"Personalized" vs. "Personal" Learning - 0 views
-
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
-
arieux1 on 10 Jun 17While I wanted to highlight this entire paragraph, I thought this was the one that stuck out the most. This was a really concise way to describe personalization and I just wanted to note how directly this section of the article addressed the entire issue of what this really is. -
julie_carroll on 13 Jun 17Yes! This mantra can guide my new PBL course in the fall; writing it down now.... -
kathleenweyers on 13 Jun 17Yes, this does fit with PBL!
-
-
Technology was strikingly absent from these conversations
-
This was surprising to me. When I think of personalization, I tend to include technology in it. This idea makes total sense, though, because if a student doesn't view tech as necessary or it isn't part of it, it shouldn't be forced.
-
I always picture personalized learning with technology too, but then I think about what is the point of teachers? Parents could just home school their kids. I'm still kind of confused about the teacher's role in personalized learning. -
Honestly, this makes me happy to hear because a lot of educators are quick to jump to technology without evaluating what is truly needed. -
I am also surprised by this. Society now demands that students understand how to use technology, and I think as teachers we feel pressured to use the latest and greatest website/tool in our classrooms. I agree with Jared that if it isn't necessary or the student wants to use different tools for his/her work, they should be able to. -
This was shocking to me. Technology seems to be a huge part in every day learning for students. It's refreshing to know that it's not necessarily the best route to go. -
This surprises me as well; technology is such and integral and inescapable part of our lives, especially those of our students, that I would think this would be high on the list. -
I, too, was very surprised about how technology was absent. I guess it does make sense because if a student does not want to use technology then they do not have to. It would be totally up to them.
-
-
We don’t need personalization as much as we need to promote and give opportunities for our kids to do personal learning
-
I couldn't agree with this more. I think that a lot of personalization is actually allowing students to learn at their own pace, but in order through a prescribed curriculum. It may be more valuable to allow students to do some learning of what they want how they want.
-
How do you envision this working for you in your classroom? How do we get kids to do personal learning?
-
I think the key words are "promote and give opportunities for our kids to DO." At all levels, kids are going to have more success from doing instead of just recreating or reenacting someone else's work/ideas. This is something I have worked on improving every year since some of my very first lessons taught.
-
- ...53 more annotations...
-
having my students read the literature at home and come into class ready to discuss it
-
Haha! As a former ELA teacher, several of my colleagues and I argued this exact point a few years ago. That's funny.
-
-
And in band, we have always lived with a model of teaching during small lesson groups and then assigning home practice to gain mastery of a skill. I spend valuable teaching minutes teaching home practice strategies and reflecting on those strategies at lessons. I want kids to set goals and practice the lessons on their own at home.
-
-
they’ll master a set of skills mandated by people who have never met them
-
skills are acquired sequentially
-
context
-
I'm concerned that teachers are not teaching enough deep learning in the general education classroom in grade K-4. There is so much focus on getting 120 minutes of reading but it mainly goes toward the daily 5 and not enough connected learning to the world. How do we incorporate deep learning into the daily 5?
-
good question! One way might be reading multiple books/articles on the same topic. More cross-curricular including SS and SCI topics
-
I agree! That this can be tricky. The Daily 5 is a model and teachers need to figure out how to fill the model with meaningful material that accesses the whole child. I like the idea above about integrating other subjects into the reading block and I actually think that the Daily 5 model is a good way to do that!
-
-
of what deep learning now requires in a connected world.
-
better test scores. And, if that’s what we value as the most important outcome of schooling,
-
I had terrible test scores as a child and I get test anxiety about if I have enough time to finish the test. How can educators think that test scores are the best outcome for students?
-
-
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.
-
How can we use personalization when so much pressure is put on teachers and students to meet the core standards and to do well on standardized assessments?
-
Agreed. And while there are elements of PL that can be used within the current structure of our school system, I am not exactly sure I an visualize just how every student is learning and being assessed.
-
This is exactly what I was referring to in an earlier comment - as teachers we do what we can in the paradigm we are in. I think part of the goal of courses like this is to create within our current confines. -
I agree with all of the above comments. For the sake of conversation, however, I would like to question how constraining our current structure truly is? Although we do use the common core/curriculum to tell us what we need to teach students, the core does not dictate how we teach them. I wonder if we sometimes create more obstacles for ourselves because, at the end of the day, it is perhaps easier to follow along in a manual than to create 25 separate lessons that involve more personalization.
-
I love the idea of personalization however I feel if my principal walked in and saw all of my students doing different activities she would NOT be happy. She would ask me what learning scales everyone is working on and I am not sure I would know how to respond.
-
-
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?
-
So what does this mean? We will have more teachers? Or we will look to the students to act as teachers at times?
-
-
-
-
Certain forms of technology can be used to support progressive education, but meaningful (and truly personal) learning never requires technology
-
This surprises me as there is such a push for technology in the classroom today!
-
Not to mention how you are pushed into using it over paper-pencil when your district is 1-1. I worry about what message it is sending to my students when I struggle so much with reading their handwriting!
-
It's a good reminder! Old-fashioned, face-to-face discussions and creative construction of meaning (i.e. brainstorming) still works!
-
But technology can be a powerful tool for learning, creating, collaborating and such. Here is a simple example. Reading this article with other classmates and seeing their thinking pushes my thinking. How about connecting to an expert or author on Skype? That would create a learning opportunity far better than just reading about an author. Just saying, tech can be more powerful than the traditional methods of learning!
-
I agree there is power in learning with technology. However, the kids today have lost the simple art of communication in person. We need to focus on building more relationships out from behind the screens. The Skype idea is something my school implements and is an awesome learning experience we couldn't have otherwise. However, the students need to know how to have the eye contact, confidence and ability to be prepared talk to someone. This is taught and learned away from a screen.
-
I babysit for many families and have seen the impact technology has on their home lives. Technology is so readily available. Children in today's society relay on technology in many ways and parents relay on it to entertain their children. With this said, I believe we will continue to see technology playing a key role in our schools. I feel that there is a time and place for technology to be used. Some people have commented that their schools are 1:1 with technology. As a kindergarten teacher and educator, I feel that technology has a time and place. However there are important skills that I strive to have my students learn without technology such as social skills and writing skills. It will be interesting to see how technology continues to be utilized in schools.
-
-
-
But most kids love technology!? I guess it doesn't have to be a requirement, but it should always be a option!
-
-
ed-tech community to describe a student moving through a prescribed set of activities at his own pace.
-
-
This is what is often explained to teachers when personalized learning is brought up.
-
If a course is truly personalized, shouldn't the student be creating the pathway and goals while the teacher guides rather than prescribing the activities? -
So this reminds me of ST Math or Reflex Math. Even though the students is self-paced, it would not be considered "PL" in the truest form because the teacher is still assigning the content.
-
I agree Kathleen! We individualize the content the student is deficient in by assigning skills but there is no student choice. Just some 'fun' in learning through the online program.
-
-
“We often say we want creativity and innovation – personalization – but every mechanism we use to measure it is through control and compliance,”
-
“personal” learning is something they do for themselves.
-
-
personalization only comes when students have authentic choice over how to tackle a problem.
-
Yes!! When there are authentic choices, student buy-in and motivation increases. I like how the author included the phrase 'tackle a problem.' In the workplace, our students will be expected to sovle authentic problems adn this is a great way to build those critical thinking and resilency skills.
-
Yes!! I agree with you 100%. Nothing can prepare our students more than allowing them the opportunity to authentically tackle problems.
-
As you both said, I agree with this statement 100%. I think it is awesome to allow students to authentically chose how to handle a problem. In kindergarten, I teach the importance of problem solving. I give my students prompts that allow them to become respectful leaders. I think problem solving is a great life skill that students can benefit from no matter their grade level!
-
-
the prevailing narrative seems to be that we can’t engage kids without technology,
-
I've noticed with my own students, that their excitement and engagement with technology has decreased as they increase the amount of time the are using technology in their gen. ed. classrooms. Since they are using technology to use programs that place them in a prescribed path after taking a placement test, they are loosing interest because they have lost the authentic connection to the content. The technology instruction is redundent and unpersonalized. They are missing the personal interactions with the teacher, discussing ideas with group members, and the choices provided in authentic learning. Students in my classroom are now more engaged through group work or hands on learning than technology.
-
Has anyone noticed this in their own classrooms as well? I believe technology should enhance instruction, not replace it in the elementary setting.
-
Yes, I could see how this would be the case. We use a program similar to what you're discussing. As a district, we're supposed to be utilizing this online tool, but how effective is the tool if the students are no longer engaged with it?
-
I definitely see this. I have trouble keeping my student's attention if I do not have the work projected onto the Smart Board.
-
-
monitor students’ progress
-
This frame of thinking challenges me. As a special education teacher, we monitor progress on reading fluency weekly. We need to follow a research-based curriculum and every week my students are tested and we I evalute their graphs. This information is legally required. How can I impliment a true personalized learning experience for my students when I am required to teach a research based intervention? Has personalized learning been applied successfully in a special education setting?
-
This is a really good question and one that I am wondering about as well. Although I teach in a general education classroom, we too have to follow certain guidelines and use research-based curriculum. I wonder if personalized learning is only feasible for students who are at or above grade level?
-
-
our thinking about what we want our kids to learn and our changed roles in that process matters
-
I love this article and what the author seems to be struggling with is what I struggle with. For the students enrolled in beginning band, I cannot make it a totally free learning environment. I can offer choice and give kids some freedom in choosing which exercises demonstrate learning targets, but what I want kids to learn is not really the student choice. Is it enough to say that band itself is an elective and if kids chose to explore band, then that is part of a personalized learning model?
-
I am all for student involvement in making some of their own choices as they learn, but maybe I can't look past the needs of my content area to imagine a change in paradigm for all learners
-
-
but every mechanism we use to measure it is through control and compliance.’
-
We do function within a system...the question is how to negotiate that system to personalize for our students.
-
I think this is the hardest thing for both the teachers and students - it is easy to talk about PL, but once rubber hits the road it is very complex to make it work within the traditional confines of the school day and grading structures.
-
There seems to be a big contradiction, at least in my mind, with matching personalized learning to the need/desire to tie everything to particular standard and grade. Our current system and expectation of a grade seems to limit the true sense of personalized learning.
-
-
choice
-
Ah- now I understand that if the choice is created and given by the teacher, it might not be personalization. Our district uses E 20/20 in some extreme cases and it generally does NOT meet any student's learning needs.
-
I think this is where the disconnect is, many my district will do online learning but it isn't personailzed because it is driven by the program that the district uses and students just fly though he program to get done. In the end I don't think they learned anything from their courses. If it were personalized they would take more ownership in their learning.
-
-
resource rich
-
-
That's a good point. There are often so many other experts within our own schools and communities who could be valuable resources for our learners.
-
-
agency
-
changing just about everything
-
Makes me think of the directive "we can no longer teach what kids can simply Google." So, learning becomes more inquiry-based and connected to real-life purposes.
-
I recently heard that if a student can google the answer then we are not teaching them the higher order thinking that the industries are seeking now in their future employees. Google tends to give the surface answers and not the think out of the box answers unless they take the time to really dive into resources (which most won't take that time).
-
-
drive their own education
-
For me it keeps coming back to this: who drives the learning - the teacher or the student?
-
Do they know how to identify what specifically does drive their own education? We do a lot of modeling before asking the students to do different work. I think this is going to take some brainstorming as to HOW to help kids see what helps them learn.
-
-
You’re “free to expand as a standardized individual.”[
-
Ha! We have the "individual vs. society" discussion in my class each year and many students notice the irony of trying to be an individual by doing something that conforms to someone else's norms (i.e. dying your hair blue...like millions of other teens trying to be individuals is a classic 9th grader example).
-
This is a great point! It is hard to fit in and stand out:) It is hard to excel in school if you risk doing something different.
-
I love reading your comments, Julie! That might be a challenge with personalized learning as well. Students struggle to be their own learner and achieve their personal goals - yet at this age, so many kids are drawn to the social dynamics of groups and trying to stay close in their developing friendships. As a fourth grade teacher I see students experimenting with the individual vs. group struggle on a regular basis. This will certainly be a challenge to stay on top of!
-
-
caring teacher who knows each child we
-
-
I think the core of PL is this - knowing the who/what/why/how for each student, this is true even within current school structures.
-
I agree! We need to care about our students as people, not just as learners and I think that this will create great success for not only the teacher but for our students as well.
-
While I agree, it takes MORE than caring! If caring is all it took, I'd be golden, but figuring out how to implement it for 50-100 kids is where I struggle. I hope to learn this by the end of the course.
-
-
not created by them
-
construction of meaning
-
learning with and from one another.
-
collaboration and takes place in a community.
-
I am grateful to read this...my students report each year that some of their biggest "ah-ha" moments come from their peers. I know I learn so much each year from my students; there's no way I can be the "sage on the stage" when we're all in this learning thing together!
-
-
a textbook is still a textbook. You want to really engage kids? 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.
-
moving ownership of learning away from the teacher and more toward the student.
-
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,
-
we cherish our commitment to individualism yet experience a “relentless pressure to conform.” Each of us can do what he likes as long as he ends up fundamentally similar to everyone else:
-
Personal learning entails working with each child to create projects of intellectual discovery that reflect his or her unique needs and interests.
-
I'm sure this is an aim for most teachers. How to do it for EVERY student is what I hope to learn!
-
-
preoccupation with data data data data data. Elsewhere, I’ve written about the folly of believing that everything can and should be reduced to numbers.[
-
For many educators that’s not the true meaning of “personalized learning.”
-
While I agree it isn't the true meaning, nor the widely accepted meeting, however I think it is the reality for what teachers can do in the current structure. When transcripts, grade scales, grade books and class sizes are currently where they are, this is the compromise or baby step towards the largest goal.
-
-
“personalized learning”
-
I think there is a difference between the technical definition and the operational definition. When you read about innovative schools who do all kinds of things, the easy criticism is that they can do what we can't. There is truth there, but the reality is that we need to try to do what is best for all of our students regardless of the status quo, especially when the status quo isn't working at the highest level.
-
-
It’s had an enormous effect on media, business, politics and journalism, and its effect on education
-
To his point, I think this statement is taken out of context to conflate tech and learning. Districts spend a lot of money on tech but not enough is done to change how teaching happens or tech pedagogy.
-
-
new dispositions to take advantage of it for learning.
-
I believe this is the major gap. Many taking this course are already jumping in (or did a while ago) but I think we too often ignore where others are in relation to that change. There are still teachers who refuse to integrate anything but a few substitutions for what they have always done, instead of real change.
-
That's when teachers who believe in this change of learning need to use student work and proof of student motivation in order to get other teachers on board!
-
I would say, as educators, we fall into this trap when using technology. We need to look at what purpose the technology we are using is providing. Would it be more effective or simpler to understand without the newest technology? I'm not against technology, but sometimes we get so excited about what we found out on the internet that we don't keep an objective eye when choosing to implement it into our classrooms.
-
-
not be trained to wait for opportunities that someone else has selected for delivery
-
I think this connects well with the notion of dispositions - we need to create a system that supports learners who know how to learn - the whole candles to light instead of buckets to fill - but schools typically operate as bucket filling stations. A lot of students, families, and teachers need to support for this transition.
-
-
surely lost our way
-
I completely agree - I HATE hearing the word 'cool' when a learning about a new resource or tool. Things being cool doesn't lead to learning or engagement.
-
-
By assigning the lecture at home, we’re still in charge of delivering the curriculum, just at a different time
-
I think this is the current status of innovative teaching and learning for a lot of teachers. Flipped = Engagement = Innovative = Personalized etc. Really though, I think the good intentions are there, but the time, energy and resources aren't to move beyond intentions for a critical mass.
-
-
goals and practices
-
resemble standardized tests. When we hear a phrase such as “
-
This makes PL a tough sell - it isn't worth the time if it doesn't help the existing goals, but it isn't really PL if the goals are already defined.
-
-
reductive rubrics
-
I see a lot of SBG and SRG teachers explain how they can measure every discrete skill in an ELA standard with the right rubric, I feel that fits the cliche - seeing the forest through the trees. Every aspect of school can't be all or nothing - it is like the polar opposite of high stakes testing; a similar but different problem.
-
-
Personal learning tends to nourish kids’ curiosity and deepen their enthusiasm
-
That's what I strive to do but the linear curriculum can really hold the teacher and student back.
-
-
t is clear that all children don’t learn the same way
-
How do we as teachers make sure that all students needs are met and that they are all able to gain the same amount of knowledge? I feel that there are so many different types of learners and sometimes as a teacher am overwhelmed by the different kinds of learns in my classroom. I struggle with how to meet each students needs to make sure I am doing my best as an educator.
-
I think an important piece is to help students (and parents) understand the type of learner they are. Students who know what works best for them (auditory, visual, reading silently and hearing it read out loud, etc.) can begin to take steps towards helping their learning and success.
-
I wonder if schools will ever start grouping students by learning type. For example, if there are 3 sections of second grade, one teacher might teach to the auditory learners, one the visual learners, and one the hands-on type.
-
I like the idea of grouping students by their learning styles. It would really hit that personalized learning. However, what would happen if there was an unbalanced separation in learning styles. Do you think that schools would accommodate or would it be too expensive? I see this working really well in both special educ classrooms and regular educ rooms.
-
-
a textbook is still a textbook. You want to really engage kids? 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.
-
I love this part of this text. As a kindergarten teacher, I believe it is important for students to have that exploration and discovery time in the classroom. They need to learn at a young age to be their own teachers. It has amazed me during our center time this past year what five and six year olds are able to discover and share with me!
-
Yes! I think this can work at any level for learners. Why would we want to limit a learner to stop at a certain point and not stretch themselves in a direction that will better them as a students. I believe this is where students discover their interests and strong points with a little bit of freedom.
-
-
engagement”
-
industrialized form of education that pumps out cookie-cutter students
-
These words used here could easily offend someone who has been in education, those who have created good lessons with ways to reach various children: "industrialized," "pumps out," and "cookie-cutter students." Not a great idea at the beginning of an article if you wish for veteran teachers to read and learn from ideas presented about personalized learning - might seem like another buzz term because there have been a lot of them throughout the years!
-
-
tware
-
-
“’Personalized’ learning is something that we do to kids; ‘personal’ learning is something they do for themselves.”[4]
-
“It’s so much cheaper to buy a new computer than to pay a teacher’s salary year after year.”[11]
-
This is what I fear for the future of education! Going one-to-one and seeing the push for technology in lesson planning worries me that education is not going to need the person in the future!
-
