4.

0 ASSURE Model
ASSURE Model was founded and introduced by Heinich, Molanda and Russell back in 1989 as
mentioned by Chin Yoon Poh in her book published in 2009. ASSURE takes the meaning of to
make certain of something to happen according to Oxford Mini Dictionary (2013). ASSURE
model was introduced in order to help educators and especially teachers in ensuring the
effectiveness of their lesson plans. Most teachers understand that integrating technology into
the curriculum is the best way to make a positive difference in the classroom. While many
specific strategies can be used to add technology to the mix, the following model which is,
ASSURE model is one example of how to integrate technology into your future lessons chosen
effectively.
The ASSURE model is a six-step Instructional Systems Design (ISD) as explained by Michalak
(2011) in her online journal that the model is intended to help teachers utilize technology and
media in the classroom. Moroever, ASSURE is a way to ensure that the learning environment is
appropriate for students. ASSURE can be used in lesson plans to improve your own teaching
and your students learning while using technology. The ASSURE acronym stands for these
important components:

A- Analyze Learners
S- State Objectives
S- Select Instructional Methods, Media, and Materials
U- Utilize Media and Materials
R- Require Learner Participation
E- Evaluate and Revise

4.1 Why do we use it?

The ASSURE model is a fantastic way to plan effective, media-rich lessons. ASSURE is based
on Robert Gagnes Events of Instruction as noted by Bush (2012). The model is
Constructivism-based and in other words, it is a framework that assumes passive learners will
not learn at their best but learners must be actively participating in their own learning, interacting
with their environment and peers. Hence, the integreation of technology into the lesson will
surely help to motivate the students to engage better in their learning and the lesson. ASSURE
also recognizes the different learning styles of all students where the teacher is required to
understand the needs and wants of the students while preparing the lesson.
4.2 Lesson Plan Elaboration

My lesson plan was pre-planned based on the ASSURE model. These are some explanations
and elaborations on how the ASSURE steps are integrated and asserted into my lesson plan.
Some images are included for further and better understandings. The ASSURE model is divided
into 6 steps which each step is represented by the acronym of the word.
Step 1: The first A stands for- Analyse the leaner
In this step the teacher is required to know and understand who the students are, their level of
proficiency in the subject matter, their interests, their needs and wants, their age. Hence, these
information are all included in the very beginning part of my lesson plan where I am required to
mention the number of students, their level of proficiency and also the focus of the lesson.
These are very important to ensure the lesson goes smoothly and the students are able to
learn, understand and achieve the objectives stated.
Furthermore, learning with student interests in mind, teachers can increase student motivation
and learning. Additionally, by understanding the varying literacy strengths and habits of our
students we can identify what Vygotsky calls their "zone of proximal development" where
literacy opportunities are not too hard as to frustrate or too easy to bore but just challenging
enough to promote student learning as disclosed by Wilder (2012) in his journal.

Picture 1

Picture 1 above has a few highlighted phrases as evidence of using ASSURE model step one in
understanding the students and the details of the lesson. Besides that it is the duty of the
teacher to get to know her students regarding their family background, their culture in order to
really understand who they are.

Step 2: The second S stands for- State the objectives

The next step is to know what state objective you are going to teach and what do you want your
students to know by the end of the lesson? Looking ahead at your learning outcomes is very
important in order to have a proper lesson. The lesson objectives are very vital to ensure the
lesson goes smoothly and the students are able to learn, understand and achieve the objectives
as stated.
When figuring out the lesson objectives, there are a couple of things a teacher need to bare in
mind as implied by Williams (2007) in his article such as what do you want them to do? The
behavior or capability needs to be demonstrated as learner performance, an observable,
measurable behavior, or a real-world skill. For an instance, during an English language lesson,
a teacher should demonstrate an action verb to help the students understand better. What the
teacher expects od the students to be able to do at the end of the lesson should be specific,
reaslistic and achievable in order to not confuse the young minds and instead help them to
reach beyond the classroom knowledge.

Picture 2

Picture 2 indicates the appointed lesson objectives of my lesson plan. As you can see, the
lesson objectives that I have chosen are specific, simple and achievable for students of year
three.

Besides that, I also include exactly what the learners need to demonstrate.

Step 3: The third S stands for- Select, modify, design methods, media and materials

This is the step where the teacher will build a bridge between the students and the objectives.
The teacher needs to decide what method he or she will use mainly. It could be an individual
work, group work, a field trip or even a video presentation. Next question should be, what media
will you use? Are you going to use photos, multimedia, radio, a computer? Or are you using
store bought materials, getting an outside resource to provide materials, modifying something
you already have, or making something from scratch? The teacher has to decide all of these in
order ot have a smooth running planning.
In addition, the stage of selecting instructional methods, media, and materials cannot be
overlooked. It is truly important to choose methods and materials that will appropriately meet the
state objectives that you are teaching during the lesson. This requires a lot of planning and
preparation on the teachers part as mentioned by Williams (2007). Materials also need to be
bought or borrowed ahead of time, which requires preparation. This may be a little tedious,
strenous and tiring byut very rewarding when everything comes into place.

Picture 3

Picture 3 in the previous page shows the teaching aids, materials and media chosen for the
lesson plan. It is also important to select and list them all so that you can see the overall of what
you need to prepare beforehand. Organizational skills for a teacher are tremendously helpful to
conduct an effective lesson.
Step 4: The fourth U stands for- Utilize methods, media and materials
Step four is where the teacher plans on how you to implement the media and materials chosen
in the previous stage. Basically, describe in detail how you are going to implement the materials
and the media chosen to be used in your lesson. This is to help your learners meet the lesson's
objective.

Picture 4

In order to utilize materials correctly and thoroughly, there are several steps to creating good
student-centered instruction as layed out by Williams (2007).
1.

The teacher needs to preview the material. You must never use anything in class you
havent thoroughly check. You do not want to bring in any sensitive issues or materials.

2.

Next, the teacher should also prepare the materials before the lesson. Do make sure that
you have everything you need and that it all works. You do not want any surprises during
your lesson.

3.

Then, you must also prepare the environment. This is where the teacher may set up the
classroom so that whatever activity that youre doing will work in the space you have.
Besides, setting the environment also means that you have control.

4.

Afterward, you should prepare the learners with information or a come guidelines before

gearing into the lesson. Please give the students an overview or explain some ideas and
concepts of the lesson and also come clean with how they will be evaluated up front.
5.

Last but not leats, provide a creative, fun yet educational learning experience. Teaching is

simply high theatre. The teachers showmanship is part of the job. Do bare in mind that teaching
and learning should be an experience not an ordeal, so let your students learn and have fun at
the same time.

Picture 5

Therefore, utilizing these media and materials is very important to preview or use media and
materials before your lesson, especially when using technology facilities such as smartboard,

document camera, streaming video. This is to make sure everything works appropriately on the
lesson day.

Step 5: The fifth R stands for- Require learner participation

Now, a teacher will describe and picture mentally how he or she is going to get each learner
"actively and individually involved in the lesson prepared. For a quick instane, games, group
work, are presentations are stated in the lesson plan.
However, teachers need to take note that the method of sage on the stage is gone. This
means, that teachers should avoid chalk and talk where he or she only preaches, lectures and
explaing minus the role-play, demonstartion and all the innovative way of teaching. Remember,
that our roles as teachers in the classroom today is as one of a guide of the students on the
side, especially with technology connected lessons, the teacher needs to allow the students to
experience learning hands-on and so forth. All activities should provide opportunities to
manipulate the information and allow time for practice during the demonstration of the skill of the
studnets involved.
Thus, requiring learners to participate is absolutely an essential part of any lesson. To require
students to be actively involved in the lesson will not only engage students, but will also help
them retain what they are learning as commented by Peprah (2004). Some ways to do this are
to incorporate cooperative learning structures, questioning, having discussions, or creating fun,
hands-on activities.

Picture 6

Picture 6 shows the eveidence of how I have planned and picture mentally on studens
participation and engagement during the lesson. This part is one of the most important task
during the lesson planning as I need to understand the students level and at the same time, I
need to foresee what would they enjoy and what they do not. Hence, with all the considerations
in my mind, I have decided on a few ways of how I want the learnes to response such as saying
the words aloud and practising dialogue with their peers.

Step 6: The sixth E stands for- Evaluate and revise

In this final step, a teacher will describe how in the future to measure wheteher the lesson
objectives are met or not. Besides that, the teacher also need to evaluate whether the methods
and media selected are efcetive during the lesson. Here are some other questions the teacher
need to answer at the end of his or her lesson as outlined by Wilder (2012).
1. Evaluate students performance:
First of all, the teacher need to determine whether or not the students have met the lesson's
objective.Then, the evaluation should match the objective. Some objectives can be adequately
assessed with a pen and paper test. On the other hand,if the objectives call for demonstrating a
process, creating a product, or developing an attitude, the evaluation will frequently require
observing the behavior in action dring the lesson.
2. Evaluate media components:

Secondly, the teacher also need to determine the effectiveness of the media selected and used
during the lesson. This would require total honesty and real reflection from the teacher to admit
if she has succeeded or not.
3. Evaluate instructor performance:
Finally, the teacher also need to be honest with oneself regarding his or her own performance
as as a guidance, instructor or facilitator. Some questions that the teacher should ask is Was I
effective? , Could I do better? or How to improve this?

Picture 7

Picture 7 shows on how I plan to evaluate the students level of understanding by completing a
worksheet. This worksheet shows the format of a dialogue between a waiter and a customer, in
line with the topic of the lesson Delicious Food. Thus, the worksheet given allows the students
to practice the dialogue format. Then, later on, the students are to be paired and prepare a
simple dialogue based on the format given before.
Last but not least, I also require the students to present their own script and dialogue at the front
after some time of practice. This is to allow the students to demonstarte their abilities and
practice public speaking in a small scale.I believe that with such practice, it will help to increase

their confidence and at the same time, brush their ability to speak. Mind you, this is a language
class and what is a language class without practising and speaking the target language in the
lesson.

5.0 Conclusion
Technology has caused a revolutionary change in the classroom and teaching methods all over
the world. This term grows along with advancements made in the field of education. With the
increased use of technology in education ,the methods and aids used for learning and teaching
have drastically changed in the past few years.
Hence, in order for educators and teachers especially to keep up with the ever changing
advancements, ASSURE model seems like a light at the end of the tunnel for many teachers
out there. It is what most teachers should be using when designing their lesson plans. This
model is a lot like our lesson plans, with objectives, materials, and evaluation, but it goes a step
or two further. It actually shows you how to incorporate technology into our lesson plans. Since
technology is up and coming in schools, I believe that the incorporation of ASSSURE model
would benefit all teachers and future teachers. No doubt that all students like and enjoy using
technology therefore, incorporating technology into our lesson plans will only benefit us and the
students.