ENGAGEMENT SLIDERS
Using Engagement Sliders to Support Agency
For learners to grow it is important that they are active participants in their learning. Teachers using Engagement Sliders can help foster and support learners to have a sense of ownership and a sense of control over the direction of their own learning.
Within this training module, you will learn about:
- Create a class culture where sliders are seen as a positive tool
- Use the functionality of Sliders to encourage student voice
- It's not personal!
- Take onboard feedback and show learners that you have heard them!
Create a class culture where sliders are seen as a positive tool
Explain why
Ensure learners understand why the class is using this app. What are the benefits to them personally? Discuss how giving feedback aids teachers in creating rich, differentiated learning experiences.
Create a positive culture
Promote that it is ok to speak up. Discuss as a class how people learn in different ways and that sometimes a lesson design does not always suit every learner. Also, how helpful it is as a learner to reflect and share on how they learn best, what support may be needed to be successful and that as a teacher you welcome this feedback.
Unpack Engagement Sliders terminology
Workshop with the learners what Disliked and Loved it could mean, and what Not Challenged and Challenged means. Talk about how feeling challenged is healthy for us and it is good to be in the learning zone, also when we are faced with challenges it is a healthy way to build our resilience, and we can learn from what hasn’t or did not work.
Teach critical thinking and reflection skills
It helps to teach critical thinking and reflection skills. Learners need to think critically about what the learning intention was and the success criteria. Were they successful? Were there any barriers to them being successful? Can they reflect on the best way for them to learn? Reflection is a positive way to build our learners' self awareness.
Make it fun! Practice Sliding
Make it physical and fun. Make a human slider where learners need to place themselves on the slider in response to questions. This is a great way to workshop reflecting and using the slider in practice before the learners use the app independently.
Use the functionality of Sliders to encourage student voice
Engagement Sliders enable students to deeply know themselves as learners. Knowing how they learn best, and knowing what support they need to be successful in their learning. The following fields in Engagement Sliders can assist student agency, allowing for additional direction from a teacher and guidance on how as a student to respond effectively.
Description - When creating a questionnaire a teacher can make use of the description field to add more detail or guide learners as to what they would like them to reflect on.
Additional notes field
When a learner responds, they can use the additional notes fields to elaborate on their slider reflection. Workshop and provide templates to help them to share rich responses that could aid teacher planning. Rather than using ‘I did not like it’ a learner could respond:
I enjoyed this part ….
This part was challenging …..
I would learn better if…
Next time could we try ….
(provide examples of different ways of learning the class previously brainstormed in Tip 1 e.g. having more games, learning in a smaller group, doing the activity together and then sending us off to work independently).
It's not personal!
As teachers we need to have a positive mindset and see how feedback from learners can only be good. It can be used to enhance pedagogy, teacher practice and further enhance learning outcomes.
Take onboard feedback and show learners that you have heard them!
Now that you have encouraged learners to reflect on their learning and share, it is important that you help grow their confidence in sharing and ensure that they know that the teacher has taken notice of what they said. There are a number of ways that this can happen.
Follow up Conversations
Make sure they happen. Meet with the learner to unpack further how they feel, how they found the learning and how you might help them to succeed. As the Engagement Sliders allows for privacy in feedback, consider when a private setting would be more appropriate to conference and when it is ok to conference in a public setting.
Workshop/ Lesson Design
Adapt and change your learning design, taking into account the feedback received in Engagement Sliders. Where appropriate reference the change and that it came from student feedback. Continue to use Engagement Sliders to track if the change in approach had an impact
Collaborative Planning - Where to next
Consider creating workshops to redesign lessons collaboratively with students. This provides an opportunity for learners to have agency as to where to next, building and increasing their understanding of what helps them to learn successfully.