Online Learning Can Work for Literacy-Level Learners

If you’ve ever wondered whether or not online instruction can really work for literacy-level adult learners, a recent COABE conference session offered a resounding YES, and then shared straightforward strategies for providing accessible content and instruction to this population.

Eliana Stanislawski, a Professional Development Specialist with the SABES Program Support Team at World Education, presented practical, creative strategies for making virtual classrooms more accessible and engaging for learners with limited or no print literacy in their first language. The session took an asset-based approach, reminding everyone that the job of teachers is to design instruction that meets everyone where they are at.

One of the session’s central ideas was organizing adaptations around three areas:

• prioritizing access
• harnessing creative media
• leveraging physical space

In order to prioritize access, teachers should remember to use minimal text on slides, choose accessible typefaces, and use transparent image backgrounds (so that learners focus on the target image, not superfluous details). It was also recommended that teachers replace written instructions with icon-based cues so that learners can focus on the content of the slides, rather than struggling with the instructions.

The presentation highlighted easy-to-use technology tools like vlogs to show places in the community and WhatsApp voice notes to communicate with learners. It also showed beautiful and effective class-made books that were created by blending the Language Experience Approach with Book Creator. (On the right is a sample from one of Eliana’s class books.)

A definite highlight was the use of virtual backgrounds to make role-plays more concrete. A conversation with a doctor is much more realistic when the teacher appears to be standing in an exam room rather than their home office!

The session shared that 43% of literacy-level adult learners in the program prefer online-only classes. This challenges assumptions many of educators and administrators might carry about who online learning is “for.” Literacy-level learners want to be there. The question is whether we’re designing online instruction that genuinely includes them.