Post-Lesson:
What Now?
Two Things to Rend to at the end of a lesson...
Learning Transfer to the Outside World & Learner Autonomy
Learning Transfer to the Outside World & Learner Autonomy
A couple of questions for you..
How does the lesson and any digital tools and practices within that lesson continue to have significance in the adult learner's world after the lesson ends?
How can the learning flow out beyond the lesson?
1. Taking the Learning Beyond the Lesson
Guiding and encouraging adult learners to take new skills and digital practices learned in class out into the world helps to solidify learning. Explicitly nudging learners to applying their learning beyond the class session is a key priority at the end of well delivered lesson. Reminding learners about the practicality of what was just covered helps to encourage engagement with the content and digital tools after the lesson ends.
Quite often the end of a lesson often comes too soon and can be rushed. As adults have a variety of responsibilities, learners' leaving at different times may interfere with a tidy ending or a well-intentioned summary during which time a practitioner can explicitly ask learners to 'try out this skill or this tool' in your life the next time you are doing 'such-and-such in context x,y, z.'
Below is a handy excerpt from the Learner's Lesson Companion:
If the lesson ends too soon without having time to debrief for real-world implications of the learning, students can use this sheet after the lesson to ask themselves three questions:
What did I learn today that I can take and use in my life right away?
What can I do outside the class to help keep today's learning fresh and useful?
Who can I share my new skills with in my life, or show my new skills to?
Getting into the routine of thinking about the lesson and planning to apply it outside the session—remote or face-to-face—can be accomplished through an EXIT TICKET like the one here created by Smita.
If you are delivering your class remotely, you can create a form or a digital file for this type of activity that ties up loose ends and can provide feedback to the instructor.
If the class ending is rushed, the 3-2-1 post-lesson activity is also effective:
3 things I learned
2 things I want to know more about from this lesson
1 question I have about the lesson
2. Setting the Stage for Learner Autonomy and Self-Direction
If LBS learners have not been in an educational environment for a while or they are fairly new to the Ontario and are getting used to educational practices and routines in a new country and context, how can we nurture learner autonomy—i.e. the notion of staying motivated and taking and taking stock of one's learning, while planning next steps along the learning path.
A LESSON PAL FOR LEARNERS
As part of the PAL suite of resources a handy PAL Lesson Planning Companion for practitioners, was introduced in the Lesson section of this site.
A LESSON PAL FOR LEARNERS: Here we are introducing a thinking routine template for LBS learners - My Lesson PAL - that can help keep them on track and engaged as they move through a lesson. It helps them to think about their learning and their thinking processes as they learn (a metacognitive tool) that can help strengthen learner autonomy.
You may wish to introduce this tool from time to time and then have learners use portions that are useful for them.