Resources to use for your microteach in the Level 3 Award in Education and Training (AET)

What resources do you use when teaching? I always encourage our trainee teachers in the Level 3 Award in Education and Training to use a variety of different resources to make the session interesting and keep the learners engaged as it will benefit each learner differently, so you need to include a variety. So how do you determine which resources to use? Firstly, what are you trying to achieve from the task? Secondly, what are your learners own individual needs? Now we are talking about learning styles, learning difficulties, personal factors, etc

Level 3 Award in Education and Training resources

I classify resources into several categories, so we have objects, external resources, visual aid, IT and people. Let’s start with people, this is you. As the trainer or teacher, you are the main resource, you are delivering the session but who else is involved and why? You may need to bring in specialist subject experts who can talk about certain topics, you also need other specialists such as IT support who can help you turn up on a projector, connect your laptop. When we talk about people, its who can help you teach and who can help you with any technical problem or those responsible for other issues such as admin support.

Level 3 Award in Education and Training objects

Objects are the items that help to facilitate your session. When I was teaching sport science, footballs, cones, bibs were essential but if I’m teaching my children, they may need puppets, books, and toys. One of the strangest things I’ve seen on the Level 3 Award in Education and Training is that a learner brought in a stick, it was a metaphorical stick, but the stick was essential to the lesson. If you are in construction, your tools will be the objects. We also need to factor in how these resources meet individual learning needs. Objects are perfect for kinaesthetic learners but if learners must provide their own objects, then cost and availability will need to be considered.

Level 3 Award in Education and Training external resources

External resources are more down to the venues, classrooms that you use. So, you may need access to a lecture theatre, simulator, library or even a field trip. When my son goes to forest school, he needs external resources to help get them there. The image of several 3-year-olds on a bus is priceless. Learners may not be able to get these venues, if you think about London for example, it’s hard to get to some locations before 10am with the train times and then you have the associated costs as well.

Level 3 Award in Education and Training visual aids

Visual aids are the most known resources and the primary resource which we need to think about are your handouts. Handouts could be printed or electronic in particular fonts, colours and styles so this could suit a learner that has dyslexia, or we could increase the size which helps those with visual impairments. Our Level 3 Award in Education and Training encourages teachers to look at how the resources they create can affect or disadvantage their learners and how to adapt them to meet each learners’ individual needs. Remember, not everyone is the same, so you need to adapt your resources to cater for different individuals. This is no different to business where your sales presentations, brochures need to cater for others otherwise there is a good chance that you will blow the sale.