This document discusses learning styles and how to engage students with different styles in online courses. It identifies four main learning styles: visual/verbal, visual/nonverbal, auditory/verbal, and tactile/kinesthetic. Most students have a combination of styles. The document recommends designing learning activities to accommodate different styles, such as using written and visual materials, audio lectures, discussions, projects, and collaboration tools. It provides examples of how strategies like lectures, discussions, and project-based learning can be adapted to the online environment to engage students with diverse learning preferences.

1. LEARNING STYLES AND
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT:
Using technology to address multiple learning styles

2. A student must be engaged to learn.
Students learn through actively participating - by observing, speaking,
writing, listening, thinking, creating and doing. Understanding your
students learning styles helps you, as an instructor, develop activities
that ensure that students understand and retain what you teach.

3. What is a learning style?
A “learning style” is a preference for information acquisition.
• Visual/Verbal: Prefers to read information
• Visual/Nonverbal: Uses graphics or diagrams to represent information
• Auditory/Verbal: Prefers to listen to information
• Tactile/Kinesthetic: Prefers physical hands-on experiences
To identify your learning style, visit:
• http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz
• http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

4. Visual/Verbal Learners
 Learn best when information is presented
visually and in a written form.
 Prefer instructors who use visual aids to
list the essential points of a lecture in
order to provide them with an outline to
follow during the lecture.
 Benefit from information obtained from
textbooks and class notes.
 Like to study by themselves in quiet
environments.
 Visualize information in their "minds'
eyes" in order to remember something.
 In the online environment, visual/verbal
learners are successful because the
information for an online course is often
presented in written form.

5. Visual/Nonverbal Learners
 Learn best when information is presented
visually and in a picture or design
format.
 Prefer instructors who supplement their
lectures with materials such as film, video,
maps and diagrams.
 Relate well to information obtained from
the images and charts in their curriculum.
 Tend prefer to work alone in quiet
environments.
 Visualize an image of something in their
mind when trying to remember it.
 In the online environment, visual/
nonverbal learners are successful when
information presented online is in the form
of charts, tables, graphs, video, diagrams
and images.

6. Auditory/Verbal Learners
 Learn best when information is presented
aurally or when interacting with others in
a listening/speaking activity.
 Benefit from listening to lectures and
participating in group discussions, spoken
lectures and recorded information.
 When trying to remember something,
they often repeat it out loud and can
mentally "hear" the way the information
was explained to them.
 Online learning environments can
complement these learners' style through
audio lectures, collaborative activities,
and computer conferencing.

7. Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners
 Learn best when doing a physical
"hands-on" activity or lab setting where
they can touch and manipulate materials.
 Learn best in physically active learning
situations from instructors who use
demonstrations, hands-on learning
experiences, and fieldwork.
 The online environments can provide
learning opportunities for tactile/
kinesthetic learners through project-based
learning, online simulations of physical
demonstrations and fieldwork, and online
discussion.

8. Learning Styles
Most students have different learning styles, or a
combination of styles. Therefore learning
activities should be designed to address the
various ways that students learn in order to
provide a significant experience for each class
participant.

9. Using Technology to Address Learning Styles
How does you modify your courses to accommodate students’ diverse learning styles?
How do face to face strategies translate in the online environment?

10. Lectures:
 Lectures are one of the most frequently
used instructional methods in adult
education.
 Lectures can be presented in a variety of
ways:
 written form for students to read,
 audio form for students to listen to,
 containing interactivity by linking to
related resources and other web sites for
additional research.
 Online lectures are likely to be shorter
and more to the point than lectures in live
classrooms (which may extend beyond the
attention span of the audience) and serve
as a basis for further reading, research,
or other learning activities.
 Online lectures are also readily available
for students to revisit again and again as
needed.

11. Class Discussions:
 Discussions are an instructional
strategy, favored by adult learners,
because it they are interactive and
encourage active, participatory
learning.
 The discussion format encourages
learners to analyze their thoughts
and explore their own experiences
to become better critical thinkers.
 Discussion is a critical element in any
course.
 New online discussion tools go
beyond the traditional “discussion
board” and incorporate
asynchronous and synchronous
learning through blended lecture,
discussion, chat and screen sharing
options.

12. Project-Based Learning
 Project-based learning provides students
with practical experience and a sense of
accomplishment.
 Projects can be self-directed as an
individualized, self-paced learning activity
initiated and directed by the student, or a
group project in which students work
collaboratively with peers.
 Projects can include role playing, case
studies, problem solving exercises, group
collaborative work, debates, group
discussion, and brainstorming.
 Students, working at a convenient time and
pace, are able to visit libraries, museums,
newspapers and scholarly journals online
to locate project data.
 Projects encourage students to research
and report their findings and sources,
incorporating critical thinking and research
skills into the course. Once complete, they
can by published online to be shared with
others in the class for additional dialogue
and feedback.

13. Collaboration Tools to Address Multiple Learning Styles
As faculty begin to teach online and incorporate more technology-based
activities into their classrooms, learning is becoming more collaborative,
contextual and active.

14. Collaboration:
 Blackboard Learning Management  Publisher Provided Content
Blackboard is an online course Many publishers now supply interactive
management tool that provides faculty a content to supplement their printed matter
platform to share course materials in and can be imported directly into the
multiple content formats (text, images, Blackboard LMS. This is available in the
sound, audio, animations, graphs, etc.), form of e-books, interactive lecture
thus allows students to study material materials, student handouts, and instructor
based on their preferred learning style. resources such as course syllabi, rubrics,
Also included are course management and test banks.
tools for collaboration, scheduling,  Mikogo is an immersive, interactive cross-
discussion and assessment. platform desktop sharing tool, ideal for
 Elluminate is a virtual environment meeting online, troubleshooting, tutoring
optimized for learning that can be and collaborative online projects.
combined with Blackboard. It enables  Instant Messaging
communication, collaboration, and Faster than email, an excellent resource
education through the ability to combine for answering quick questions, also
live audio and lectures, discussions, accessible from smart phones. Allows
messaging, file sharing and archiving. users to use video or text based
messaging, chat, and file transfer.

15. Much of the power of teaching via the internet
lies in its capacity to support multiple modes of
communication and learning styles. Taking this
into account, educators can facilitate powerful,
effective courses geared to achieve specific
learning goals and outcomes using the vast
resources and capacities of online learning.