How to Engage the 4 Types of Learners and Can BenQ Boards Help?

Every student has a unique set of strengths and needs when it comes to their education. Teachers should celebrate these differences and ensure every child has their learning needs met. To engage all types of learners, it is important to understand each learning style and incorporate strategies for students’ individual success.

An individual’s learning style reflects the way in which they gain and retain new information and skills. According to the VARK model, there are 4 types of learners: visual, auditory, read and write, and kinesthetic (Hussain, 2017). Most likely, every classroom will be a melting pot of learning styles with each one present.

With EdTech being at the forefront of modern education, utilizing technology can be a powerful and effective tool for adapting and differentiating lessons. A digital tool like the BenQ Board can engage different types of learning styles and present information in ways that will make a huge impact.

Auditory learners rely heavily on interpreting what they hear. They need intentional auditory cues incorporated into lessons. One strategy that benefits auditory learners is oral repetition. Whether its repeating directions, key vocabulary, or any other content, the more auditory learners hear information, the more likely it is to stick. Teachers should also incorporate music, rhymes, and humor into their lessons to help their auditory learners retain new knowledge. Additionally, discussions are key to auditory learners. Whether its class-wide, small group, or partner discussions, allowing students to talk through problems and hear solutions from others will appeal to their auditory needs.

While learning about fractions, third grade students organize packs of Skittles to see what fraction of the pack each color makes up. The teacher uses InstaShare 2 to project a student’s model onto the board. “What fraction of your Skittles are yellow? How do you know? Class, do you agree?” As they collectively discuss the breakdown of the colorful candy, the explanations provided resonate in the minds of auditory learners. The more they discuss and hear the outcomes, the more likely it is to stick. BenQ Boards offer the opportunity for shared discussion and group activities that help auditory learners thrive. Additionally, they provide the ability to access third party websites with educational video content like songs, videos, and poems. Students can even create screen recordings with audio and discussions on EZWrite 6 and share them to others! Each of these opportunities accommodates auditory learners.

Kinesthetic learners need physical movement and touch to process information. These are your students who seek hands-on examples and explanations. Activities that incorporate movement and hands-on participation, like creating models, using manipulatives, crafting, or using physical gestures to aid memory are great ways to meet the needs of kinesthetic learners.

During a lesson about place value, students take turns coming up to the BenQ Board and using digital base-ten blocks prepared before class to solve a problem. Using EZWrite 6 tools, kindergarteners practice tracing different letters on the board. To aid her lesson on lines and angles, a teacher pulls up a YouTube video where students practice making parallel lines and intersecting lines with their arms. All of these are different examples of the BenQ Board meeting kinesthetic learners’ needs. Through the Team post feature of EZWrite 6, multiple students can even come up and complete challenges on the board in a competitive format. The board allows opportunities for movement and touch that help kinesthetic learners retain information. 

While research suggests that individuals have a predominant learning style, it also highlights that most students will also be a mixture of all 4 learning styles to some extent. Consequently, students need accommodations and strategies for each of the 4 learning styles in order to thrive. BenQ understands that and can offer a solution to engage all learners in a classroom. Teachers can use the innovative and engaging BenQ Board features to capture the attention of students and make learning fun! With the help of a BenQ Board, you can make an incredible impact in the classroom and help students unlock their full potential.

Hussain, I. (2017) Pedagogical Implications of VARK Model of Learning. Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, 38. 33–37.