OLCreate: General Teaching Methods: Purpose of teaching and learning materials (2024)

Teaching materials come in many shapes and sizes, but they all have in common the ability to support learning. The purpose and importance of teaching and learning materials is to make lessons interesting, learning easy and enable teachers to easily express concepts.

Learning support

Learning materials can significantly increase learners’ achievement by supporting learning. For example, an educational video may provide a learner with new insights and an appealing worksheet may provide the learner with new opportunities to practice a new skill gained in class. This process aids in the learning process by allowing the learner to explore the knowledge independently as well as providing repetition. Learning materials, regardless of what kind, all have some function in student learning.

Lesson structure

Teaching and learning materials can also add important structure to lesson planning and the delivery of instruction. Learning materials act as a guide for both the teacher and the learner. They can provide a valuable routine in the teaching and learning process. For example, by providing a summarizing poster or video after each topic.

Differentiation of instruction

In addition to supporting learning more generally, teaching and learning materials can assist teachers in the differentiation of instruction. Differentiation of instruction is the tailoring of lessons and instruction to the different learning styles and capacities within your classroom. Learning materials such as worksheets, videos, group activity instructions, or any other, all allow teachers to modify them to best activate each individual learner's needs or learning style, for example by using different media.

Introduction to teaching and learning materials 5.2 Types of instructional materials