How important is learning materials in facilitating learning

How important is learning materials in facilitating learning
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.
There will always be a huge gap between the things that teachers want to impart to their students and the things that students want to know from them. The connection that will let the two meet is the relevance of the lesson with the students’ lives. Engaging activities that stimulate active learning is proven to be the best method teachers use to provide a long-term understanding, especially with global learning. The introduction of a different culture to students can be daunting but making the lesson more interesting by keeping it meaningful and relevant will serve as a great start for active learning.
The usual drill-and-kill approach usually hampers creative thinking and most often produce short-term results. Using appealing learning materials to make the students attentive to the lesson is a time spent in school more valued. These materials for global learning could be artefacts from the native country that the students are studying, like Chinese masks or Brazilian musical instruments. Having a firsthand experience of using, or even creating, the materials from another country can inspire productive thinking.
Here are other benefits of using engaging learning materials in teaching.
Apply Concept
Applying the idea that the students learned in school to a real situation is the best outcome their learning could achieve. In studying a different culture, the students can acquire an open mind and apply this skill outside of school that will provide them with a better outlook on life.
Increase Motivation
There is no learning when motivation is lacking. The usual setup of the teacher talking in front and the students passively listening can make their interest in the lesson plummet. Motivating and keeping them interested by employing learning materials and combining it with interesting tasks, such as weaving a basket using materials from Africa, can make the school experience memorable thus will provide a lifelong learning.
Easiest to Learn
By making the content of the lesson more relevant and engaging, the students will find learning relaxed and simple. Flashy presentations, humour and games can attract their interest and this will allow the teacher to tap into the cognitive need of the learner to make sense of the world. Making them aware of the practices of other people and their culture through the use of interactive CDs and magazines that contain significant content can be a good start of engaging them to learn more about other people’s way of life.
Promotes Critical and Creative Thinking
Since the use of learning tools promotes active learning, the students will acquire skills to analyse, synthesise and apply the material. It will help develop their logical reasoning and creative thinking because the teachers are allowing them to have a more active role in the learning process.
Fun Learning
Students often look forward to teachers who can produce engaging content. Study time is play time while learning. By providing a realistic experience to them in a classroom setting, learners get an inspiring and joyful experience they can only acquire from school. The usual setup of fun learning is when most of the students are actively participating in an activity. They are collaborating and giving ideas to form a better outcome, like performing as a group to better demonstrate a cultural dance.