Learner support focuses on what the teacher or instructor can or should do to help learners beyond the formal delivery of content or skills development. Learner support covers a wide range of function and is discussed throughout the book, but particularly in:
I use the term scaffolding to cover the many functions of an instructor in diagnosing and responding to learners’ difficulties, including:
- helping students when they struggle with new concepts or ideas;
- helping students to gain a deep understanding of a topic or subject;
- helping students to evaluate a range of different ideas or practices;
- helping students to understand the limits of knowledge;
Above all challenging students to go beyond their current level of thinking or practice to acquire a deeper understanding or a higher level of competency.
These activities normally take the form of personal interventions and communication between an instructor and an individual or a group of students, in face-to-face contexts or online. These activities tend not to be pre-planned, requiring a good deal of spontaneity and responsiveness on the part of the teacher or instructor. Scaffolding is usually a means of individualising the learning, enabling student differences in learning to be better accommodated as they occur.
Why learner support is so important
Good design can substantially reduce the demand for learner support, by ensuring clarity and by building appropriate learning activities. Students also vary enormously in their need for support in learning. Many lifelong learners, who have already been through post-secondary education, have families, careers and a great deal of life experience, can be self-managed, autonomous learners, identifying what they need to learn and how best to do this. On the other extreme, there are students for whom the formal school system was a disaster, who lack basic learning skills or foundations, such as reading, writing, and mathematical skills, and therefore lack confidence in learning. These will need a lot of support to succeed.
