Digital Companion
Where it is
Find it in Lesson Weaver. You choose the support for each activity, and every learner can use it.
Open Digital Companion in Lesson Weaver (opens in a new tab)What you will see
A screen called Configure your Companion lists nine scaffolds. You pick up to three for each activity.
What learners get
Learners see the scaffolds you chose, and pick the one that suits them. They don't have to ask for help in front of the group.
Your jobPick up to three scaffolds, then open them as a learner would.
Configure your Companion
Pick up to 3 for each activity.
Activity 2 of 4 · Section hair for a blow-dryApply0 of 3 chosen
Companion settings
Full sentences and subject words, explained.
In this practice nothing is generated. Do it for real in Lesson Weaver.
Your jobFind the scaffold for the learner in front of you.
How-to Guide
Step-by-step instructions for the task.
Helped: Ayaan, who reads below the level of the course text, and Leon, who finds it hard to get started.
Sentence Starters/Frames
The first few words, so learners can start writing.
Helped: Kasia, who is new to English and has strong practical skills.
Question Prompts
Questions that guide learners' thinking.
Helped: Not in the example learners.
Checklist/Success Criteria
What a good finished piece looks like.
Helped: Not in the example learners.
Vocabulary Bank
Key words with short meanings.
Helped: Ayaan, who reads below the level of the course text.
Planning/Organisation Frames
A frame to plan the work before starting.
Helped: Not in the example learners.
Reflection Prompts
Questions to look back on what they did.
Helped: Not in the example learners.
Common Misconceptions/Mistakes
The mistakes most learners make, and how to avoid them.
Helped: Not in the example learners.
Analysis/Evaluation Frameworks
A structure for judging or comparing work.
Helped: Jade, who finishes quickly and is ready for more.
Taken from Follow one learner in Stage 3 of STEP ON. The other scaffolds are real too.
Why this works in your room
Support every learner can choose, without asking for help in front of the group.
For your learners
They pick the scaffold that suits them, in their own time, in every lesson.
For you
You set it up once for an activity, and it is there each time you teach it.
Support the task, then take it away
Wood, Bruner and Ross described tutoring as taking over the parts of a task a learner cannot yet manage, so the learner can work on the parts they can. The task stays the same. The support goes as they improve.
Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976), The role of tutoring in problem solving (opens in a new tab)Lower the language, not the thinking
A word bank, a sentence starter or a how-to guide changes how the task is put, not what the learner has to work out. STEP ON uses this line when it teaches scaffolding.
STEP ON, Stage 3: What is scaffolding?
How sure is this?
That paper watched adults tutor young children one to one. It is the source of the idea, not a test of Digital Companion. We have no study of the Companion itself, so treat it as a sensible bet and watch what your learners pick.
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