Personalize Learning (#plearnchat)

A guiding document, "Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Teaching" has been developed to assist school districts about the knowledge and skills educators need to create and sustain personalized, learner-centered environments.

“It’s a foundational course,” Betty Wottreng explained. “It gives us a common vocabulary; a common way to talk about it so we’re calling it the same thing. I think that’s critical for this so we’re all talking about this in the same way.”

The 5 W's of Personalized Learning course has been optional for teachers so far, just as embracing personalized learning in general has been. But the administration team has agreed every teacher must take the course soon, Wottreng said, to line up with the school board’s personalized learning timeline, which calls for personalized learning plans to be in place for the 2016-17 school year.

Learn more about the 5 W's of Personalized Learning at http://www.personalizelearning.com/p/5-ws.html. Fall Session starts on September 23rd.

Elmbrook Schools in Brookfield,WI embarked on personalized learning. This video gives you a glimpse on what it looks like at various grade levels and what it means for teaching and learning.

Congratulations to Elmbrook Schools in giving learners voice and choice in their learning!

Over 35 educators across the country came together in a vibrant and vital discussion around the big question in #plearnchat: "Why is Universal Design for Learning the framework for Personalized Learning?" Read the Storify and be amazed what educators are saying about UDL and PL.

Don't miss the video that gives insight on how learners can redesign their learning environments.For new teachers, this resource compilation includes tips and guides on classroom design and layout to help maximize the possibilities of the learning environment.

Changing or transforming any system especially in education is not an easy thing to do. If you are part of a system that most of us grew up in and are used to, it doesn't take much to keep your school or district from moving to a successful Personalized Learning System. The change process is so complex that even if you agree and are working on transforming the system, there may be one piece of the puzzle that is missing that keeps change from happening.

This visual from Sylvia Duckworth makes it easy for us to interpret and evaluate the change process that is referred to at the bottom of this post. These images visualize the reactions people have during the change process. If the leadership team and others working on transforming their system, they can monitor and consider what needs to be done to get a derailed changed strategy back on track.

Jackie shares some important pointers in this guest post about guiding learning and the importance of context when learning.

The more you can apply what you're learning to your every day, the more it'll stick in your head. The reason is simple. When you're learning by doing, you're implementing everything that makes our memory work. When you're able to connect what you're learning with a real world task, that forms the bonds in your brain, and subsequently the skills you're learning will stick around. 

We learn best when we have context, and that applies to new skills as much as it does random facts in school. That's why something like the transfer of learning is helpful when you’re learning a new skill. This means you're applying your new skills in your day to day life in a context that matters.

Envision’s graduate profile has led to the development of a four-year program, bolstered by high-quality assessments, calibrated rubrics, and excellent daily instruction, that culminates in our Graduation Defense.  Preparing for the defense, and for every exhibition and project along the way, defines each student’s personal educational journey, a story they get to tell in their Defense presentation.  This is personalized learning at its best, when students can articulate what graduation means to them, why and how they are ready, what they are prepared for, and where they want to go next. 

"Competency education cannot be scaled unless policymakers address the barriers that make it challenging to transform teaching and learning. Barriers stem from federal laws that reinforce the traditional time-based elements and mandated statewide and federal testing systems.

In KnowledgeWorks’ first-ever e-book, authors address three policy areas to focus on in building an educational system that supports competency education. By focusing on these areas, states would be given the flexibility needed to innovate, evaluate and build systems that positively impact student achievement."

Purposeful play should be the central learning experience in early learning classrooms. It is a natural way of learning that supports creativity and imagination. But why should play be limited to primary classrooms only? It doesn't matter what age we are; we all like to play. 

This is Trend #7 in the 10 Trends to Personalize Learning in 2015. The focus of the conversations was around the big question.

Rik Rowe takes us on his personal learning journey in his HS math class where he has created learning environments where every learner is valued. He notes that they start building a strong Culture of Learning in the 1st 5 days (#1st5days) that enables everyone "to respect each other, depend on each other, challenge each other and value each other's contributions."

Discover how he personalizes the learning for every learner by giving them voice and choice and where learners take responsibility for their learning. Join Rik in the 5 W's of Personalized Learning eCourse this fall.

Jackie Gerstein shares her insight on how to give learner voice and choice in their learning. She believes that "All instructional practices in this era of learning should revolve around learner choice and voice."

What are your thoughts on learner voice and choice?

Professor Reville has identified three initial elements that will be critical its design:

• Differentiated schooling to provide each student with the personalized instruction, services, and supports he or she needs to be successful;
• Integrated health and human services and education institutions that eliminate the barriers to children coming to school and being ready to learn; and
• Equal access to out-of-school enrichment — learning as important as anything that happens in school — such as sports, travel, tutoring, music lessons, books, and computers.

What could an innovative learning system look like through the eyes of 20 current high school learners?

Discover the insights these learners had when re-imagining learning structures. Here are just 2 out  of 11 insights these learners had:

Put students in charge of their own learning. While the teams recognized the importance of teachers, guidance counselors, parents and guardians, they wanted to offer learners more control over their education experience. In their new systems, learners would have the opportunity to build individual schedules and explore interests.

Tailor learning to students’ interests. One team specifically talked about learning different subjects through their own interests. For example, if a student really likes extreme sports, such as skydiving, he could study math, physics or meteorology through those activities. This would make learning more fun and relevant in their re-imagined system.

Chris Liang-Vergara shared out several personalized learning frameworks including Personalize Learning, LLC's, The Institute @ CESA#1, Montessori, CAST and others. Here is how he described the Personalize Learning framework:

What’s their framework or frameworks? Their framework merges UDL, learner voice and choice, creative environments, intrinsic motivation, and educational technology in a cohesive approach that builds off of learner profiles.

Why would I use this framework over others? Kathleen and Barbara pull apart personalized, differentiated, and individualized learning in very articulate ways that will help you and your team be more clear in your communications. Their incorporation of UDL and learner voice and choice will also help you understand personalized learning in a very concrete, classroom-applicable manner.

Thank you, Chris!

Join us in #plearnchat on April 20th when educators from around the country will be discussing these important questions about competency-based systems.

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation envisions an education system where learning transcends the traditional school calendar and setting. They envision a system where learners progress based upon mastery of a skill or topic, rather than time spent in a classroom.

And hey - learners shouldn't be bored in the classroom. Let's reshape our system so that learning is personalized, and learners have a true voice in their education.

Please join us on Monday, April 6th at 7pm ET to discuss the importance of a shared belief system and vision to create a personalized learning system.

Join us in #plearnchat with educators around the world to discuss these important questions about Assessment AS Learning.