"Personalized" vs. "Personal" Learning - 5 views
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When that happens, the structures around the classroom leave little room for the kind of authentic, whole-child personalization many teachers dream of offering.
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jennham on 31 Mar 19This is a challenge for me. How do we personalize learning while ensuring that teachers are teaching and students are learning what is expected? I do not want online learning to become just something else they do in order to check a box on Yes! I have personalized learning for my students!
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tracyc4 on 03 Apr 19Agreed. We have a lot of boxes to tick already. Where does the accountability lie when students don't achieve their goals/what is expected of them?
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It’s as if engaging them in learning without technology has become this impossible task.
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Whoa! Having kids engaged in school and in their learning is something teachers have been doing long before technology became an imperative part of education. (I realize he agrees with me. That anyone could feel this statement strongly is what I reacted to.)
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I thought this was interesting as well. It seems like an easy out for anyone that needs an excuse. Oh it's not the content we just can't compete with their video games.
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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
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How do we make this happen? I do not think that one teacher in a building can pull this off. I see this as being a monumental shift in an entire district to truly make personalized learning personal to each student.
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I think this is also one of my main questions, and something I hope to explore in this course. Does personalized/personal learning work in small doses? In the confines of a single classroom or a single unit?
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That is a total shift in thought, and I agree, how do we do it? Give me the manual!
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personalization is “not about giving students what they want, it’s about a recommended learning path just for them.”[
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This really sums up, for me, the difference between personalized learning and having personal learning. I think it is the learning path that educators get caught up on. The Oh! This program scales up the difficulty if the student answers the question right and scales it down if they miss it!, type of thing. That isn't personal to the student at all.
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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.
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What do you do with students that work at a slow pace and can't meet deadlines? That may lead to more of a teacher directed approach to speed things up.
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I think this would be a hard sell in the high school where the smarted kids would complain about having to do more than the other students. They would say that its not fair.
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I think you both bring up really good points. How can you even grade something like this when one student does twice the work of another?
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We can truly individualize the classroom by using data-driven platforms to continually assess and track progress through any given curriculum and provide the most relevant content or resources to any given learner based on specific needs or learning styles
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But I marvel how that, in many schools I work with, the prevailing narrative seems to be that we can’t engage kids without technology, without a smartphone, tablet computer or some other multimedia device or tool.
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There is a lot of truth to this. The problem is not only is this the truth in schools but households as well.
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We can't stop the technology train, nor should we. Tech, when used responsibly and effectively, is an invaluable tool in our society and schools. The key here is 'effectively.' Too many educators put kids on computers to look cool,"Hey, I'm using technology!" However, in reality, it's busy work and low-level thinking. What we ask students to do with technology is key to creating a truly PL classroom.
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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.
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How would this work? The 3 most important things in my son's life are Fortnite, socializing with friends, and sports. Where would the balance be if they were in charge of designing their own courses?
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Depends on the topic, of course, and hard to motivate either way- but there is reading/writing/communicating in social media, Fortnite, and sports. There is history in sports. Math in sports. I'm sure your son uses our fundamental skills and builds new knowledge using the things he loves.
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I think to ensure that learning happens outside of the classroom, we need to shift education to a trade school model, where students are shadowing professionals, choosing apprenticeships/internships, etc. during normal school hours. These experiences would replace some of the traditional classes during the school day.
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2. Education is about the transmission of bits of information, not the construction of meaning.
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I disagree with how this statement is written. Education isn't entirely about the transmission of information, but information is still important and shouldn't be dismissed. Education can't be an 'either/or,' it must be a 'both.' Students need information in order to apply it, design, and create. Without information, there is a huge gap left in their learning called 'ignorance.'
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I agree with your statement- I had to re-read this section a few times to understand exactly what they were getting at. I think the idea here is that students should be choosing/finding their information, though, not having that information 'delivered' to them.
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same knowledge
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Every person/child is unique. I agree that skills, and to a point knowledge, should vary. However, there is a certain well-rounded nature we want children to possess to be successful in society. Hence why we created a common set of standards, like Iowa Core. There should always be certain skills and information we set forth for children to learn. Then, there should be an element to learning that opens up new experiences and opportunities for exploring interests. Balance is important, I think.
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Very true. I teach History and Government. There is some information that must be had by all. The method, delivery, way can be different but none the less some items must be covered.
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I unfortunately don't remember the source, though I'm sure it's something I could look up- but I was once taught/read that a lot of the things we do is just to train our brain to do more complex tasks. We may not necessarily use all the algebra and trig we learn, for example, but it builds new connections in our brains and helps us learn and think in new ways. That's sometimes difficult to explain to students.
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it implies moving away from the industrialized form of education that pumps out cookie-cutter students with the
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commitment to individualism yet experience a “relentless pressure to conform
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learning tends to nourish kids’ curiosity and deepen their enthusiasm
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it involves collaboration and takes place in a communit
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“Follow the money” is apt advice in many sectors of education
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‘We often say we want creativity and innovation – personalization – but every mechanism we use to measure it is through control and compliance.’
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The longer I teach (22 years) the more I find that the continued focus on test scores hampers a lot of learning. Teaching to the test, focusing on the test, etc. , etc. are sometimes a large waste of everyone's time. In this current era do we actually need to have state testing to decide if a school is functioning? When teachers are evaluated there is not a test.
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As a teacher its hard to give up some control of the classroom and give students the freedom to learn in whatever style fits them the best.
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I agree, it is hard to give up control of the classroom, sometimes it feels like giving up control the whole class will go crazy.
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First, ask just about any vendor of personalization technology what the intended outcome is and, with a little prodding, you’ll get to this: better test scores.
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The longer I teach (22 years) the more I find that the continued focus on test scores hampers a lot of learning. Teaching to the test, focusing on the test, etc. , etc. are sometimes a large waste of everyone's time. In this current era do we actually need to have state testing to decide if a school is functioning? When teachers are evaluated there is not a test.
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but meaningful (and truly personal) learning never requires technology.
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Very true. I have polled my students and at times they feel that there is an unnatural push towards using technology. They feel that some teachers/administrators push technology just for the sake of it. This did answer my question about In The Day Of The Life entry as my student will show the example that learning does not have to require technology.
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Agreed. I teach band. I sometimes have kids write on worksheets, counting rhythms, or reflecting on something they played or heard. Their handwriting is terrible! They don't spend any time writing anymore, it is all done on computers. This, I believe is a true shame. Technology is great for a lot of things, but when we are losing skills because of its use, that is frightening.
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authentic choice
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This is tough to implement. Students don't know intuitively how to do this on their own. There has to be coaching a feedback provided. I know that I have not implemented this to any degree of fidelity, but I am amazed at what students come up with on their own. They need to know they have that freedom, and that comes with the knowledge of how to use it.
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It is important for students to have the freedom to choose things that are meaningful to them. When that happens they buy into learning.
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I agree that this is tough to implement but I think it is a critical component. The freedom of students getting to play a key role in their own learning is so fun to watch. I am amazed when I see even a small taste of this, the difference in the students' attitudes and motivations.
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When students are given an actual choice, it does seem to make a world of difference in their efforts. It also seems like they are more excited for class, and sometimes even upset when the period ends.
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“Personalized” learning is something that we do to kids; “personal” learning is something they do for themselves.
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I love this line! We have to help students do things for themselves. I don't know about you, but implementing this for the vast majority of students takes so much time in getting them comfortable with the desire to learn. I know, I know, I'm just trying to pass the buck onto someone that "should have taught them that". How do I do it? I need to only consider reality, it doesn't matter if they don't know how. They need to learn how, and that is where I need to focus my attention.
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This is a powerful distinction. Teaching kids how to do things for themselves is something that I believe is important. The kids in my school lack the intrinsic motivation to do anything, except play Minecraft. As in many initiatives in education, I think that it is not necessarily that we should make a shift from one thing to another, but how can we blend the good from all? That is, how can we blend personalization and personal learning, not just follow one or the other.
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Wow! This really jumped out at me. I don't think many people would acknowledge the difference between personalized and personal learning. When described like this... it really makes me think of the key distinctions that must be made. The important part is not just that we are altering our instruction to what our students like but encouraging the development of personal learning experiences and helping set our students up for successful experiences when this is done.
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who knows each child well
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Who has the time for this? I say it sarcastically, but this is really a numbers game. 25 kids, 45 minutes, 90 class periods in a semester. That is 2.7 hours per student. That includes getting to know students, helping with personalization choices, decision making, monitoring learning, providing feedback, monitoring new learning, providing more feedback on dozens of standards. Our system isn't designed to foster personalized learning. We are trying to fit a square key in a round hole.
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It's true, this is definetely a system-problem. It's one of the questions I'm hoping to answer through this course. Can these concepts be used in smaller ways and have a significant impact? They do ask a lot of us as educators.
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Certain forms of technology can be used to support progressive education
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I think of this as adaptive learning. it can be a valuable resource in personalization. Going back millenia, personalization began with the socratic method from Socrates himself. He was able to adapt learning through questioning, but he didn't rely on technology. He also had groups of 10 students for extended periods of time. So maybe technology allows teachers to have a larger effective reach than without it. In today's world, do you think technology aided learning is essential?
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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.
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My school is always looking to be on the cutting edge, looking for the new shiny thing that will catch people's eyes. "Personalized Learning" is the flavor of the year this year. It is frustrating as an educator in this situation because we feel we are doing something new ALL THE TIME. Our administration has not been clear as to what it will look like for us and our kids yet. While, in theory, I think that personalized learning will have many benefits for kids, I worry about what else it is going to pile on to us teachers.
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system of accountability in the U.S. educational system
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Standardized tests seem counterintuitive to innovative learning. How do we balance the two?
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If the standardized tests are on concepts/objectives that we think all students show know/understand as they progress through school, they should be general enough that students can approach them from different ways/their own ways and still achieve the objectives.
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Admin is always worried about test scores and rankings but if we want to give students the freedom to learn what they want the admin may be concerned about scores.
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Big questions, passion, personal interest are what should drive our use of technology, not the other way around.
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best student-centered, project-based education, kids spend much of their time learning with and from one another
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it implies moving away from the industrialized form of education that pumps out cookie-cutter students with the
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This made me think of our last forum post when we discussed the difference between "personalized and differentiation". This is what I was referring to when I said using them interchangeably doesn't necessarily work. It might... but often time personalized means student choice based and out of the ordinary.
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For many educators that’s not the true meaning of “personalized learning.”
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After decades of this approach, it is clear that all children don’t learn the same way and personalization seems to honor those differences
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“We often say we want creativity and innovation – personalization – but every mechanism we use to measure it is through control and compliance,”
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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
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content knowledge that, as we know from experience, never gets applied in real life.