Exploring Engagement in ELT Teaching

Part III: Cognitive Engagement

Reflecting back on the last year has me, and most likely many of you, asking were my students engaged in this new normal? If this is to be a normal way of delivery, how can I engage them even deeper?  Well, if you have been following along, you are probably pretty familiar with the definition of engagement I have been working from–“the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught”. We know that engagement involves emotional engagement, which we looked at in the first blog, and behavioral engagement, which we looked at in the last blog, and cognitive engagement, which we will unpack in this blog.

What is Cognitive Engagement?

When we think of cognitive engagement, we may ask, Are my students interacting with content and applying the new content? Are they developing their learner autonomy? It’s really about effort and investment. However, this effort and investment begins with the teacher. The delivery of the content, or the manner in which we teach the content, can either foster or discourage cognitive engagement. What exactly do I mean? Well, the content has to be accessible to leaners, and that includes the terminology we use to teach the content. We also have to scaffold learning or take them up Bloom’s taxonomy. So, how can we build lessons that cognitively engage our students?

Strategies to Build Cognitive Engagement

Very much like both behavioral and emotional engagement, it’s all about leveraging our traditional teaching methods and the types of activities we have students participate in. When we unpack this a bit more, we can really break this down into four key segments: language of our delivery, allotted time for ‘learning’, scaffolding content, and time for learner engagement with content.

Element #1: Language of Delivery

Have you ever explained an English grammar lesson, used the correct terminology, albeit subject, object, participle, etc., and looked out at your class and saw blank stares? Or worse yet, called out a question on Zoom and were met with silence? For many of our students these terms may be familiar, but for many more they simply aren’t. The level at which a student entered your program may be a factor in how familiar they are with terms. So, how can we overcome this? Well, a silver lining in our COVID world is the tools we have available to us and are using. Imagine teaching a grammar lesson, and students ‘watching’ the grammar come alive.

video

Take a look at the screenshot of this video from the Pearson English Content Library Powered by Nearpod. It is done in the Khan Academy style. As the teacher is talking through the lesson, students are hearing the lesson, but also seeing it. The visual helps to support the terms the students are unfamiliar with. Furthermore, we need to make sure we focus on not just the what, but the how and the why—think language, form, meaning, and use.

Element #2: Allotted Time for Learning

We often have a lot to do in a little time. We may use our entire class period to present one lesson. However, how many of our students are truly able to absorb it all? How many are ‘engaged’ the full amount of time? In today’s digital world, with today’s digital learners, it is not realistic to think that they can listen to a lecture for an extended period of time, and ‘learn’ all the content and that is why microlearning has become some popular. Microlearning is about learning in small digestible pieces. Students learn in chunks, and then have an opportunity to practice one chunk before moving forward. Studies have shown that microlearning enhances retention and engagement for students. So, when planning a lesson, consider the chunk-chew-check method. Chunk the learning, give students a task or simple activity to chew on the new information, and then check—think formative assessment.

formative assessment

Element #3: Scaffolding

When we deliver a lesson, it is natural to build tasks and practices in complexity. That is really what scaffolding is all about. However, we often work on remembering and understanding in the classroom, or during class time, and then allow students to do the heavy lifting at home—creating. In order for students to be cognitively engaged, and not lose their motivation, it is important we walk them through each step in class, giving them the tools and skills they need to walk themselves through each step outside of class. Scaffolding needs to be thoughtfully designed in and out of class tasks. Take a look at a lesson in the Pearson English Content Library Powered by Nearpod. You will notice how the lesson walks students up Bloom’s taxonomy, each time asking a bit more of them, all the while engaging students in their own learning process.

grammar lesson

Element #4: Learner’s Time

Lastly, our students have busy lives, but we know that for a student to be truly engaged in learning, they need time outside of class to engage with content. This allows them to interact at their own frequency rate, but it also helps ELT students build those very critical academic skills, like autonomy. As educators, we need to set that expectation. We need to let students know that learning a language is a partnership—we can provide lessons, but outside of the classroom, they need to dedicate time. The digital world has once again come to our rescue and provided tools that we can use to engage students outside of class. Whether you use a Learning Management System (LMS), or another digital environment, your students can interact with content outside the classroom through additional practices and interactions.

live or student-paced lesson

Imagine launching a lesson in class, but students being able to work through that same lesson again outside of class. With the Pearson English Content Library Powered by Nearpod, you can launch a lesson during class, or as a student-paced lesson, or both. The engaging platform allows students to interact, scaffolds the lesson, and provides a microlearning lesson.

In the end, we know the more engaged our students are, the more they learn. That is our goal, isn’t it?


Pearson English Content Library Powered by Nearpod
Want to know more about the Pearson English Content Library Powered by Nearpod? Visit pearsoneltusa.com/nearpod.

Christina Cavage is the Curriculum and Assessment Manager at University of Central Florida. She has trained numerous teachers all over the world in using digital technologies to enhance and extend learning. She has authored over a dozen ELT textbooks, including University Success, Oral Communication, Transition Level, Advanced Level, Intermediate Level and A2. Recently, Ms. Cavage completed grammar and academic vocabulary curriculum for the new Pearson English Content Library Powered by Nearpod, which is now available. Learn more here.

Advantages of Implementing a Learning Management Platform

Do you know the main benefits of implementing a learning platform in your school? Get to know them in this article.

A true e-Learning platform is one that provides support, offers educational solutions, and makes hybrid and remote instruction easier to implement. It is also an educational portal that offers digital materials and tools as well as analytics and reports all in one place.

>>> It may interest you:   What is an LMS platform and what is it for?

Advantages for students

  • All materials that support learning at anytime, anywhere on one platform
  • Different forms of evaluation for different forms of learning
  • Accessible on all devices in different learning environments
  • More engagement and interaction during classes
  • Easy way to keep in touch with teachers and other students via one platform

Advantages for schools

  • All materials for all classes in one place
  • Easy way to post assignments, check progress, and communicate with students and families
  • Analytics and performance scores to track progress and address issues

Advantages for teachers

  • Materials and guides in digital format for easy access and download
  • Flexibility to rearrange content and add your own content
  • Ability to reach students and run synchronous classes from the platform
  • Tools to encourage engagement and participation
Features of Pearson Digital Hub

Introducing Pearson Digital Hub

In the current environment of distance learning, many programs struggle to reach their learners and engage them in a meaningful way. We at Pearson understand these challenges and have developed a learning and teaching management platform where teachers can provide interactive classes and monitor performance, and students can have access to the information they need from any device. This powerful tool is called the Pearson Digital Hub, and it’s an excellent tool for programs that do not currently use a learning management system.

Keep students engaged and avoid dropouts

Pearson Digital Hub goes hand in hand with current trends in virtual education, providing the same academic level of face-to-face classes, avoiding distractions, and keeping students engaged.

Improve results

By having an intuitive and friendly virtual environment, Pearson Digital Hub offers great advantages in supporting face-to-face or distance teaching, modernizing courses, and improving students’ academic results. In addition, the platform provides analytics and progress tracking, so teachers can easily identify which students are struggling and need more help and attention.

Save time

Each week, teachers spend a great deal of time creating the activities and assignments. With Pearson Digital Hub that time can be reduced since the platform contains all the materials you need to teach your classes.

Improve communication and collaboration

Our platform includes interactive tools where students can communicate and share their questions quickly and easily. This creates an environment conducive to participation and fosters collaboration. In addition, Pearson Digital Hub allows you to conduct lessons in real time via streaming and a message delivery system, all within the platform.

Add your own content

Pearson Digital Hub provides the flexibility to adapt your courses in any way you want. In addition to the Pearson eBooks and digital practice, you can also add your own content such as videos, images, downloadable documents, and more. Here, creativity has no limits, and learning becomes engaging and collaborative.

Learn more about Pearson Digital Hub here.

To learn how to implement Pearson Digital Hub in your program and to request a demo, please contact your Pearson ELT specialist.

What is an LMS platform? And what is it for?

Banner: What is an LMS platform? And what is it for?

Learn about the concept of an LMS platform, its general characteristics, and how it can help your institution manage and improve teaching and learning.

The development of technology has facilitated access to many new tools in different fields, including education.

Learning management platforms (LMS) have become popular in recent years, and their popularity has only grown during the Covid-19 pandemic. LMSs not only help keep programs organized, but they also improve the learning experience for students.

There are a few popular LMS platforms currently available on the market. You might have heard about Canvas, Blackboard, or D2L. Several educational publishers also offer their own LMS platforms, such as MyEnglishLab.

In this article, we’ll explain what learning management platforms are and what functions they perform.

What is an LMS platform?

An LMS or e-Learning platform is a distance learning tool that allows you to create a virtual classroom to teach using the Internet. That is, it is a program or software that teachers and students can access from anywhere in the world to meet their teaching and learning objectives.

But not only that. Great learning management systems not only provide an adequate learning environment, but they also transform the learning and teaching process, making it dynamic and accessible. Therefore, LMS platforms must meet certain characteristics. Here are the main ones:

Flexibility: LMS platforms are customizable and flexible for different study plans. This allows content to be added according to the needs of teachers and students.

Interactivity allows users to have different content with which they can interact to better engage with and understand the topics taught.

Usability refers to the ease with which users manage to use the platform in order to achieve a goal. That is, an LMS platform should be easy to navigate with no confusion about its use.

Multiple functionalities: LMS platforms try to replicate the physical environment of the classrooms in a virtual environment. For this reason, they offer different tools such as video classes, chats, and discussion forums.

Accessibility: users can access the full content anytime, anywhere. This should be possible from any type of device (mobile, tablet, and computer).

e-Learning platforms have many advantages for schools and institutions. They are an excellent communication channel for the teacher and student community.  Many of them also allow access to student performance reports, which in turn, allows teachers to address performance issue and tailor their instruction to individual students.

Benefits of LMS platforms

They simplify the learning processes

These platforms use intuitive systems and content with a logical structure that are very easy to use for anyone, including children. In addition, the possibility of having virtual classes expands the options for collaborative and social learning.

They allow access to multimedia content

Learning through LMS platforms is more engaging because they not only include written content like in traditional classrooms, but also allow students to engage and learn with images, videos, infographics, podcasts, and more.

They are easily manageable

The digital nature of the content allows it to be updated in real time and instantly. In addition, it is very easy to manage the roles of users, such as students, teachers, administrators, and others.

They are available 24/7

Thanks to the LMS platforms, the geographical and temporal distance is eliminated. Teachers and students can access their materials from anywhere and at any time of the day.

Without a doubt, LMS platforms are a powerful 360º tool that all schools should consider for their training and educational activities.

If your program is not currently using an LMS, consider Pearson Digital Hub. Pearson Digital Hub allows you to offer mixed classes (face-to-face and virtual), serve digital content to students, run synchronous instruction directly from the platform, assign homework, and obtain performance reports that show each student’s progress. Learn more here or contact your local rep for a demo to see how you can implement at at your institution.

Image: Pearson Digital Hub