Reaction Paper on Priorities for Evaluating Instructional Materials

Priorities for Evaluating Instructional Materials

By  Rosa Sandoval

I agree with the article that a positive environment for the English Learners is very important because motivation is a great force to learn any subject, as well, challenges can be useful in order to catch the learner’s interest, but you have to be very careful to avoid excessive difficult tasks.

Also, clear explanations are very important. When you are teaching a basic level, you have to give simple explanations, as the group is advancing in knowledge, the instructions can be more complex, but without losing clarity. The same applies to the instructional material.

I think every group you teach is different and you have to study the dynamic of the group in order to choose the best course. It’s a matter of experimenting until you find a good balance and even the same group changes through time and you have to continue changing or adapting the activities and materials in order to keep them interested and learning.

When you choose or create materials you have to take in account the differences in learning styles between individuals, their context, it means that you have to provide variety, and not only for the differences, but also to integrate skills.

One thing that I didn’t like about this article is the lack of  specific examples, when the author refers to big ideas I expected an example.