead of the group, asking questions before the group gets there and sometimes misses important policy information. Often these high flyers get caught in their own gulf stream wind and land far off course. The lego group needs the directions emailed to them often. Putting them out on the Google Drive is not at hand enough for them. The elbow learner often try the hardest but are the most frustrated in the mixed group lelarning.
All of these groups offer something to the team. The high flyers will often find new solutions to share with the group. The lego group asks for directions where the whole team is struggling. The elbow leaners are the detail catchers that will find ways to improve the instructions.
Designing professional development for adult learners requires us to consider a greater range of learners' needs. A challenge I enjoy.
