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bkoller86

"Personalized" vs. "Personal" Learning - 2 views

  • Educators at the EduCon conference hosted by Science Leadership Academy eagerly discussed the merits and challenges of personalizing learning. Dozens of teachers agreed that a truly personalized learning experience requires student choice, is individualized, meaningful and resource rich. This kind of learning allows students to work at their own pace and level, meets the individual needs of students, and perhaps most importantly, is not a one-size fits all model. Technology was strikingly absent from these conversations. Instead, the common view of personalization focused on giving agency for learning to the student and valuing each individual in a classroom.
    • anonymous
       
      So do the students get the necessary skills first from the teacher then are able to choose what they want to learn about? How would a teacher then keep track of how they are learning?
    • djarends
       
      I wonder that. Would they use the portfolio method? I also wonder about the choice issue. How is this being accomplished? Are they given the assignment / task and have choice within the project or do they have complete choice over what they learn? 
    • kbolinger
       
      I was wondering some of these same things too. How do students get the necessary prerequisite skills needed to complete their chosen task...the teacher? a computer? If you have 25 students and they all want/need to learn about a concept in different way or they choose different projects at multiple levels of learning, how does one teacher possibly manage that? Are young students able to have as much choice as older students or does that increase as students grow and understand more about themselves as a learner?
  • However, in order to navigate the system of accountability in the U.S. educational system, many school district leaders require public school educators to teach a specific curriculum that will be evaluated on standardized tests, while at the same time telling teachers to be innovative and creative within their classrooms.
    • anonymous
       
      I would think there would be math and science teachers asking about how personalized learning would help students improve standardized test scores for those areas. Should the specific curriculum in the U.S. educational system be tweaked to allow more personalized learning? 
    • bkoller86
       
      I think there is a balance between personalized learning and standardized learning. I would like the end goal would be the same for everyone, but the road to get there would be personalized. 
  • Give them opportunities to learn personally, to create their own texts and courses of study, and to pursue that learning with others in and out of the classroom who share a passion.
    • anonymous
       
      I love this idea! As a Spanish teacher, I want to give them the skills for communication but then let them explore and learn what they want to learn how they want to learn - can't wait to explore that option!
    • Denise Tatoian
       
      I agree! Students need to have the skills first then explore what and how they want to learn.
    • kkoller
       
      I like this idea because it teaches students to take ownership of their learning. It might also motivate those kids who constantly encounter on a daily basis that hate school. I wonder though from an elementary perspective, how do we change how we do things to better prepare our students for this kind of education?
    • bkoller86
       
      Whenever students and apply the skills to a passion of theirs students are able to see the purpose of courses they have taken. Students who struggle in math and science learn many of those skills in my agriculture class because they are engaged in a passion of theirs. 
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  • From what I’ve seen, flipping doesn’t do much for helping kids become better learners in the sense of being able to drive their own edu
  • the best thing we can do for kids is empower them to make regular, important, thoughtful decisions about their own learning, what they learn and how they learn it, and to frame our use of language in that larger shift, not simply in the affordances for traditional curriculum delivery that the tools of the moment might bring.
    • anonymous
       
      Teachers need to think about goals & practices but students should also be thinking about their goals and how they learn and process information in the classroom! 
    • djarends
       
      Agree! 
    • Denise Tatoian
       
      I agree, but the skills to do so need to be there first.
  • Personalized’ learning is something that we do to kids; ‘personal’ learning is something they do for themselves.”[4]
    • anonymous
       
      This is the second reference I've seen for this quote - should we then be gearing students towards a more "personal" learning concept?  
    • kbolinger
       
      I was thinking the same thing. It looks like the actual definition of Personalized Learning is widely debated. It would be nice if there was one term that, when spoken by educators, we would all be on the same page as to what it refers to. Either way, and no matter what it is called, the outcome that we are looking for should be the same - learner-centered schools that give students complete voice and choice.
  • A personalized environment gives students the freedom to follow a meaningful line of inquiry, while building the skills to connect, synthesize and analyze information into original productions.
    • djarends
       
      I like how this is worded. Students have freedom and choice. The task / learning is meaningful. Many high school students become frustrated because they do not see a reason for doing something. They learn skills that goes beyond just memorizing materials. They have to synthesize and analyze the information. Well worded.
  • lend themselves well to the computerized, modular and often very standardized system of “personalization” many ed-tech companies are offering.
    • djarends
       
      I become frustrated when I hear about this programs or are being pushed by administrators. I know they work for some students, but even those students need some guidance. I feel learning is more than just reading and completing material on the computer. It is interacting with people. The business world wants students that graduate with people skills (communication, cooperation, collaboration, etc.). Will this happen in a ed-tech "personalization" program only? 
  • It’s a dramatic shift that requires new literacies to navigate all that access and, importantly, new dispositions to take advantage of it for learning.
    • djarends
       
      "Ah, ha": As a person who has been teaching for a while and one who did not even know what a computer was until having to take a course at college for education, this rang true for me. It is a literacies that has to be learned by the older generation. My students are so immersed in this technology literacy. They navigate the web very quickly. They do not usually have the fear of the web which needs to be taught. Most of my students just laugh at me when I ask for help but do it willingly and are great teachers. I have learned a lot from them and appreciate their technology literacy skills.
  • “personal” learning is something they do for themselves
    • djarends
       
      I had not considered the differences before. I like that the students do it for themselves. I think they are more willing to learn when they have a purpose and the learning is much deeper. 
  • But if the point is to help kids understand ideas from the inside out and answer their own questions about the world, then what they’re doing is already personal (and varied).
    • djarends
       
      Facts are nothing without the understanding. What do the students THINK about their learning. The five Ws. Students become frustrated at me when I ask my favorite questions "How" or "Why" do you think that. It is hard to express our thinking. It is easy to spit out facts. 
  • because of the larger preoccupation with data data data data data.
    • djarends
       
      IEPs!
  • in the best student-centered, project-based education, kids spend much of their time learning with and from one another. Thus, while making sense of ideas is surely personal, it is not exclusively individual because it involves collaboration and takes place in a community.
    • djarends
       
      I am glad this was added. I worry about not having students that can work well with other. 
  • Dozens of teachers agreed that a truly personalized learning experience requires student choice, is individualized, meaningful and resource rich. This kind of learning allows students to work at their own pace and level, meets the individual needs of students, and perhaps most importantly, is not a one-size fits all model.
    • Denise Tatoian
       
      When discussing the merits and challenges of personalized learning, it's alarming to me that technology was absent from the converstations when most of what I read includes the use of technology.
  • many school district leaders require public school educators to teach a specific curriculum that will be evaluated on standardized tests, while at the same time telling teachers to be innovative and creative within their classrooms. When that happens, the structures around the classroom leave little room for the kind of authentic, whole-child personalization many teachers dream of offering.
    • Denise Tatoian
       
      I like that conversations are getting serious about personalized learning, but how do we get school districts on board when training, planning, technology, etc., are driven by time and funding?
  • In a world where we can explore almost every interest or passion in depth on our own or with others, it’s crucially more important to have the dispositions and the skills to create our own educational opportunities, not be trained to wait for opportunities that someone else has selected for delivery.
    • Denise Tatoian
       
      Comes down to training. Not all students have the skills to create their own personal learning.
    • albertscarr
       
      I remember in 4th grade when my teacher got mad at me when I couldn't finish my math paper "on time." It would have been so much easier to go at my own pace!
  • She cautions educators who may be excited about the progressive educational implications for “personalized learning” to make sure everyone they work with is on the same page about what that phrase means.
    • albertscarr
       
      In reading these articles there does seem to be a lot of individual definitions of "personalization." However on the flip side it is personalized, so everyone is going to have their own definition.
  • Personalization promises better student achievement and, I believe, a more effective delivery method than any one teacher with 25 or 30 students in a classroom can compete with. It’s a no-brainer, right?
    • albertscarr
       
      With a class that size its hard to see any growth of any student with traditional methods. Personalization would help the teacher keep tack of each child's progress
  • The main objective is just to raise test scores
    • albertscarr
       
      Then we need to rethink the way we test!
    • bkoller86
       
      I agree test scores carry to much weight, but they aren't going away anytime soon. To many people in powerful places want to know where their money is going. 
  • it is clear that all children don’t learn the same way and personalization seems to honor those differences
    • kbolinger
       
      I agree. Personalization seems to be an almost perfect answer to addressing all of the different needs, learning styles, and achievement levels in our classrooms today. I wonder if this approach will become the norm for schools, and, if so, how long will it take for schools to completely adopt this model.
    • bkoller86
       
      I also agree. In a time we look at test score more and more it is increasingly more important to move every student forward. Not all children learn the same way; we can't expect them to show growth if we don't personalize the learning.
  • Personalization is often used in the ed-tech community to describe a student moving through a prescribed set of activities at his own pace
    • kbolinger
       
      I feel much more knowledgeable about Personalized Learning today than I did a week ago. If someone would have asked me then if an adaptive learning or a computerized program that is tailored to a student's level and progresses them at their own pace is personalized learning, I surely would have said, "Yes!" I have now come to realize that there are many Personalized Learning components that are missing with just an adaptive learning program. Where is the student choice or goal setting? What if a computer is not that student's preferred learning method?
  • The only choice a student gets is what box to check on the screen and how quickly to move through the exercises
    • kkoller
       
      Teachers often use websites that will modify lessons to the student to push them ahead of their peers. I am just as guilty of this because I will often have students who are high in math, and have no one to put them with, so I use a website to help them progress. They make progress because it is personalized to them, but it doesn't tap into their interest and learning style. 
  • For many educators that’s not the true meaning of “personalized learning.” “That has nothing to do with the person sitting in front of you,” Laufenberg said. “It meets the needs of an individual in a very standardized way, but it doesn’t take into account who that kid is.
    • kkoller
       
      I feel teachers turn to technology because that is the quick fix to getting student learning to be ore personalized. We struggle to get enough staff, and numbers keep increasing in classrooms. How are teachers suppose to be creative and innovative when they can't get help in the room? 
  • Our kids (and we ourselves) are suddenly walking around with access to the sum of human knowledge in our pockets and connections to literally millions of potential teachers.
    • kkoller
       
      It is a great thing that we have such incredible access to information and others in our profession. It allows us to make connections, and reach out in education to see how other districts are getting it done. However, we as educators need to teach our students that while the access is wonderful, we need be careful of what we read. Students need to be taught the literacies of technology, and how to be critical of information found. 
  • others
  • opportunities
amytlach

Articles: Delivery - 2 views

  • If you press the “B” key while your PowerPoint or Keynote slide is showing, the screen will go blank.
    • kliston
       
      I never knew this trick. I will definitely be using this trick in future presentations.
    • Wendy Arch
       
      I didn't know it either.  That's an awesome trick that could have saved my bacon several times!  Well, lesson learned.
    • Karen Stern
       
      This is new to me also! I wonder if I'll be able to remember it in a crisis moment?
  • Turning the lights off — besides inducing sleep — puts all the focus on the screen.
    • kliston
       
      We tend to turn the lights off when we present in the library and when we do this it does turn all the attention to the slides vs. to the presenter. We will no longer be turning off the lights.
  • At every 10 minutes or so, try to reengage the audience with something different—don't just keep showing slides," he says. Try inserting a short video clip, introduce a quick demonstration, or have another speaker get up and briefly present.
    • kliston
       
      Keeping in mind the 10 minute rule is something that seems manageable as well as appropriate. We do this with students in elementary school so why wouldn't we do the same thing with adults? Thanks for the reminder.
    • Karen Stern
       
      This is a good reminder! Since my team does so much coaching in differentiation in the classroom, we have made it a habit to practice differentiation in our presentations to staff.
    • amytlach
       
      This reminds me of the 'brain breaks' I used to take with my students when we were working on new concepts.  Lots of interesting things come to mind that could be done to connect these chunks of time at the end of the presentation to. 
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  • Practice 10 hours for every one hour of the presentation
    • kliston
       
      Wow! 10 hours of practice for every hour of presenting. That seems like a lot time but I know from experience the more time I spend preparing the better my presentation tends to go.
    • Wendy Arch
       
      That seems like a lot to me too, but maybe this could include the previous time we have spent teaching concepts before.  If we have a story that works, we can incorporate that into our 10 hours?
  • 93 percent of the impression you leave on somebody has little to do with content and everything to do with body language and verbal ability
    • kliston
       
      This is an amazing statistic. Gallo's tips below are something that I am totally going to apply to my next presentation.
    • Karen Stern
       
      That's a daunting statistic! No matter how much time and effort and study I put into a presentation, it is worthless if I don't connect with my audience.
  • The first 2-3 minutes of the presentation are the most important. The audience wants to like you and they will give you a few minutes at the beginning to engage them — don’t miss the opportunity.
    • Wendy Arch
       
      Important to remember the hook.  I wonder what the time frame is if the entire presentation is less than 10 minutes?  I'm thinking of myself here with web videos in the flipped environment.  10 seconds?  30?
    • Karen Stern
       
      Wow. This makes me realize how important it is to connect to the audience even before the presentation begins.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      I love this: "The audience wants to like you"  So true.  Another way I've heard it expressed is - They're rooting for you.  It's true!  
  • To advance your slides and builds, use a small, handheld remote. A handheld remote will allow you to move away from the podium. This is an absolute must.
    • Wendy Arch
       
      My students always get nervous and accidentally change slides when they use my Keyspan remote.  Just goes to show, you have to practice.
  • But go for a compromise between a bright screen image and ambient room lighting.
    • Wendy Arch
       
      A problem we also have is if it is too dark (no windows in most of our classrooms), students or attendees can't take notes.  I also  know from personal experience - it's darn hard on my eyes when everything else is dark, but there's a bright white screen in front of me.
  • Anticipating resistance forces you to really think about the people you’re presenting to, and that makes it easier to influence them.
    • Wendy Arch
       
      These basic concepts of logos, ethos, and pathos are the core concepts I expect my sophomores to understand and apply in their writing and speeches, so it's only reasonable that I be able to apply them as well.
    • Karen Stern
       
      I agree, Wendy! We should demonstrate those same characteristics that we expect from students. I think when audience members give resistance, it shows that they are engaged and struggling through the ideas that we present.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Logos, ethos, pathos.  Nice connection.   And while I don't need to believe the audience will resist (this could cause more harm than good for me), I can simply consider what they might be fearful of, feel threatened by, and/or not feel familiar with.  Empathy is key.
  • Nobody is as interested in you as you think they are,
    • Wendy Arch
       
      Ouch.  Sad, but true.  I think this ties in heavily with the Curse of Knowledge.  As much as I think something is cool, and therefore am deeply excited and engaged by it, they don't.  And the longer I talk to try to change that, the worse it becomes.  
  • "Most of the great presenters actually rehearse much more extensively than anyone else," he says. "They don't just wing it."
    • Wendy Arch
       
      I wish I could get my high schoolers to believe this.  They think practice makes them boring, so their awkward mistakes that get awkward laughter is "good" for them.  Ugh.  So wrong...
  • how you talk, sound, look and what you're wearing," Gallo says. "Only about 7 percent of the actual words or content is important."
    • Wendy Arch
       
      I remember telling students this when I taught speech.  93% of any message isn't dependent on the specific words, but rather how those words are communicated.
  • Grab your digital video recorder, deliver your presentation and watch yourself,
    • Wendy Arch
       
      I make my sophomores do this before their first speech!  They have to use their school iPads and record themselves giving their speech, then watch and evaluate themselves.  Those who do it invariably get better!
    • amytlach
       
      This is SO HARD to do, but so good for you to take the time to do.  I hate watching myself,but untimately find it helpful and feel more relaxed when I present after watching and self evaluating
  • It is better to have the audience wanting more (of you) than to feel that they have had more than enough.
    • Karen Stern
       
      This ties well to the 80% rule in the Mindfulness lesson. I should always leave an audience wanting more of the information I am sharing, not looking at their watches hoping to be done soon.
    • amytlach
       
      I really thought long and hard about the 80% rule and this goes right with it.  We really don't need to tell EVERYTHING we know in one sitting! 
  • If I had only one tip to give, it would be to be passionate about your topic and let that enthusiasm come out.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Ahhhh!  Yesss!  Thank you, Garr.  This seems like a salve for all of my presentation ailments that come with worry about delivery.  So good.  Best advice.  Makes it easy.   And if I don't feel passionate about it, I make myself find something to connect emotionally to, and work from there.  Ultimately, it's all emotional.  If I can find the emotion in it, the passion, the audience will buy in and we'll all connect.  
  • Don’t hold back
  • Be confident
  • connect
  • in an honest and exciting way
  • let your passion for your topic come out for all to see.
  • Most presenters fail here because they ramble on too long about superfluous background information or their personal/professional history, etc.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Yeah, this is not the place to ramble about the boring specs.  Hook them first, then gradually disperse the resume type of accomplishments throughout the presentation if you want to, embedded within it, and relevantly attached to actual points you're expressing and demonstrating and illustrating.  Your background can be an asset to reinforce a point you're making, so you're seen as having experience with the concept...
  • Professional entertainers know this very well.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      So true.  I'm a musician, and whenever I play a show, I stack the songs in a way that will build momentum and allow the audience to ride the music in a way that they'll want more of us when we're gone.  It's strategic, and it's also totally about reading the vibe of the audience and scrapping any plans I had for a setlist if it doesn't feel right as gauged against the crowd.  
  • short attention spans
  • if you have 30 minutes for your talk, finish in 25 minutes.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Totally, if not less, even!  This way, you can allow for bumps that arise or opportunities for conversation should that arise, too.
  • The podium is a barrier
  • Get closer to your audience
    • kmcastaneda
       
      I strive to make eye contact with everyone, move my body throughout the room, weaving, getting close in proximity to everybody.  My voice then travels with me, providing a different dynamic, and memory is triggered with association of spatial relationships.  So, if I'm talking about a certain topic while over here, the audience will take in that whole spatial/audio/visual relationship and it will stand out from when I made this other point while standing over there, with other spatial/audio/visual relationships at play.  It's the way our brains work, so we just capitalize on our natural proclivities.  
  • Remember the “B” key
  • By having the slide blank, all the attention can now be placed back on you
  • don’t forget to smile
  • eye contact
    • kmcastaneda
       
      There is a chemical called phenylethylalamine, and it is released during eye contact.  It's partically responsible for humans falling in love, among other cool things like helping digestion and improving motor skill dexterity...all of this while under the spell of phenylethylalamine.   I definitely want my audience to fall in love with me.  ;)
  • The audience should be looking at you more than the screen.
  • thank them for their input.
  • you’re not the star of the show. The audience is
  • It’s in their power to embrace — or reject — your ideas
  • You’re presenting because you need them to change their beliefs or behavior in some way
  • people find it hard to change. So expect them to resist.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      This is amazing.  If we expect there may be kickback, it won't be so painful or disorienting to pull order back in.   I just read an article and the author said - the more great things you do, the more people you will touch, and so the more people will know you and love you.  When you increase the number of people who know about you, you increase the number of people there will be who hate you.  Wow!
  • Resistance doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, if you prepare for it, you’ll sharpen your presentation and stand a much better chance of winning your audience over.
  • considering different points of view and addressing doubts and fears before they become roadblocks,
    • kmcastaneda
       
      This is sort of like the concessions at the beginning of a persuasive essay...admit there are other sides, there is controversy, there is resistance.  Name it, throw out possibilities, and then invite the audience to let go, free their minds of distractions and judgment and assume there just might be something they could take away and learn from this presentation.  Since learning has to have an emotional attachment, it's important to address that admit it, and encourage the audience to tap into that part of themselves that is open to making the time worth their while by finding a way, even forcing a way, for their engagement, which means not assuming they know everything and to have a beginner's mind.   After some shared vulnerability and expressed passion for my subject, I have audiences to somatic exercises and breathwork before I begin fully. It breaks the ice.  ;)  Makes them feel less foolish if they want to ask questions.  It softens them to me, and unites the group as a whole with a sense of camaraderie, because they all just went a bit outside of their comfort zone together.  
  • So be humble in your approach
  • and their frustrations and anxieties — should shape everything you present.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      They just want to be heard, want to feel seen.  They have a real response and it's triggered by a zillion things in their past and programming that I as presenter couldn't have foreseen, and I don't have the same trigger points as they do.   It's about being gentle on myself and the audience.  ANYTHING they express is valid.  Acknowledge their real feelings, embrace their right to express it, courageous is what they need to feel from it.   Resistance is a sublime opportunity to learn, as a 'teachable moment', a growing pains moment, an illuminator for new consciousness on all parts.  It definitely will help me grow and resculpt my approaches to my work.  Awareness is good. 
  • Removing physical barriers between you and the audience will help you build rapport and make a connection
    • Karen Stern
       
      I agree with this idea! The last time that I presented at a Teacher Quality workshop, my partner and I were in the high school auditorium. We were on the stage, and the audience was spread out all over the room. It was hard to draw a response from them!
  • audience
  • share your ideas with others before you present
    • Karen Stern
       
      Sharing the presentation ideas with others (especially those who work in different fields than I do) will be a good way to gauge the receptiveness of an audience.
  • Practicing in front of another person or a video camera will help even more
  • he says
  • out loud, over many hours and many days
    • Karen Stern
       
      Ouch. This is something I HATE to do! Especially in front of others or a video camera. It would be worth it, however, to know that I'm doing more than winging it.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Agreed, Karen...this is indeed painful for me, too.  Yet, critical to success.  I don't want to flounder and flop once in front of an audience.  
  • When you read from your notes or from slides," he says, "that completely breaks the connection you have with audience."
    • Karen Stern
       
      I've never thought about reading from the slides in this way: that it breaks the connection to the audience. I have always tried to avoid reading from the slides just because it seems unprofessional and condescending to my audience, but I'd never thougth about the connection that gets lost.
  • so you’ll take on a conversational tone
  • it will show
  • feel more warmly toward them
  • you’ll disarm them
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Important not about disarming the audience.  We want openness so the message can hook them in their hearts.   Imagining each one of them is a dear friend or family member, or beloved client ALREADY, helps me frame the audience in love and wrap them in understanding and compassion.  
  • they’ll be more likely to accept your message
  • people in your audience get to determine whether your idea spreads or die
    • kmcastaneda
       
      This can feel daunting and intimidating!  Solution?  Speaking with conviction about a topic I'm passionate about and believe in as something to help the audience, for their highest good...this is the remedy for worry about whether or not the audience will love me and my work.  
  • Don't make every slide look the same (i.e., Title, Bullets; Title, Bullets)
  • As you plan your presentation, try to come up with arguments against your perspective.
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Brilliant!  This suggest to basically build in the alternate viewpoints while planning.  It sort of happens naturally while I prepare - playing my own devil's advocate.  I'll not trust that those thoughts are worth using to make myself more prepared, instead of dismissing them.  Love this.
    • amytlach
       
      This is more common all the time with issues that people who are not involved in agriculture are not educated about as to how or why things are done to be productive.  Great to think about what potential is out there for opposition. 
  • alternate lines of reasoning by digging up articles, blog posts, and reports that challenge your stance.
  • And then the audience gets bored. And people start checking their BlackBerrys
  • give the audience's eyes a rest every so often."
  • you'll come across as much more engaging as a speaker and effortless."
  • internalized the content
    • kmcastaneda
       
      Internalizing content is complementary to finding a way to emotionally connect and feel passionate about the topic in the first place!  These two concepts seem to feed each other.
  • temptation is to turn the lights off so that the slides look better
    • amytlach
       
      This is a great point, but some photos need to have the room darkened some to be able to see.  I have played with brightness on a few photos and it seems to help with some. 
  • "They practice much more than the average presenter."
    • amytlach
       
      What a great reminder!! Preparation makes everything better. 
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