How well your child does with distance learning depends on the type of teacher

According to a recent Gallup survey, more than 80% of schoolgirls are involved in distance learning through their school. Another 16% are studying online that is not specifically linked to their school. Since this is a change from the way most kids go when they go to school, we need to ask ourselves what effect distance learning has on our kids. The answer to this question may depend on what kind of student they are.

Eight ways to learn

Howard Gardner proposed the existence of eight separate intelligences, which I labeled as follows: Word Smart, Number Smart, Picture Smart, Body Smart, Music Smart, People Smart, Self Smart and Word Smart. Each person has eight intellects, but they are distributed individually.

The kids are the ones who will do best with distance learning Word Smart, Numbers / Logic Smart, And / or Self smart. The word smart And Number / Logic is smart Children learn best the way traditional education usually teaches: lectures (in this case online), workbooks or worksheets (in this case electronic), and textbooks and other books (which may complement distance learning programs). Self smart Kids have good self-discipline, prefer to work independently, are goal-oriented and benefit from the step-by-step approach found in many distance learning programs.

On the other hand, People are smart Kids who learn best through social interactions can do worse if they spend most of their learning time interacting with a screen. Parents can help meet their needs for social interaction by engaging in dialogue about what they are learning, and to some extent, by taking advantage of applications like Zoom or FaceTime, which can connect with friends and peers in the classroom (e.g. for online study). Team etc.).

What works for other types of students

Body smearKids will also get lost in a screen-based distance learning program. They learn best through walking, making things with their hands and learning the physical. What they are doing is if a cursor is moved around a screen, their bodies will scream for more physical release. These kids will do better if they allow themselves to be restless while working online, are given regular exercise breaks (say, every 15-20 minutes), and have the opportunity to work hand-in-hand.

Pictures are smart Children may need to supplement what they are learning from distance learning programs with high visual content that reinforces what they are learning. Khan Academy provides one-level support through their eight-minute chalkboard discussion where on-screen material becomes apparently available as the narrator takes the student through learning goals. Picture-smart kids should also have the opportunity to learn through video (such as learning about a science concept by watching a short video of a lab experiment). The distance learning program expects children to do their own project-based learning for at least some time, where Picture Smart students can create presentations of what they are learning through photos, videos, PowerPoints and other visual displays.

Music is smart Kids and Nature is smart Distance learning can be the most difficult for children, as very few teachers will include music or nature in their online programs. These students will need to take frequent music breaks or go out regularly to get a good dose of nature. They need to complement what they learn online with course-relevant material that uses music and / or nature. For a class studying civil war, for example, a Music is smart Kids can search for Civil War songs on the Internet and include them in a class project. Or for an online science class, a Nature is smart Students may want to explore the environmental effects of a work of literature, a period of history, a science concept, or even a mathematical skill (for example, to learn about probability, to engage them in a project that involves looking at probability statistics used in weather forecasting).

System tweaking

Keep in mind, though, that every child and adolescent has some or the other of the eight intelligences, so hopefully they will be able to hang on there while learning online, especially if you provide support as a parent with the opportunities listed above. Each student learns individually and this means your child or adolescent needs to tweak their distance learning experiences so that the program matches their own internal way of processing information. It’s best to be proactive and help your child find those resources, rather than wait until problems arise when their learning methods and distance learning programs (such as behavioral problems, reluctance to go online, or poor academic performance) are affected. This will enable them to do their best both online and offline!

For more information on the eight types of smarts and how to ensure your child’s or teen’s success at home and at school, check out my best-selling book in their own way: Discovering and encouraging your child’s multiple intelligence.

This page was brought to you by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. And www.institute4learning.com.

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