Defining Learning Tools
A learning tool is an instrument designed to be used by learners to provide a structure for growing learning skills and behaviors and/or systematically collecting and thinking about key information. While teaching tools are primarily used by faculty, learning tools are primarily used by students. Faculty provide appropriate tools and the necessary instruction in how to use the tools, but students use learning tools on their own. Learning tools may involve technology, such as computers and calculators, but they can also be pencil and paper tools.
Table 1 Principles of Effective Learning Tools |
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Principles of Effective Learning Tools (Table 1)
1. Effective learning tools must be learner-centered.
While an instructor may design a tool, model its use, assess the process of using the tool, and possibly evaluate the results of using the tool, most of the time and effort involved with the tool’s use should be the student’s. Therefore, it is essential that the results of using the tools will be sufficient to motivate the students to use the tool and to carry the tool into future learning activities. Otherwise, a tool may be perceived as just busywork. The learner must get value for his investment of time and effort in using the tool.
2. Learning outcomes and productivity can be increased by using learning tools.
The persistence log (3.4.6 Persistence Log) is an example of a tool that increases learning outcomes by improving students’ learning skills. The reading log increases productivity by enabling students to get maximum benefit from reading assignments. The tool is a means to an end, not an end itself.
3. Learning tools must be appropriate for the level of the learner.
Since learning tools are primarily used independently by students, the structure, vocabulary, and process associated with using a tool should be within the current skill set of the learner, or be learned with a reasonable investment of effort.
4. A learning tool should be engaging.
A tool that students perceive as fun and challenging will get a lot more use than one that seems like boring busywork. Of course, one can encourage students to use a tool by incorporating it into a course and by assessing and evaluating its use. However, if a tool is to become part of a student’s repertoire across courses and learning tasks, it needs to be rewarding to use.
5. Learning tools enhance the development of learning skills.
These learning skills may rely on the future use of the tool, but tools also enhance the development of such learning skills as class preparation, attendance, and participation, as well as affective skills, such as self-assessment and goal setting. A tool can be chosen or designed to meet an assessed need for improvement of learning skills.
6. The learning curve for using a learning tool should be appropriate for the learning benefits derived.
It may take considerable time to learn and use a complex tool but it will yield commensurate rewards. If the tool is more trouble than it is worth, it will not be valued by anyone.
7. Learning tools can be adapted to accommodate diverse learners and situations.
A quality learning tool can easily be used in a wide variety of contexts and for various levels of learners. For example, the idea of tracking and rewarding desirable learning behaviors, as shown in the Persistence Log (3.4.6), could be used for any observable, defined set of desirable learning behaviors to enhance the way of being for many disciplines.
8. Learning tools should provide a framework for metacognitive thinking and learning.
Current research in learning and the brain strongly establishes that learning has to become part of an individual’s cognitive network in order to be retained and applied to new situations (Learning Theory, Chapter 2.1). By providing a structure for thinking and recording thoughts, learning tools such as the Learning Assessment Journal and the Life Vision Portfolio encourage such metacognition and reflection.
9. Learning tools align with and support assessment and grading systems.
By embedding the use of learning tools in the course assessment (3.4.8 Practical Implementation of Self-Assessment Journals) and grading systems, the instructor sends the message that he or she values the use of the learning tools. Grading is a strong motivator for quality use of a learning tool such as the reading log. By providing the instructor with a written representation of a student’s thinking process and self-concept, a learning tool can make assessment much richer and more individualized.
10. Learning tools should be designed for independent use by students, and transfer to new applications.
When a new learning tool is introduced, students may need considerable training in the use of the tool. Therefore, tools should be designed so that trained students can use the tools by themselves, and, even more significantly, recognize when the tool would be appropriate and helpful for their own learning process in diverse situations.
Issues in Developing and Using Learning Tools
1. Resources required for development of learning tools
Designing a learning tool can be a fairly complex process, especially since the tool should be tested, assessed, and revised to ensure its efficacy. However, some of that investment in time can be compensated by students being able to do more on their own, and by re-using it in other circumstances and courses. In addition, many learning tools have already been developed and can be used or adapted and used without a large investment in development time. This section of the Faculty Guidebook offers a good selection of cross-curricular learning tools that can be used with little development time and with significant return in increased learning. An instructor should be sure to use a tool to accomplish a task before introducing the tool to students.
2. Motivating students to use tools
At first some learning tools may be perceived by students as busywork. The first obstacle may be getting students to use the tools effectively. One way to overcome that initial barrier is to include the use of the tool in the class evaluation system. That sends an immediate message that the instructor considers the use of the tool to be an important part of success in the course.
Once the student has experience with a well-designed tool, the advantages of using the tool should become apparent. For example, the first time students are required to use a self-assessment form for a writing project, many students see it as just something to do to satisfy the instructor. Over the course of the term, though, as they see how thinking about their work process has enabled them to make positive changes, they begin to see other areas in their lives that could benefit from using self-assessment.
In some cases, students can begin a task without a tool and see for themselves that they need some systematic way to approach the task. Then a learning tool can be introduced and it will be valued immediately. The reading log may be used in this way when students are having trouble getting value from assigned readings.
3. Additional resources for finding learning tools:
The Learning Assessment Journal
The Faculty Guidebook
Learning objects repositories, such as Merlot.org
Textbooks and teachers’ guides
Networking and mentors
Professional journals
Students
4. Assessing the quality of a tool
Since a learning tool should be chosen to meet some learning need, it should be assessed by how well it meets that need. The time and effort required to use the tool, including both faculty effort and student effort, should be justified by real rewards in learning outcomes. In addition, the tool should show dividends in the students’ way of being as learners and as practitioners of their discipline and profession. A helpful starting place for assessing a tool is the section in this module on characteristics of a quality tool.
5. Cost of the tool
Some technology-based tools, such as calculators, laptops, and instruments, can involve considerable monetary cost. Tools also have a cost in terms of time and effort, both in learning and in using the tools. The instructor will have to do some cost/benefit analysis to ensure that the value of the tool justifies its expense. An important consideration in this area will be whether the tool transfers into other coursework and into the professional lives of the students.
6. Faculty belief in the value of the tool
If the faculty member has used the tool for his or her own learning and has found it valuable, his or her level of commitment to the tool will be apparent to students. So it is a good idea for faculty members to try tools in an appropriate learning situation themselves before introducing the tools to students. For example, reading logs, learning journals, and self-assessment forms are easily and profitably test-driven by faculty. By using a tool before introducing it to students, the faculty member will be better able to anticipate student issues with use of that particular tool. If the faculty member is ambivalent about the value of a tool, that attitude is likely to be communicated to students and to sabotage their success with the tool.
7. Alignment of tool with student needs
Students are much more receptive to the effort involved in learning and using a tool if the tool has the potential to make their work more effective and efficient. Sometimes a period of struggling along without a tool will engender appreciation of a new tool when it is introduced. The value of the tool to students needs to be apparent rather quickly in order for students to commit to learning and using a new tool. Tools should promote defined and desired learning outcomes.
8. Complexity of tool
In general, tools should be as simple as possible. With the current push to employ technology, there is some risk of creating a tool that uses technology just for the sake of using technology, when a simple paper- and pencil-tool would do the same thing more easily. As tools become more complex, the investment of time and money to learn and use the tool also goes up. Since tools are a means to an end, and not an end in themselves, simplicity is a virtue.
9. Establishing a tool set for learning
Successful students are often resourceful in inventing their own tools for learning situations, such as making vocabulary flashcards. Sharing of such tools is a quick way to build a tool set for a course or discipline. A repertoire of learning tools forms a foundation for lifelong learning. Students with a good set of learning tools can readily adapt tools to meet future needs and to use their own learning styles. Students should be prepared to enter into their professional lives with proficiency in the regularly used tools of the practice.
10. Inhibiting creativity and originality
There is some danger in using tools that take away the student’s need to think through problems and find creative approaches. For example, students often enter college so used to using the five-paragraph theme paradigm that they limit their writing unnecessarily. Part of learning to use a tool is recognizing the limitations of the tool and knowing when to deviate from it. Tool design and choice should be made with cognizance of the needs of the learners, and tools may need to evolve as students’ skills develop.
Learning Tools and Technology
The huge growth in the use of technology in education has lead to an explosion of computer-based learning tools. Online courses and course enhancements provide a convenient way to access and work with learning tools. Repositories for sharing learning objects (Glossary) are growing rapidly. Many learning objects include learning tools that can be used in the context of the complete learning object or be extracted and adapted for other uses, including paper-and-pencil formats. Whether a learning object is delivered with technology or not, the same indicators of quality still apply.
Characteristics of a Quality Learning Tool
Table 2 presents characteristics that can be used for the assessment and evaluation of learning tools. Faculty should these factors when they choose a tool. Once students have gained some facility with a tool, they can provide valuable insights into whether the tool has these desirable characteristics.
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A quality learning tool is: |
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Growth- Oriented |
The tool leads to significant growth toward a desired learning outcome or learning skill. This characteristic is crucial. |
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Transferable |
The tool is flexible so that it has applications to other courses and to professional life (Bean, 1996). |
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Time-Efficient |
Student and instructor time using the tool will be highly productive. |
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Results- Oriented |
Using the tool produces significant results. Learning the tool is not an end in itself, but is a means to an end (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). |
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Essential |
The tool meets a real need of students. |
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Feasible |
Start-up and use costs, in time and money, are reasonable and in proportion to the learning value of the tool for faculty and students. |
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Engaging |
The students find the tool fun and rewarding to use; it is not a boring chore (Fink, 2003). |
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Functional |
The tool is elegantly designed, so that results are readily achieved. |
Concluding Thoughts
Success in using learning tools is highly dependent upon the faculty member’s belief in the efficacy of the tools. Faculty members tend to work best with tools that they have used and have found valuable in their own learning process. If a tool is provided without sufficient training in the use of the tool, it may just add noise and frustration to the learning environment. Therefore, faculty should choose a few tools that they can fully implement, rather than overwhelming students with tools that are not fully integrated into the course. Often the full value of a tool is not apparent until it has been used over time in multiple applications. It is possible for faculty and students to give up on a valuable tool because they have not used it enough to develop facility with it and thus appreciate its value. Well-chosen and well-implemented learning tools provide significant dividends in increasing student learning and ability to apply skills in future contexts.
References
Apple, D. K. (2000). Learning assessment journal. Lisle, IL: Pacific Crest
Bean, J. C. (1996). Engaging ideas: The professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical thinking and active learning in the classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Krumsieg, K., & Baehr, M. (2000). Foundations of learning. Lisle, IL: Pacific Crest.
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd expanded edition). Baltimore: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.