What is Personalized Learning?Personalized Learning “refers to a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students.”
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Driving
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Q1: How do teachers actively and efficiently engage ALL learners, at all times, both in AND out of the classroom, thus creating lifelong learners?
Q2: What is personalized learning and how can teachers use it to meet the needs of all learners? Q3: What is the best form and how can teachers monitor and measure classroom progress? |
Why
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Today’s learner is a Digital Native. Students come to the classroom with an inherent knowledge of technology, how to use it to best suit their needs, and it is our responsibility to meet the styles of these learners. It should be the goal of all teachers to implement a style that meets this objective.
Teaching is all about adaptability. Benjamin Disraeli said that “Change is inevitable. Change is constant.” In order for teachers to be effective in the modern classroom, he or she must adapt to new environments, new tools and techniques, and new generations of students. A January 2015 Gallup Poll showed that only 30% of teachers are actively engaged in their classrooms; furthermore, nearly 13% of teachers are actively disengaged from the classrooms. This means disengaged teachers miss nearly 2.3 million more school days than actively engaged teachers. How can students be expected to learn if disengaged teachers are unwilling or unable to meet their needs? The best way to combat student and teacher disengagement is through Personalized Learning. Personalized Learning is not a new or foreign concept in the classroom. It is not a trend. It will not pass. The best teachers have always found ways to meet the needs of their students, and they will continue to do so. However, Personalized Learning can take many forms and finding what works best can be a challenge. When education is individualized to meet the needs of every learner, then ownership is increased. According to EdTechReview, 66% of students claim that they measure academic success by meeting or exceeding their own personal goals, which far outranks parental approval (55%) or school award systems (45%). This means that students put far more emphasis on achieving goals they set for themselves, not what we (or the system) sets for them. Personalized Learning does not necessarily imply radical changes need to be made to the classroom—its main focus is on the integration of technology and the emphasis on student voice in the classroom. |
The Many Faces
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Here are just a few ways to incorporate Personalized Learning into the classroom:Try what works best for you and your students...remember, make multiple pathways available to all students. There is an abundance of resources available to help teachers develop lesson plans, provide instructional methods, and monitor student progress. Mix and match until something works!
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Differentiation, Individualization, Personalization |
Teaching and Learning Styles for Each and Every Student:
What is the difference between personalized learning, individualized learning, and differentiated learning? The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) provides disctinctions between the three models, all of which are centered on technology integration. According to ISTE, "differentiation is a type of learning where instruction is tailored to meet the learning needs, preferences and goals of individual students. The overarching academic goals for groups of students are the same, yet the teacher has the latitude to use whatever resources and approaches they see fit to connect with a student or use practices that have proved successful for similar students." This model is about adaptability. Individualized learning is about learning at one's own pace. In this model, academic goals "remain the same for a group of students, but individual students can progress through the curriculum at different speeds, based on their own particular learning needs. Moreover, "learning strategies are based on student readiness, learning styles, interests and best practices." This model provides students to review/recover previously learned material, or move ahead, depending on their individual needs and grasp of the content. ISTE argues that personalized learning is not as much about student choice as it is "learning that is tailored to the preferences and interests of various learners, as well as instruction that is paced to a student’s unique needs. Academic goals, curriculum and content — as well as method and pace — can all conceivably vary in a personalized learning environment." In this model, students do have control over the creation process of the learning activity, but most of the focus is on student ownership of the material and processes. Despite the minute differences between the three models, all, or some combination of, the three types can be achieved much easier through the integration of technology into the classroom environment. |Click here for the ISTE article on differentiated, individualized, and personalized learning. |