Which principles of Material Design are most important for you? Why?
For me, two principles are essential when designing materials in my context:
1. Expose learners to language in authentic use - most of the materials I write must be based on authentic content that cannot be graded, due to government bid specifications. The biggest challenge then is grading the activities and guiding students (and teachers) along them, so that they believe they are able to deal with the tasks proposed.
2. Arouse and sustain learners' curiosity and attention - English is the only school subject that offers students opportnities to talk about all the other subjects, which is a huge advantage for teachers and materials developers when it comes to creating interestin content. One thing I do in an attempt to keep students curious and focused is to never understimate them. Another point is to give them chances to be the protagonists of the learning process.
I love your second point - we have great power in our hands and through the materials we design and by arousing their curiosity, we can reach our students in a very unique way.
ReplyDeleteThanks Viviane, sometimes our principles have to take into account a stakeholder's (in this case a government) requirements. We're talking about authentic materials tomorrow. It's a very interesting subject, I think. I imagine that in your situation you become experts at support and scaffolding, grading activities, etc. I love what you say about never underestimating the students too. How wise!
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