Unit 3 Development

Lesson 3 Learner Development

Synopsis: The main aim of the Learner Development Lesson is to assist learners to achieve their full
potential at school so that they may ultimately access further education and to the world of work. In this
lesson you will learn how to deal with boredom and encourage learners to learn lifelong. And also you
will improve your language skills and competences.

Lesson aims:
By the end of the lesson a student will have improved the following areas of language:
Reading: speculating, reading for detail, opinion; multiple matching.
Listening: listening for opinion, gist, detail; sentence completion.
Speaking: commentaries on the ideas, discussions, presentations, speaking about pluses and minuses
Writing: a paragraph, a memo, for and against essay, making notes.
Vocabulary: collocations, compound adjectives
Grammar: Continuous forms
Pronunciation: emotional reading

Key aspects:
1. Why we think learning is boring
2. Dealing With Boredom
3 E-learning
4. Lifelong Learning

Activity 1.Spark The Concept of Boredom

Look at the presentation made by one of the students and comment on each slide.
Some links for pictures of the presentation. All pictures with the CC license
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/10000/velka/young-woman-bored-11281332030yRqt.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zionfiction/25889334040
https://pixabay.com/ru/%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BA-
%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%BE-%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE
%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%8C-%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0-
%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%83%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%BE-272675/

Why we think learning is boring

Activity 2 Reading
A. Pre-reading
What associations do you have with the word ‘learning’? Are they more positive or negative?
B Vocabulary
What is ‘aspiration’, ‘curiosity’, ‘neutral self-awareness’ and ‘willingness to be bad first’? Provide your
own definitions. What is their connection with the learning process?
C Reading

1
Read the text (http://erikaandersen.com/2013/11/why-we-think-learning-is-boring.html) and explain the
notions you’ve discussed in the previous exercise (‘aspiration’, ‘curiosity’, ‘neutral self-awareness’ and
‘willingness to be bad first’) How many ideas are similar to yours?
Why We Think Learning Is Boring
I’ve been thinking a good deal lately about learning: how we learn, especially as adults; why
the ability to learn well and easily is so important now; what gets in the way of our learning.
And one thing I’m noticing is that most people have a rather limited and not-very-positive
view of the word “learning.” For instance, I’ve noticed that if I put “learning” in the title of a post
at Forbes, I get – at best – a couple of hundred page views. If I then go back and change the title,
removing “learning” and substituting a phrase like “How to….” or “5 Ways You Can….”, the
page views jump dramatically.
So I’ve started asking people what they think of when I say “learning.” Generally among the
first few words out of their mouths: “school,” “boring,” “classroom,” and “teachers.” As a result,
I’ve come to believe that for many (most?) of us, our associations with learning have been deeply
tainted by our early, negative associations with schooling: our memories of being scrunched into
uncomfortable desks with a bunch of other bored 9-year-olds while some boring grown-up drones
on about something that’s infinitely less interesting than whatever is going on outside the
windows of our too-warm, over-crowded classroom.
And it’s really unfortunate, because – in the words of Arie De Geus – “The ability to learn
faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.” I’ve come to
believe that this is true not only organizationally, but personally as well. In this highly disruptive,
fast-changing era, people who master the art of learning new things quickly and well have a
tremendous advantage. Emerging technologies? Changed business models? Different employee
expectations? New ways of working globally? Cultural mash-ups?
All doable if you’re a kick-ass learner.
To find out how to be a truly excellent learner, go back before you got stuck into school, and
think about how you were as a little kid. Since lots of people don’t have much memory of
themselves at this age, I’ll remind you. Little kids are driven to learn. They want, deeply, to be
like the bigger kids and grown-ups they see all around them. It’s aspiration in the simplest, most
direct sense. It’s also a powerful survival mechanism – from the beginnings of humanity until a
few hundred years ago, the children who most quickly became skillful, contributing members of
the tribe were most likely to live and reproduce.
And the impulse that focuses this aspiration to learn, that catalyzes real change in
understanding, is curiosity. Anyone who has ever been around a 4-year-old has experienced this
firsthand: Why? How did that happen? Does that always happen? Is that a good thing? What if I
did that? Can I do it? Why not? It can be exhausting to the adults involved, but it’s a remarkably
effective way to figure out the world, how it works, and one’s place in it. Curiosity is the impulse
to understand. It’s part of that survival mechanism – understanding our environment as deeply as
possible is key, not only to not getting killed by some aspect of that environment, but also to using
what’s available in that environment to increase the likelihood of our safety, comfort and health.
There are two other things that kids have (at least when they’re little) that we tend to lose as
adults: they’re willing to admit when they don’t know something, and they don’t care about
making mistakes. We call those learning capabilities neutral self-awareness and willingness to be
bad first.

2
 Learning language is a great example: “What’s that?” my granddaughter asked me last
summer, pointing at a radish I’d just pulled from the garden. “It’s a radish,” I replied, handing it to
her. “Rabish,” she said with satisfaction, inspecting it. “Radish,” I repeated. But she couldn’t
quite get that combination of letters – and didn’t really care. Her focus was on pure acquisition of
understanding, and she wasn’t at all embarrassed about her difficulty with the pronunciation, as an
adult would have been.
I’m deeply convinced that if we, as adults, can re-connect with those four childhood
capabilities – aspiration, neutral self-awareness, endless curiosity and willingness to be bad first –
we will be far more successful at navigating through this ever-changing world.
I’m planning on writing my next book about this whole arena, so I’d love to hear your
stories of how you used any of these four capabilities to get better at something, to develop a
completely new skill, or to find out about something you didn’t know. I’ll also be writing about
this at Forbes, so if the topic interests you, please join us over there as well.
And as always, thank you for reading…it inspires me to get as clear as I can about what I
observe and experience, so I can share it with you as usefully as possible.

d. Pronunciation
Intonation influences greatly the meaning of what we say and also conveys emotional states of the
speaker. That is why it is important to recognize different emotions in the connected speech.
Choose two different emotions (e.g. interest, happiness, surprise, anger, etc.) and read the first two
paragraphs of the text from the activity 2. Record your reading. Share it with other learners and let them
guess your emotions

Dealing With Boredom

Activity 3 Listening
A Listening
Listen to the audio “Dealing with boredom”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-21082014
After listening be ready to comment the next points:
 Reasons why different people get bored.
 There's something good about feeling bad.

B Vocabulary
Write down the words mentioned in the recording and explain their meaning. Be ready to use the words in
the sentence of your own.

E-learning

Activity 4 Watching
A Pre-watching
Many people say that using technology makes learning more interesting. Do you agree? Justify your
position.

B Watching
Watch the advertisement of one company https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTkPfp2cXdE.
3
  What product do they advertise?
 What are the advantages of this product?

C Watching
Watch the video once more and fill the gaps in the sentences.
 Elearning is a common term for __________________. (electronic learning)
 It means importing knowledge, teaching or learning with a support and use of electronic
technology such as a ___________ (computer), __________ (TV), a ________________ (mobile
device) or even a ________ (radio).
 ____________ (Extensive) studies prove that use of a combination of multimedia _____________
(applications) to deliver a _________ (well-planned) learning ____________ (content)
dramatically improves the learner’s ________________ (participation) and learning
______________ (retention).
 Elearning methods and approaches can also help instructors and trainers create more
______________ (consistent) and ________________ (standertised) forms of delivering training
content by automating the clerical work including the distribution of checking ______(quizzes)
and ____ (exams) the teacher saves a great deal of time to do other Activitys.
 For larger organisations e-learning can be more __________(cost-effective) way to deliver
compare to ______________( classroom-based) training.

D Vocabulary
Among words which you used in the previous exercise find compound adjectives. How are they formed
in English? Provide your own example for each pattern. What other ways of adjective formation do you
know?

E Writing
You’ve decided to introduce a new elective e-course into the curriculum. Write a memo of 150-200 words
to your Dean which demonstrates its benefits using as many adjectives from the previous Activity as
possible.

Activity 5 Reading
A Pre-reading
We have talked a lot about advantages of e-learning. Make the list of possible disadvantages.

B Reading
Read the text The Advantages and Disadvantages of eLearning
http://www.optimussourcing.com/learninghintsandtips/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-elearning
and choose the three most important pluses and 3 the most important minuses of e-learning. Explain your
choice.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of eLearningCategory:

Our final blog in the series looking at the advantages and disadvantages of the most popular
approaches to learning such as In-House training and public scheduled training looks at

4
eLearning. By reading all 3 of these blogs you can hopefully get a really good idea of what is the
best choice of learning for you and your company.
eLearning has boomed over recent years to become a very popular method of learning. In the
CIPD’s 2015 Learning and Talent Development Study, 74% of companies reported using some
level of e-learning with 91% of companies reporting it to be very useful when combined with
other methods and nearly ¾ of respondents saying it is essential for learning.
Read our summary page of the different e-learning solutions available.

The Advantages of eLearning training includes:

More Flexible – eLearning can be done in short chunks of time that can fit around your daily
schedule. Unlike public scheduled and in-house training, you don’t have to dedicate an entire day
to the training that has been organised by your company. Instead, you will have a set amount of
learning, normally divided into modules, with a deadline in which to do them in. This way, if you
want to do all of the learning in one day as you work better this way, you can. However if your
schedule doesn’t allow you an entire day off your everyday Activitys – then you can easily spend
an hour or 2 here and there at times that suit you.
Mobile – As eLearning can be done on laptops, tablets and phones – it is a very mobile method.
Learning can be done on the train, on a plane or any other time that could normally be wasted.
Whilst you used to be confined to the classroom, the whole world can now be your classroom.
No Travel– As just mentioned, eLearning can be done wherever you have a device capable of
doing so. Therefore again you can fit it in to your schedule, but also save money on the costs of
travel. As mentioned before on the public scheduled blog, external courses can sometimes only be
sourced in locations far away from your company so you then have to pay the costs of travel as
well potentially accommodation. eLearning takes these costs away completely.
Lower cost – As you aren’t using a trainer’s time or any room or equipment, eLearning tends to be
the much cheaper option. If you already have a device capable of carrying out the training on, then
the savings can be considerable. Therefore if you and your company are on a budget, this can be
the ideal option for you. Equally for companies that have thousands of employees then it can
reduce the cost per head especially on areas such as Money Laundering, Compliance and
Microsoft Office training.
Tailor it to you – eLearning courses aren’t confined to be fixed to try and suit the needs of the
majority. If you feel you already know a particular area well and don’t need to spend an hour on it
again, then you can skim over it and concentrate that time on something you feel you need to work
more at. Everyone is able to learn at their own pace – a massive factor that only eLearning can
provide for.
Technological Possibilities – eLearning is fast becoming a more and more popular method and
with it, so has the investment into how to improve it further. The computer based nature of
training means new technology is being introduced all the time to help with the learning. Different
apps are helping to further reinforce the learning whilst forums can be used to greatly increase the
amount of interaction and engagement between learners. This is only going to improve as time
goes on as well.
Global – With very few restrictions companies can be confident that their staff can receive the
same content regardless of their location, and in many cases, their nationality. Therefore if you
wish to provide the same training or have your staff understand and use common methodology,
eLearning is a useful way of ensuring this happens with ease and reduced cost.
5
 The Disadvantages of eLearning Training includes:
Lack of Control– Learners with low motivation tend to fall behind when using eLearning as there
are no set times to be doing it and they are responsible for the organisation themselves. A lack of
routine or fixed schedule can mean eLearning becomes complicated with various deadlines often
given to different people at different stages of their learning.
Learning Approach – It doesn’t appeal to all learning styles so some learners will not enjoy the
experience – especially strong activists and pragmatists. It is still a challenge to make eLearning
appeal fully to these groups as different people learn better or worse using different styles. Some
may prefer images, some prefer just reading words and some prefer to talk about or actually do a
Activity in order to learn.
Isolated – A lot of questions are a lot easily answered when face to face with someone when you
can guarantee an instant answer. eLearning often doesn’t allow that with trainers often having to
answer numerous questions all of the time and only doing it within working hours – where a lot of
learners may prefer to do their learning out of working hours. This feeling of isolation can often
demotivate individuals as they feel they don’t have the support and reassurance that the physical
presence of a trainer provides.
Technology Issues – With heavy reliance on computers that eLearning brings, comes the potential
risks that comes with it. Firstly, you need to ensure that all learners have a device that is able to
support the training modules. Some eLearning tools require software such as Flash that devices
like iPads don’t support. So all requirements need to be set out at the beginning. Poor internet
connection and unavoidable general random faults also can interrupt learning and so need to be
planned around. This is especially true if it is a global roll out as Internet connections and power
reliability changes dramatically between countries.
Computer Competency – Some employees might not be too comfortable using computers,
especially if their jobs don’t require them to. Therefore even if the software is user friendly, the
very idea of using the software can be daunting and demotivating for some. Therefore these
employees are likely to learn a lot less than they would from a physical course.

C Grammar
Find Continuous forms in the text. Comment on their formation and usage.
What other cases of usage do you know?

D Writing
Write a small paragraph about your current experience of elearning. Try to use all cases of usage
of Continuous forms.

Activity 6 Writing
Write a “For and Against’ essay of 300-350 words on the topic:

Advantages and disadvantages of language e-learning.

While writing an opinion essay do not forget to use linking words and phrases:
http://academicwriting.wikidot.com/linking-words-and-phrases

6
 In my opinion/view, To my mind, To my way of thinking, I am convinced that, It strikes me
Personal opinion: that, It is my firm belief that, I am inclined to believe that, It seems to me that. As far as I am
concerned, I think that the economic recession of the previous decade was foreseeable.

One advantage of, Another advantage of, One other advantage of, A further advantage of, The
To list advantages and
main advantage of, The greatest advantage of.The first advantage of riding a motorbike in a
disadvantages:
large metropolis is that of not getting caught in major congestion.

Firstly, First of all, In the first place, Secondly, Thirdly, Finally. To start/begin with, we have
To list points: to address the inadequacies within the education system before we can tackle
unemployment fully.

What is more, Furthermore, Apart from this/that, In addition (to this), Moreover, Besides (this),
… not to mention the fact that your choice of career is a fundamental decision which will
To add more points to
influence the rest of your life. Not only is your choice of career a fundamental decision, but it is
the same topic:
also one that will influence the rest of your life.Your choice of career is both a fundamental
decision and something that will influence the rest of your life.

To refer to other With reference to, According to the latest scientific research, the use of mobile phones can be
sources: damaging to one's health in the long run.

Indeed, Naturally, Clearly, Obviously, Of course, Needless to say, the scheme was hound to fail
To emphasise a point:
due to insufficient funds.

For instance, For example, by establishing day-care centres across the country, working
mothers can he encouraged to resume their careers. By providing incentives such as, like day-
To give examples: care centres working mothers are encouraged to resume their careers. If working mothers are to
resume their careers then the provision of incentives particularly, in particular, especially day-
care centres is essential.

It is popularly believed that, People often claim that, It is often alleged that, Some people argue
To state other people's
that, Many argue that, Most people feel that, Some people point out that wealth will bring
opinion:
happiness. Contrary to popular belief, wealth does not necessarily bring happiness.

Finally, Lastly, All in all, Taking everything into account/consideration, On the whole, All
things considered, In conclusion, On balance, For the above mentioned reasons, Therefore I feel
To conclude:
that, To sum up, it is unlikely that there will be peace in all the countries of the world
concurrently.

Summarising: In short, Briefly. To put it briefly, his performance on stage was fantastic!

Lifelong Learning

Activity 7. Watching
A Pre-watching
What is the purpose of lifelong learning? What can you do to be a lifelong learner? Discuss with other
learners.

B Watching
Watch the video “Develop the Habit of Lifelong Learning for Professional Development”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9SpbqR8-Kc

7
  Why is the habit of lifelong learning important?
 Make the list of activities of lifelong learning.

C Post-watching
Find an example of a person who has a habit of lifelong learning at your university or neighborhood. Ask
this person about the tips on how he/she develops this habit and it can help in the professional and
personal growth, take a picture with this person (if possible). Organize it in a form of a project. Present it
to other learners.

UNIT ASSESSMENT

You are going to make a 5-10 minute presentation to a group of English teachers on any topic learnt in
this unit. Prepare a careful plan of your presentation taking into account every point learnt in this lesson.
Upload it on the platform.

Be ready to record a video of your presentation in the class. Upload it on the platform. Discuss your
record in the group of 3-4 learners. Discuss the pluses and minuses. Upload the comments on the
platform.