“Busy board by Linearahandmade.etsy.com” by LinearaHandMade is marked with CC BY 2.0.
Many people in the field of DeafBlindness have heard the term “active learning”. They may also have heard of some of the materials developed and used by Lilli Nielson such as a “little room” or a resonance board. As a teacher in Early Intervention HI and VI, I was making unofficial “little rooms” and seeing their benefits before I had training in the whole method.
In “An Overview of Active Learning” on the active learning website (https://activelearningspace.org/principles), Patty Obrzut, explains the philosophy behind active learning.
The Active Learning approach emphasizes that all individuals learn best by active participation. All activity, especially in the earliest stages of development, actually “wires our brains” and establishes critical foundational concepts and skills necessary for all future learning.
Individuals with multiple disabilities (cerebral palsy, visual impairment, cognitive impairment, autism, hearing impairment, etc.) are at great risk of developing reliance on others to interact with the world around them. They learn to be passive rather than active participants, waiting for adults to provide activity rather than seeking it out on their own. Children and adults with special needs often develop stereotypical or aggressive behaviors to communicate with others or cope within the environments in which they are placed. Active Learning recognizes that every child/adult with special needs is unique. The programming and intervention for facilitating learning must reflect this individuality. Active Learning emphasizes creating a developmentally appropriate and enriched environment so that children and adults with multiple special needs become active learners.
Active learning materials encourage children with vision, hearing, and/or motor issues to explore their environment by determining what they are interested in and surrounding them with stimulating materials. For example, in an active learning space (not to be called a “little room” because a little room is a specific piece of equipment developed by Lilli Nielson and sold by Lilliworks) a student can have specially selected materials placed where he or she can reach out and touch them. After the child has encountered these items repeatedly, always in the same predictable place, the child will begin to feel comfortable enough to explore the items in a variety of ways such as batting, reaching, grasping, banging, shaking, and transferring hand to hand. If the child has some vision he or she will begin to learn skills such as visual fixing and visually directed reach. A child with no functional vision can learn concepts such as things that are made from a variety of materials, things that have different sizes, some things that fit inside other things, some things that make noise when you bang them together or shake them, etc.
Photo: Activelearningspace.org
Other examples of active learning materials are:
Large active learning space for a child who is sitting up.
Photo: Activelearningspace.org
A sensory vest.
Photo: Activelearningspace.org
After taking a few trainings, I can not call myself an expert on active learning by any means. It is a complete educational method with its’ own assessments, goals, and data forms. I intend to continue going to training and learning more and I highly recommend learning as much as you can about it. Its principles and materials have been so helpful to me and the increase that I have seen in children’s exploration behaviors, activity levels, and fine and gross motor skills has been exciting.
Check out the online training from TSBVI on Active Learning:
https://www.tsbvi.edu/distace/webinars-archived.html
Have you used the active learning method? We would love to hear about your experiences! Please share in the comment section below!
~Patty Dischinger, M.Ed., East Carolina University DeafBlind Project Teacher Support Program, Technical Assistance Consultant