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Last week, we discussed a new educational model called Blended Learning. It combines face-to-face instruction with information technology, specifically the Internet. Blended learning is relatively new, but has proven to be an effective approach to teaching children of varied skill levels and learning styles. Six schools have already adopted it and more institutions are expected to embrace this new learning model. So how does it work?

Blended learning is not simply using computers to teach young children. It entails a seamless integration of technology with classroom activities. For example, students may be required to meet with teachers only once a week for a formal discussion about the week’s lessons. Students spend the rest of the week reading books, watching video tutorials and documentaries, and interacting with classmates and teachers through the Internet. They would have to do research at home or in school to finish their reports as well as meet with in-person tutors or online tutors for additional guidance.

When you look at the example, you might glimpse a huge shift of responsibility from the teacher, who is expected to transfer knowledge to the students, to the individual learners, who is now responsible for their education at a pace they feel most comfortable with. The teacher in this scenario becomes an evaluator of the student’s work, which is measured against standards of excellence. The students know these standards so they already understand how high they are aiming for.

Because of the combined forces of the traditional and the modern methods of teaching, students get the best of both worlds. The traditional method of teaching used to be limited to textbooks and classroom discussions, while the modern method, which uses mobile technology, used to be limited by the lack of human interaction that is essential in the emotional and social development of a child. By putting these two worlds together, we create a learning environment, which enhances the child’s learning experiences and develops the child’s social and emotional skills.

Do you sometimes feel as if you want to open your skull and inject some magic serum into your brain just to make it work? If you ever felt frustrated with your studying methods, then stepping back and seeing how the learning process occurs might help you figure out the best method for you to learn.

According to David Kolb, author of Experiential Learning Theory, the learning process combines experience, perception, cognition, and behavior. Learning is a cycle of four stages, which consists of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. When simplified, the concept means that we learn through doing, seeing, thinking and planning.

Based on this learning theory, Kolb identfied four learning styles, which correspond to each stage:

* assimilators, who learn better when presented with sound logical theories to consider
* convergers, who learn better when provided with practical applications of concepts and theories
* accommodators, who learn better when provided with “hands-on” experiences
* divergers, who learn better when allowed to observe and collect a wide range of information

The styles highlight the best conditions that learners absorb information and develop new skills.

However, a post from the University of British Columbia Learning Commons site identified the absence of other factors in learning. These factors include personal values and cultural influences, the values of the institution and the learning community created by the instructor, and an individual’s peer and support network.

The UBC post integrated these factors as well as the effect of social connections made through online technologies. In effect, Kolb’s learning theory is integrated with Honey and Mumford’s theory to come up with a new experiential learning theory that we can apply to online learning, which is a new phenomenon in education.

You have probably heard of the saying, “Charity begins at home.” In the field of teaching and in-home tutoring, literacy begins at home, too. Formal education for your children may start when he or she starts attending school, but learning begins before that.

As a parent, one of your responsibilities is to look after your child’s intellectual development. It is in your child’s best interests when you begin reading to him or her as early as possible. An advocacy group for reading and literacy, Literacy Connections, advises parents not to wait until their child is older before they begin reading to them.

Reading to your child has many benefits. The most important, of course, is building a close bond with your child. Make your reading sessions a nightly habit. Soon, this habit will turn into an important aspect of your child’s character. Reading with your child has life-long benefits, which include development of a longer attention span, listening skills and imagination. Pre-school children who learn the language by hearing words and listening to sentences tend to do well in school.

This assertion parallels the results from a Rhode Island study that compared two groups of 8-month-old babies. The parents of one group read to them while the other group’s parents did not. The study revealed that the group of babies who listened to their parents read aloud to them understood more words since babyhood than the other group of babies.

A life-long interest in reading leads to development of life-long skills in learning, which involves listening skills. Along with learning skills, children also develop their creativity and curiosity. As a result, children who read books more often perform better in school.

Studies on human development show that children learn through play, which involves experimentation, exploration and experience. Their intense curiosity and lack of inhibition drives children to explore their world and test different theories no matter how bizarre they may seem.

Left alone, children can learn by discovery, which is a form of self-learning. This concept serves as the basis of progressive educators to question the present education system in the United States. For them, it limits the vast knowledge that the child can gain through self- discovery.

They believe that the present education system only hinders a child’s learning.
They believe that education is too strict and restrictive, which hinders the creativity and intellectual growth of the children.

On the other hand, children cannot learn all things by themselves. They need to be guided. This is what education provides – learning facilitation. Schools provide curricula to help the child learn systematically, which put the learning process through a controllable environment.

Each step is observable and measurable, which help educators to develop each child’s potentials. The results of each step for each subject help children discover their interests and inclinations. It helps them choose the career path that they would want to pursue in the future.

There has been a long-standing debate over matters in education. Some believe that there is something wrong with the system, while others think it works perfectly well. When one thinks deeply about it, all the points presented seem right. In fact, everyone agrees that education is very important, but that it should not prevent the child from exploring and discovering things on his own.

In-house tutoring fosters learning in another way. It brings the child away from the restrictive nature of the classroom. This gives the child more time for self- discovery and learning. Professional tutors create a teacher-student relationship that is different from that of the classroom.

Most children seem distant towards teachers, but in a tutorial setting, they can build closer ties with their mentors. This makes children feel more comfortable and free to explore their capabilities and strengthen their weaknesses.

The learning process involves four steps: receiving, processing, storing and retrieving. For learning to occur, all senses must work together to receive data – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Learners use sight, sound and touch more often than the other senses.

There is Lack of Perception

Learners absorb the information they gathered through their senses and process them in their brains. The important parts of the brain must access this information and work together to interpret it correctly. The flow of information happens so fast that we are not aware of it.

This does not mean, however, that the deaf or the blind have learning problems. The senses are there to pick up sensations from our surroundings. Even when one or two senses do not work, we remain perceptive of what’s happening around us. In students with learning problems, this ability to perceive using the senses is not working properly.

There is a Barrier between the Left and Right Sides of the Brain

When senses do not integrate or when some parts of the brain do not access each other, learning does not occur. This is often the case with learning problems, wherein the left and right hemispheres of the brain do not work together efficiently or where the individual uses only one or two sensory channels.

Stress triggers the fight-or-flight response in learners. During the learning process, the novelty and complexity of the concepts cause low-level stress at first, which is normal. However, children and adults who have a learning disability experience higher level stress when they feel frustrated and fearful of not being able to absorb the information and comprehend it. This further prevents the brain’s left and right hemispheres from working together in synchronicity.

There is Inability to Retain Information

Learning fails when a person forgets. The memory areas of the brain must be functional for the storage and retrieval of information. We use the information in a variety of ways for logical solutions or in application for a certain purpose. For example, after learning how the human body works, medical students can later identify the consequences when organ failure occurs.

The lack of perception, the barrier between brain hemispheres, and the inability to retain information interrupt the flow of the learning process. Missing just one phase can result to failure in learning.

Observe your child or ask your child’s teacher or in-home tutor how well your child is doing with school and homework. Professional tutors and teachers usually sense when the child has a learning problem. To help you in determining your child’s learning abilities, read the following symptoms of sensory integration problems, which Optimum Learning from Australia has provided in its free booklet for parents and educators.

• Short term memory problems
• Information goes in one ear and out the other
• Your child may not be able to remember more than one or two items from a list of four verbal instructions.
• Your child may have learned and understood tables one day, but totally forget them the next day.
• Poor reading comprehension
• Messy writing: while the attention is on what to write (auditory channel), there is no attention on how it looks (visual channel).
• Phonetic spelling: the attention is only on what it sounds like and not on what it looks like.
• A student may learn easier with the teacher whose teaching method matches the child’s learning style, such as visual or auditory. The child does not have to shift from one sensory channel to another to translate the lessons.

When the child has problems with left and right brain integration, the following behavioral signs are present:

• Poor reading skills: comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and speed may be all affected
• Reversals of “b” and “d,” numbers or “was” for “saw”
• Visual problems, as the left eye and the right eye do not communicate efficiently
• Poor eye-hand coordination
• Poor handwriting skills, i.e. capitals where they do not belong, letter size and spacing are irregular, and lines are often ignored, although these may have been pointed out to the child many times.
• Poor story writing skills, as creative ideas are processed in the right brain and grammar and punctuation are processed in the left brain
• Poor spelling: there may be reversals of letters in words, there is an extra letter, or a letter is missing (often an “n”, “r” or “l”). The child does not say the word while looking at a picture of a word. This is an example of a survival strategy used by children who can only use one side of the brain at a time.
• Exam blanks

If you or your child’s tutor or teacher observed many of these symptoms, then it is possible your child has a learning problem. Immediately consult a learning and child development specialist for correct diagnosis. Many special education schools can be trusted to help your child learn and develop the necessary skills for a healthy adult life.

Dyslexia is the most common cause of problems in writing, spelling and reading. About 20% of the population has some language learning disability and about 80% of them have dyslexia.

Children with dyslexia often have a high level of intelligence, but they were often mistaken as slow learners because of their condition. They lag behind their classes. This builds frustration within them and changes their attitudes towards school. They lose their interest, which greatly affects their academic performance.

Dyslexia can take many forms at different intensities, which makes a correct diagnosis of dyslexia difficult. Some children with dyslexia do not receive the proper attention for their learning problem.

Indirectly, in-home tutoring helps children with dyslexia, although it is not part of therapy. A correct diagnosis should always come first. From this, educators and parents can create a learning program to help dyslexics cope with school.

If the problem is indeed dyslexia, then there are professional tutors specially trained to teach children with dyslexia. They have specialized modules and learning materials that make learning fun and easy for any child.

Tutorial modules for children with dyslexia involve sensory activities. Since they have trouble reading texts they can learn through the other senses like through listening to music. Most children with dyslexia can do easy reading of very simple text, but have trouble with higher level reading skills, such as paragraphs.

In-home tutors can help the child improve reading and writing skills by giving various exercises that gradually develop the child’s confidence. The child eventually succeeds in learning along with classmates in a regular classroom setting.

Teachers teach a class, but tutors facilitate learning. As learning facilitators, tutors are more effective than teachers. Teachers usually teach up to 30 children in one class. The group setting most effective for learning should only have up to 15 students in one class. A tutoring session, on one hand, usually consists of one tutor to one or two students, which is an ideal set up.

Tutors, especially summer tutors, bridge the gaps in learning in a classroom setting. Summer tutors focus on their students’ needs more than a teacher can do in the classroom. Students who enroll in summer classes benefit from this one-on-one guidance. Tutors closely monitor their progress and immediately apply interventions.

Several reasons for summer tutoring exist. Since the teaching set-up is one on one, the lessons focus on the child’s needs. A summer tutor pays more attention to the child’s learning process and can attend to the child’s weaknesses. Aside from that, summer tutoring address the child’s learning style and matches it to the pacing of the lessons.

In the classroom set-up, the teacher attends to an average of twenty to thirty students. Naturally, students learn at different levels and speed, and using different styles. Some students need lengthy discussions and more time to digest the lesson, while others read the materials and study on their own.

If the majority of the students understood the lesson, then the teacher moves forward, leaving behind one or two students in the process. In-house tutors help these children catch up with the rest of the class.

A summer tutor also makes it easier to diagnose learning problems. Although tutors are not expected to diagnose and correct these problems, they may give advice or refer the child to the proper professional.

For parents who cannot find time to help their children with homework or projects, summer tutors act as substitutes. Children can easily manage schoolwork while parents get the assurance that their child’s needs are met.

Although published in 2006, The Tutoring Revolution: Applying Research for Best Practices, Policy Implications, and Student Achievement by Rowman & Littlefield Education comprehensively discusses the importance of the benefits of tutoring for students based on research-driven results.  Their recommendations provide an excellent resource for tutors nationwide and one of their conclusions is that tutoring, in-home tutoring programs in particular by well-trained professionals, can have a significant impact on learning outcomes.