Case Study 1: Marcus and the Mystery of the Pudding Pans

Case Study 2: A 3-Day Development Workshop in India

Commonalities between the two case studies

Engagement: Building active involvement with the target audience

Equality: Promoting inclusivity and fairness.

Enrichment: Expanding the projects’ benefits to wider communities.

Empowerment: Instilling a sense of ownership and agency.

You might also like:

• Reducing cognitive load
• Designing metacognition into learning experiences
• Onboarding and learning design – Ellie Soccorsy podcast

What sector are you interested in?

‘It’s not enough’, says John Blake, ‘that learners from underrepresented groups can get into college and university – access is about successful higher education, not just any higher education’ (OfS, 2022).

Using learning design to widen participation

Evidence from effective interventions is ‘scant’, says Campbell. ‘There is a lack of robust evidence of its effectiveness and that much of the available evidence has design limitations (2020:13).’ And, as OfS’s Blake says: ‘We can’t share what works, and we can’t make it work better, if we don’t actually know what does work (OfS, 2022).’ It behoves us to think very clearly about what interventions we are creating and on what basis. Four major issues emerge from current research:

Moore et al (2013) recommend specific, targeted approaches, particularly for care leavers and disabled learners. The OfS wants to ‘prioritise’ care leavers (2022a). 

Recurring themes lie around ‘fostering a sense of belonging’, which Moore et. al. (2013:v) say is ‘at the heart of retention and success’. That belonging is closely connected with learner identity, which is likely to undergo radical and destabilising shifts, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. ‘Fostering an HE learner identity is, therefore, deemed essential for positive and successful transitions’ (Campbell, 2020:32). It is a key factor in student retention.

Butcher et al. (2012; 2017) believe the language of our institutions must change, particularly around assessment, which, they say, has an impact on retention. No point in trying to fit square pegs into round holes, they think: it makes more sense to change university language and culture (Campbell, 2020:32).

And, says, Blake (2022):

I absolutely reject any suggestion that there is a trade off between access and quality – if providers believe the regulation of quality justifies reducing their openness to those from families and communities with less experience of higher education or who have travelled less common, often more demanding, routes to reach them, they should be ashamed of themselves.

It’s worth remembering, perhaps: this man carries a stick.

Bibliography

Blake, J. (2022) Next Steps in Access and Participation (accessed 1 Sept. 2022)

Campbell, K. (2020) Widening Participation in Higher Education: immersion prior to entry as an enabler. (accessed 13 Sept. 2022)

Moore, J., Sanders, J. and Higham, L. (2013) Literature Review of Research into Widening Participation to Higher Education Report to HEFCE and OFFA (ARC Network) (accessed 13 Sept. 2022)

OfS (2022a) Care Experienced Students and Looked After Children.  (accessed 18 Sept. 2022)

Younger, K., Gascoine, L., Menzies, V. and Torgerson, C. (2019) ‘A systematic review of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions and strategies for widening participation’ in: Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43:6

You might also like:

• Designing learning for ADHD adults
• Focus on what learners do
• Addressing care in learning design

Thank you to:

• Ray Martin for researching and preparing this article

‘Slow looking?’ you say. ‘Are you mad? There’s no time for that kind of thing in my practice.’ And you remember the Carrie Fisher quip: ‘Instant gratification takes too long.’ Actually, there are good reasons for finding time for slow looking – starting, perhaps, with lessons learned from its value in medical training.

The origins of slow looking

Slow looking is part of a movement that started with slow food in 1986, a response to the arrival of fast-food giant McDonald’s by the Spanish Steps in Rome. Now there’s slow journalism, slow travel, slow learning, a hesitant step into slow higher education and a host of other slows, a response, of course, to fast everything.

Slow looking ‘simply means taking the time to carefully observe more than meets the eye at first glance,’ says Shari Tishman, Senior Research Associate at a Harvard research and development centre. She goes on:

‘Slow looking is a way of gaining knowledge about the world. It helps us discern complexities that can’t be grasped quickly, and it involves a distinctive set of skills and dispositions that have a different center of gravity than those involved in other modes of learning’ (Tishman, 2018:2).

For Tishman, ‘Slow looking may not typically be identified as a core educational value, but its contribution to critical thinking is foundational: before we can decide what is true and right, it’s important to simply look closely at what’s at hand’ (ibid:7).

These qualities would be valuable in almost any office or industry you care to mention. And ‘tolerance with ambiguity and diverse interpretations’? Wouldn’t that be a fine thing for students who silence ideas they dislike? For the bitter divisions in politics today? For media trolls … oh, no, maybe that’s a bridge too far.

Slow looking and thinking

Now at the development stage is Liaison Librarian Alex Bell’s research into ‘five-step slow looking’ workshops for fashion and textile students (presented at the Art Libraries Conference, July 2023 after its first iteration). He’s working from the belief that, with the development of AI, more than ever we need to ensure that our students are examining what they see very carefully indeed.

They might not get caught by the AI-generated image of the Pope in a gleaming white Balenciaga-style puffer coat (or might they?), but they may come away with some very odd – if not dangerous – ideas about the world if they don’t stop to look carefully at the images they come across. And it won’t, of course, be only students who trip up on AI-generated images: there’ll be people in the workplace making unfortunate decisions based on fast looking/fast thinking.

Benefits of slow looking

Research findings from the Harvard generated Project Zero: Out of Eden Learn suggest a number of other important benefits, not least a feeling of well-being. And when’s the last time anyone’s mentioned projects that make the young feel happy?

The Harvard project brings groups of children and students (3-19) together on a custom-built media platform where they share experiences with children of roughly the same age from different countries and socio-economic backgrounds. The first broad aim is to ‘slow down to observe the world carefully and listen attentively to others’.  And participants really engage with slow – they are, says Tishman, ‘quite hungry’ for it (2018:34).

If you want to consider how slow looking works, you might like to take yourself off to a gallery/museum to follow Tate Modern’s guide to slow looking. Or you could take part in Slow Art Day (a global response to the knowledge that visitors spend an average of eight seconds looking at an image.) Here you look at five images/objects for about 10 mins each then share your experience with someone afterwards (the 2024 Slow Art Day is 13 April.)

Slow looking has, as Tishman says, ‘a lot to offer. It helps us uncover the intricacies of objects, systems, and relationships. It allows us to envision and explore diverse perspectives while at the same time probing our own subjectivity. And it helps us discern and appreciate complexity without necessarily dissolving it’ (ibid:150).

And then there’s that feeling of well-being.

You might also like:

• Designing learning for ADHD adults
• Focus on what learners do
• Addressing care in learning design

Thank you to:

• Ray Martin for researching and preparing this article

‘People with ADHD are often highly creative, determined, and able to tackle large and complex problems.’

 

Colley (2009).

AI is ‘the perfect partner for ADHD creativity’, says coach Andrew Lewis, who has worked with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) business people for over 20 years and may know a thing or two.

He says: ‘By leveraging AI technology, ADHD adults can overcome the challenges of routine tasks, enhance productivity, and unleash their creative potential.’ It’s important to emphasise the benefits of ADHD, because all too often it is misunderstood – and as a result perceived negatively as a ‘problem’ in terms of learning.

With all three presentations, you’ll find ‘significant emotional instability’, according to ADHD specialist Philip Asherton. Low self-esteem and sleep problems are common, and emotional instability may demonstrate itself in irritation, frustration, anger and mood swings across the day.

People with ADHD may also suffer from anxiety, depression or other mental health disorders, and their problems with procrastination can be a further barrier to learning.

Diagnosing ADHD can take a long time, and since 2013 the process may also include an assessment for autism (ASD). The figures for co-occurrence of ADHD and autism vary wildly, but they are convincing enough to suggest this joint assessment makes sense. As a result of a positive diagnosis for ADHD, many people will be offered drugs, which are useful for 70% of ADHD people but may have unhelpful or unpleasant side effects.

People with ADHD may have had a very tough time. A significant percentage will find themselves incarcerated (some 25% of the prison population have ADHD), and may also struggle with drugs or alcohol in order to compensate for the shortage of dopamine.

But there is a bright side. Among the possible strengths that ADHD can bring are creativity, originality, big picture problem-solving skills, and high energy. People with ADHD can also be very productive: their capacity for risk-taking may lead to discoveries, their tendency to hyper-focus may help them see things others do not, and they can be very determined, resilient, generous and entrepreneurial (Colley, 2009).

They need learning experiences that help them make the most of these incredible qualities. 

Useful resources   

Colley, M. (2009) ‘Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder–AD(H)D’ in Pollak, D. (ed.) Neurodiversity in Higher Education: positive responses to specific learning differences Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp.169-194

Hallowell, E. and Ratey, J. 50 Tips for the Non-Medication Treatment of Adult ADHD.

King’s College London Understanding ADHD: current research and practice.’ A short course from KCL.

Lewis, A. Unleashing ADHD creativity with AI: a perfect match. Simply Wellbeing

There is also growing evidence that Mindfulness can improve working memory and attention in adults with ADHD. This program from Shambhala was designed specifically for ADHD adults.

‘Body doubling’ helps many people with ADHD get down to study, bill paying, cleaning, aspects of work – anything they might find difficult to do alone. For information see: https://add.org/the-body-double/.

You might also like:

• Supporting dyspraxic learners with learning design

• Anticipating dyslexia in learning design

• Why ‘little and often’ delivers flexible learning
• Thanks to Alexander Grey on Unsplash for a fabulous photo!

Metacognition (at its simplest, thinking about thinking) is gaining some ground in primary and secondary outposts; in higher education and the workplace, you may draw a blank. However, say researchers De Backer et al. (2011:559):

‘It is widely recognised that metacognition is an important mediator for successful and high-level learning, especially in higher education… Nevertheless, a majority of higher education students possess insufficient metacognitive knowledge and regulation skills to self-regulate their learning adequately.’

Research into supporting disadvantaged children in schools has demonstrated that, for children with sufficient motivation, the disadvantage gap can be closed with ‘very high impact for very low cost.’ (The Education Endowment Foundation claims the average additional progress in one year is seven months when you teach metacognition with self-regulation.)

Quite clearly there’s a case for incorporating metacognition into learning design. And it shouldn’t be a difficult ‘sell’. As Graham Gibbs (2006:23) notes, ‘Students are strategic as never before,’ and, on these grounds alone, you might reasonably expect they’d want to work in the most efficient and effective way possible: to work smarter rather than harder, as the saying is.

It can be divided into two parts: metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation. The first is what students know about how they learn, what problems are being presented and what kind of toolkit is available to solve those problems efficiently.

The second, metacognitive regulation, covers such aspects of learning as planning, information management, monitoring comprehension, evaluating progress.

‘Individuals who demonstrate a wide variety of metacognitive skills complete work more efficiently—they use the right tool for the job, and they modify learning strategies as needed, identifying blocks to learning and changing tools or strategies to ensure goal attainment’ LCPS, n.d.).

Examples of metacognitive strategies

Helpful Professor Chris Drew includes the following in his list of metacognitive strategies:

• Self-questioning (internal talk): The ability to ask yourself questions when going throughout your work to ensure you’re doing it to the best of your ability.
• Meditation: Through pausing and clearing your mind, you can flush out all the extra chatter and focus more on the task.
• Reflection: As you work, you reflect on what you’re doing and think about ways to do it better. Schon called this ‘reflection-in-action’.
• Awareness of strengths and weaknesses: Being able to know what tasks you’re good at, and what tasks you struggle at.
• Study skills: Using study aides such as flash cards, spaced repetition, and other study strategies to remember.

A simple question frame for students might be along the lines of: “What is the problem? What do I need to do? What might be my best strategy here?”

Then: “How did that work? Might I employ that strategy elsewhere? Will it need modifying?”

Another useful question is: “What makes me a successful learner?”

Metacognition in higher education

You may think that teaching metacognition is a job for Study Skills tutors. But in fact it needs designing and embedding into all classes, just like other study skills, for it to have a meaningful impact on learners. In higher education settings, students need to be developing their own sense of what successful learning looks like, as well as reflecting on good feedback from tutors.

Learning designers can reinforce this by designing short metacognitive activities into taught sessions. For example, at the start of a session students could be prompted on Pentameter to ‘check in’ with themselves and consider whether time of day, temperature, lighting, desk height might make a difference to their learning. Or what reading strategies work for them, and in what circumstances. Or whether they prefer making mind maps, scribbling on post-it notes, or using Lego to develop their ideas.

One lecturer knew her international students were working on mind mapping in their EAP (English for Academic Purposes) sessions, but she never saw any sign of their use until she began to include mapping in her sessions: it was then that they realised it didn’t belong in EAP alone.

Learning designers could also consider designing team teaching activities involving specialist educators such as Study Skills or Learning Development tutors, and integrating their understanding of metacognition into learning design. If team teaching is not an option, find out what advice these specialists are giving students and find ways to reinforce it through your learning designs.

Metacognition in corporate contexts

If you’re designing learning for the workplace, designing for metacognition is just as important. Encouraging employees to regularly reflect on their learning experiences, challenges, and successes allows them to assess their thinking processes and identify effective or ineffective strategies. This self-reflection provides valuable insights that individuals can use to adapt and improve their future learning efforts.

Goal setting is another powerful tool that learning designers can incorporate. By encouraging employees to set clear and achievable learning objectives, designers facilitate a proactive approach to learning. Employees become more motivated and focused, leading to a deeper engagement with the learning material and a stronger commitment to their own development.

Incorporating metacognitive techniques such as planning and monitoring can also optimise learning experiences. Learning designers can teach employees how to plan their learning process effectively, break down complex tasks into manageable steps, and monitor their progress along the way. This approach helps individuals stay on track, identify potential obstacles, and make necessary adjustments to achieve their learning goals efficiently.

However you employ metacognition, you will be offering employees and students a way to become more confident, efficient learners both in the classroom and in the workplace. Stronger metacognitive skills enable people to identify gaps in their knowledge and skills take more ownership of their development.

You might also like:

• De Backer, L., Van Keer, H. and Valcke, M. (2012) Exploring the potential impact of reciprocal peer tutoring on higher education students’ metacognitive knowledge and regulation. Instructional Science. 40, pp.559-588
• Drew, C. (2023) Metacognitive Theory: definition, pros and cons
• Gibbs, G. (2006) ‘How assessment frames student learning’ in Bryan, C and Clegg, B. (eds) Innovative Assessment in Higher Education London: Routledge pp.23-26
• LCPS (n.d) Fact sheet: Metacognitive processes

Thank you to:

• Ray Martin for researching and preparing this article
• Alonso Reyes on Unsplash for a fabulous photo!

Want to learn about learning design?

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Have you ever tried to remember a shopping list? Then you will have experienced cognitive load.  

If you can remember three or four items, that’s not bad. Maybe you can remember eight or nine if you’re good at it. You might repeat the the items to yourself as you go along. Then you’re given one item too many – and splat! The list crumbles, and you’re left with random items, half the list at best. You don’t just lose the one item too many, you lose the lot.

We can usefully hold onto this thought when preparing lessons, designing courses and teaching. If your students have reached their limit and you choose to give them more, they’re going to be shedding thoughts and ideas and any coherence they felt before they were overloaded. A discouraging waste of everyone’s time – including your own.. 

The value of games

You can hold onto considerably more material if you play games with it, as memory champions do. They can, for instance, remember a pack of cards because each card is tagged to something – maybe the 10 of spades to 10 Downing St? – and these images can be linked in a story. But the fact is, we can only remember seven plus or minus two numbers as a general rule and without a strategy – the Magic No. 7.

This was established by George Miller, working at Harvard in the 1950s. He began by asking his students to memorise numbers, and they seemed to get better and better and better at it. Wanting to confirm his findings, that working memory could be expanded, he turned to the alphabet. He found that when he gave the students scrambled letters from the alphabet, they were back to remembering seven plus or minus two items once more. It turned out the students – like memory champions – had created strategies to remember the numbers. For example, one, a runner, was holding the numbers in race scores. 

Activate visual and auditory channels

Williams suggests, second, that we activate students’ visual and auditory channels together since this provides ‘two points of entry’ into working memory. In doing so, the burden on working memory is lighter since it is shared. There is a caveat here, however: the material going into auditory and visual memory must be in harmony and fully integrated. If it isn’t corresponding, the burden on working memory will be heavier. The old issue of what goes onto a powerpoint slide really needs to be addressed robustly here.

It’s also important to be mindful of how digital technologies can both increase and decrease cognitive load. When you’re creating digital learning materials, pay close attention to the impact of digital technologies on learners’ cognitive load. 

Provide worked examples

Williams’ third point of guidance focuses on the worked example, a step-by-step approach to developing new knowledge, understanding and problem-solving skills. There are, he says, ‘a wealth of studies that have shown the positive impact of using worked examples to enhance learning’ (Chandler and Sweller, 1991).

You might also like:

• Chandler, P. and Sweller, J. (1991) Cognitive load theory and the format of instruction. Cognition and Instruction, 8(4), 293–332. 

• Sweller, J. (1988) Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning’ in Cognitive Science, 12, 257-285

• Williams, D. (n.d.) The importance of cognitive load. Society for Education and Training.

• Why a ‘little and often’ approach delivers flexible learning
• Cognitive constructivism in learning design 

Thank you to:

• Ray Martin for researching and preparing this article
• Callum Parker and Marcus Ganahl on Unsplash for fabulous photos

We are trying harder than you can imagine,’ says dyspraxic teacher Kerry Pace (2015). She suggests that we – non-dyspraxics – might think about how we feel when we’re exhausted: the things we drop or spill or bump into, the overwhelming magnitude of a huge task ahead of us, the effort to do anything at all.

Our dyspraxic students may feel like that a great deal of the time – and they’re not, as Pace says, helped by ‘the tuts and sighs’ they hear around them. And nor is their self-esteem.

They may keep quiet too – if not about their dyspraxia, then about the extent of it.

‘There is an unspoken myth that if you have dyspraxia “badly enough” then dyspraxia will be identified when a child.’ (Pace, 2015)

This may mean that those identified as dyspraxic at university or later feel they ought to be able to cope, that clearly their dyspraxia is mild. There is also a likelihood of co-occurring differences: dyslexia and ADHD (only 10% of dyspraxics are purely so, and if they have ADHD, 16% of them may also be autistic).

These are people for the most part ‘caged in chaos’ (Briggs, 2005) who, from Madeleine Portwood’s researches, may have a history of ‘…school failure, virtually non-existent self-esteem, feelings of total exclusion from society and, in some cases, extreme loneliness’ (1999:171).  At university or in apprenticeships, they will probably have difficulties with literacy, planning and organisation, working memory, speed of working, spoken language, visual perceptual and spatial skills (but see the fuller description below).

Using learning design to support dyspraxia

So what can we, as teachers and course designers, do to support our dyspraxic students? The golden rule applies: if we make courses dyslexia-friendly, we’re probably helping everyone else (for more on this, see our article Anticipating dyslexia benefits all learners.) And that’s a good starting point. Then:

• Ensure you explain the most important learning outcomes at the beginning of every session (most of us need the whole picture at the outset in order to understand) and, for dyspraxics, at the end of sessions too. This is good teaching practice, and can be reinforced by learning designers when developing session plans and presentations.
• Provide instructions in clear, simple language and in small chunks. Providing more than two tasks at a time may overload working memory and create a feeling of impossibility. Ensure instructions are simply explained in a back-up document. Use bullet points, diagrams too where appropriate. (It is useful to return to the British Dyslexia Association Style Guide here).
• Include regular, short breaks in your sessions. This benefits all students but is vital for dyspraxics, who can so easily feel overwhelmed – and a consequence of this is their self-esteem will feel threatened.
• Build in time for ‘over-learning’ in the sessions you create. Dyspraxics may need to practice something over and over again before they get it, and ‘over-learning’ is a term used to describe this repetition. And as Colley (n.d.) says, ‘Repetition is … very important’.

Creating accessible resources

• Provide any notes and handouts before lectures or live sessions. This is another tactic which benefits all students, as it allows time to look up unfamiliar words and concepts, and also enables learners to mentally prepare for the session.
• Prioritise resources in the Resource List. This will help autistic students too, and many other students who have difficulty with the difference between ‘essential’ and ‘recommended’.

Much (all?) of this support will make a lot of other students happy. When you’re weighed down by mental health problems, for example, it can be difficult to focus and understand; you may be dragging yourself to class in a fog of misery, while struggling with low confidence.

Pace (2015) says, ‘We are trying harder than you can imagine, so my top tip is praise the effort not the outcome.’ Incorporating this into course design may require some ingenuity.

Common associated difficulties of dyspraxia in adulthood

Adults in college and university commonly have the following difficulties in their studies:

Literacy

• absorbing information from text, so while reading accuracy is often proficient, reading comprehension tends to be slow
• coordinating and synchronising information from different sources
• planning and organising thought for writing
• creating structure in writing
• extracting key points, so making notes

Planning and Organisational Ability

• planning and organising thought and activity
• creating structure, particularly where variables need to be considered
• multi-tasking
• creating schedules
• managing time
• prioritising tasks and action
• managing changes to routine and planned sequences
• adapting to new or unpredictable situations

Working Memory Weaknesses

• working under timed conditions
• slow handwriting / typing speeds

Slow speeds of working will increase the demands made on memory.

Spoken Language

• assembling words quickly
• organising language effectively for clear expression
• explaining ideas accurately and concisely
• following spoken instructions
• following and absorbing information from tutorials, seminars and lectures
• assimilating information quickly
• taking notes

Visual perception and spatial skills

• analysing and interpreting visual information at speed
• tracking text accurately
• transferring visual attention from one object to another quickly
• left/right orientation, direction, map-reading
• learning the spatial layout of a new environment or building quickly
• judging distance, speed and time
• being aware of body position in relation to the surrounding environment.

SASC, March 2012

You might also like:

• British Dyslexia Association Style Guide 2022 

• Biggs V. (2005) Caged in Chaos: a dyspraxic guide to breaking free London, Jessica Kingsley

• Colley, M. (n.d.) Neurodiversity and dyspraxia.

• Pace, K. (2015) My personal experiences of dyspraxia management strategies and resources for all. The AHEAD Journal 2 

• Portwood, M. (1999)  Dyspraxia: Identification and Intervention. 2nd edition. London, David Fulton

Thank you to:

• Ray Martin for help with researching and producing this article.
• Bady Abbas on Unsplash  for a fabulous photo!

The UK government spends a great deal on supporting dyslexic students in HE – and they almost certainly get value back on that money in the workplace. At the same time, many dyslexic students go unnoticed and struggle without specialist support. We have to get our dyslexic students through university in good fettle, smoothing their thoroughly frustrating path where we can.

‘If education pivoted around creativity or practical competencies or social skills or audio visual skills, you’d be setting up learner support units for non-dyslexic people,’ says technology consultant (and dyslexic) Alistair McNaught (2012). ‘It’s a cultural choice to link learning so tightly to reading and writing.’

Dyslexia often comes with very considerable strengths, as hugely successful banking organisations such as Goldman Sachs recognise when they give time concessions to dyslexic candidates in interviews. And at one time Harvard Business School was seeking out successful dyslexics to understand their skills as entrepreneurs and to develop those abilities in its own students.

However, dyslexia also comes with challenges that are produced by the emphasis on literacy skills in education. The combination of poor working memory and slow speed of processing information impact reading, writing and listening. Poor skills in processing sounds (phonological processing) and lack of automaticity in writing and reading deepen the frustration and difficulties.

Designing for dyslexia

The good news in supporting dyslexic students in HE – as under the Equality Act 2010 you are bound to do – is that the right adjustments can leverage benefits for more or less every student. Here are some of the do’s and possible dont’s:

Make it multisensory. 

Include multiple ways for learners to engage with the content such as things to do, say, see and hear. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) may give you some useful ideas for doing this.

Make assessments inclusive at the point of design.

Giving students extra time highlights difference; extra time ‘others’ students (and I’ve heard very generous-spirited students cry ‘unfair, unfair’ when dyslexic students have extra time). Offer alternatives to the inevitable written assessments, which put pressure on dyslexics and international students – neither group is likely to demonstrate what they know, understand and can argue coherently without a huge struggle.

Keep everything simple.

Those long turgid unit handbooks do no one any favours and, as the great (dyslexic) Albert Einstein probably said, ‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.’ Keep the sentences short so that you do not put unnecessary pressure on the weakness in the dyslexic working memory – or, indeed, on the working memory capacity of all students. (In this connection, you may like to check out Sweller’s 1988 Cognitive Load Theory.) Stick to one idea per sentence – and avoid double negatives: these can really fox dyslexics, and probably a lot of other students as well. This may be the moment to test the controversial ChatGPT, which will simplify text while you blink.

Create handbooks and unit material in Word.

It is easy to customise text with Word and to convert this into programs that will read text to students. And see that all text (including slides) is, as far as possible, on an off-white (possibly grey or a pale pink) background. Some dyslexics have trouble with black/white contrast (known mainly now as visual stress) as do many other people – and whatever you do, resist the temptation to reverse out a light text onto a dark background. The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) Style Guide is very helpful on choosing fonts and layout as well as simplifying material (see below).

Avoid anything unnecessary or distracting in slides.

It’s easy to get carried away by free pictures on Google and fascinating (though tangential) facts and figures – Cognitive Load Theory again. Pretty your slides might be; but if they are in any way confusing, alas, they must go.

Reduce the number of lectures.

Where possible, avoid them – you can do so many other more inclusive and engaging activities online and in class. If you must lecture, make sure the slides are available beforehand, and break lectures up into manageable chunks.

Provide reading material in advance.

If you want students to discuss a passage of text in class, give them an opportunity to read this before the class and tell them you will want to discuss it. Dyslexics – and probably most non-native speakers – will be slow readers and may not get an opportunity to discuss text newly presented in class since they need to spend the time decoding it. They may have terrific contributions to make, so this is a loss all round.

Provide guided reading.

There’s also something to be said for making bibliographies focused (one chapter, half a chapter from A with the intention of examining B) and making it clear what the key texts are – and why. Find e-books where you can, and include such things as TED talks and online lectures where possible.

There is a wonderful range of apps and resources available such as dictation tools like Dragon Dictate, screen colours for visual stress, note-taking apps for lectures, support for presentations and mind mapping tools for planning. A full list of recommended resources and their uses can be found on the Diversity and Ability (DnA) site. DnA is as good as it gets, and the support you can give all your students from here is profound.

You might also like:

• British Dyslexia Association Style Guide 2022 
• McNaught, A. (2012) Ten things I wish my dyslexia tutor had told me. Patoss Bulletin, Summer 2012, pp. 42-4
• Diversity and Ability – a great site packed with information and advice for supporting learning
• IvyPanda (blog) How to study with dyslexia – a comprehensive guide.
• Dyslexia and the workplace: How to thrive as an adult with dyslexia. From the Online Speech and Pathology Programmes blog.

Thank you to:

• Ray Martin for help with researching and producing this article.
• The Home School Volunteers team for providing additional resources.
• Jamie Street on Unsplash  for a fabulous photo!

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