Multisensory Instruction: Something to Think About

I am a proponent for multisensory instruction, particularly for diverse learners. In a world of information overload, I believe we need to give our kids better tools for not only filtering it, but also for making connections and retaining information. Our brains are designed to take in information from more than one part of our nervous system. This allows more parts of the brain to be activated which can help it store information in more than one place. This can make it more likely that the information can be retrieved in a variety of situations, instead of how we experienced it the first time.

There are four main modalities for multisensory input: Visual (take in info by seeing); Auditory (take in info by hearing); Kinesthetic (take in info by moving); Tactile (take in info by touching). There are many different educational theories and pockets of information which relate – Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences are some of the most known threads – but I try to keep it simple: the more senses activated deliberately when learning something new, the more areas of the brain are involved, and the higher the probability that the learner can make deeper connections because the information will be stored in multiple places. Two key factors in that statement include: 1) activated deliberately and 2) stored (rather than retrieved).

Activate the senses deliberately.

Picture your learners. Are there some you consider to be fidgety, or in constant motion? Those are brains that need activity. They will move, with or without a specific goal, because their bodies need that input to process their environment. When we can deliberately connect that movement to a learning task, we are one step closer to helping them use that energy to help themselves.

Plan for better storage.

Organizational gurus stress that the more you structure how you store things, the easier it will be to retrieve them. With modern technology, we have found that using tags or other descriptors as well as the file name can help strengthen our organization. The brain is similar. The more brain structures used to store information, the more tools, or “tags” we can use to retrieve the information.

As you think about multisensory instruction, don’t think about stuff or glitz or fancy songs. Concentrate on activating the senses deliberately and incorporating the four main modalities whenever possible to improve storage and retrieval.