A public high school actually allowed some students to design their own semester and run it themselves.
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What pathways are being designed in today's schools to personalize the learning experience?
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Kathleen McClaskey
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This is the fourth in a five part series on the Learning Independence Continuum produced by the Institute @ CESA #1.
"Ownership implies that learners have a sense of control over their learning and often leads them to view learning as something that cannot be taken from them. Ownership of learning transfers responsibility for success from educators and other adults to the learner. As a result, learners tend to place greater value on and take greater pride in their learning.
A growing sense of ownership often leads learners to shift from a compliance orientation to commitment. The question in their minds moves from “How much must I do?” to “What do I need to do in order to learn this content?” While the traditional model of schooling depends heavily on compliance, unleashing a sense of ownership for learning can dramatically improve learner performance, even within the legacy education system.
Unsurprisingly, one of the key methods to building ownership for learning is a strategy also employed to build motivation, engagement, and efficacy. This approach offers learners choice and control related to their learning in areas valued by the learner."
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Students who are caught up in what they are doing don’t need to be managed, and students who succeed become self-propelling. If you can find a way to make your students' work personal and meaningful.
Kathleen McClaskey's insight:
Barbara Weed shares a cartoon that illustrates how she snares her students. One in particular says it all: "Let students choose the idea that is closest to their heart." She goes on to explain the strategies she employed to give students ownership to their learning.
"I decided to see if I could get my students more engaged by letting them make all of the decisions about their projects. I still identified the concept that they needed to demonstrate, but I let the students design the work that they wanted to do in order to show that they understood the skills and concepts.
I try to provide multiple reflective opportunities to make sure that students are really invested in their choice. When my students care about their work, I can focus my attention on what they’re learning. The actual work, being on-task, and concerns about quality become non-issues. Their desire to engage makes learning seamless." 
Marjorie Waterbrook's curator insight,
December 17, 2012 12:20 AM
I have always tried to do this with my students, but I am wondering how to make this work with my current students, who have been so thoroughly beaten down by life and school that it is hard to get them to admit that anything is "closest to their heart." Delete the scoop?
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The Institute @ CESA #1 is introducing the stages of the Learning Independence Continuum in their blog following the release of the white paper, The Learning Independence Continuum. In their first post they provide an overview with the remaining posts focusing on one of the stages of the continuum.
> Motivation > Engagement > Self-efficacy > Ownership > Independence
"In personalized learning environments, learning activities will fall all along this continuum – at times it’s more important for the educator to drive the work, at others, the learner will take the driver’s seat. However, in order for this to happen, all of the characteristics along the continuum should be developed and nurtured in each learner." 
Angie Tarasoff's comment,
August 20, 2012 8:34 PM
I wonder if there isn't another stage here - or maybe it's not on the continuum at all, but somewhere else: interdependence.
I'm starting to think we don't typically learn anything independently - but through interactions with other people, or the knowledge someone else has created. 
Barbara Bray's comment,
August 20, 2012 11:27 PM
Angie - Yes! You are right - interdependence. How to collaborate and work in teams. There is a large push to create independent learners and expert learners. Now you have me thinking.
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This video gives you an inside look at what happens when you give the learner ownership to their learning. The Independent Project was so successful at Monument Mountain Regional High School, they did it again and has been duplicated in other schools. This is an example of what a Stage Three personalized learning environment is - learner-driven. (http://www.personalizelearning.com/2012/05/stages-of-personalized-learning.html)
A thank you goes out to Principal Marianne Young who agreed to the Independent Project and the learners who demonstrated to the world what a learner-driven environment is and what it can do for the diverse learner in all of us!