Samuel Azzaro

taught technical professional skills to adult learners with cognitive & behavioral challenges These lessons were designed and delivered as part of St. John’s University’s technology-track college immersion program, organized by the School of Education. The program’s overall goal is to provide adult learners attending the Cooke School and Institute with an array of professionally applicable technical knowledge through a series of workshops. The lessons I developed and taught as part of the program were aimed at instilling a foundational understanding of Google Sheets, as well as how it may be applied in a number of professional capacities. The program participants were identified as having a fourth to fifth grade reading and writing comprehension level along with technical comprehension which varied from learner to learner. In order to best address the learning needs of this audience, I structured my lessons to focus on interactive experiences, rather than those of a traditional lecture style, and structured key activities with a number of different potential avenues through which knowledge could be obtained. This approach is best illustrated in the challenge activity presented to learners during the final part of the series. The activity was designed to offer those learners with a higher level of technological comprehension with an opportunity to put their skills and knowledge to the test via a series of digital “hands-on” challenges, requiring a firm understanding of everything covered during the previous lessons. Furthermore, this activity’s structure also provided those learners with a lower level of technological comprehension the opportunity to have a meaningful educational experience, even if they were unable to complete the challenges independently. This was accomplished by incorporating several forms of educational guidance and aid, including peer learning and a few varieties of peer to instructor supportive interactions, from which learners could engage. As a result, these learners were granted the flexibility to choose the support structure they felt most comfortable with and, thereby, effectively learn from. Given both my observations and the feedback provided, the lessons proved to be well received by the learners and quite effective in accomplishing their stated goals.