Personalized Learning: What is it? Why do we need it? How do we accomplish it? After surfing through mounds of professional articles and taking the dive into the great unknown of personalized learning, to say I am an expert on this topic would be a gross overstatement. Even some of the experts in education do not agree on a solid definition of personalized learning. Some confuse “personalized” learning with “individualized” learning, and I can tell you first hand, it’s easy to do just that. During this 2017-2018 school year, I am serving as one of the Lead Learners for the Personalized Learning ONEThing cohort at Excelsior Springs High School. I, along with my team, have spent many hours pouring over articles, researching the significance of personalized learning, weighing the pros and cons, and trying to figure out how to implement personalized learning at all grade levels. I want to share with you some of our findings. What is the reason for the big push for personalized learning? According to The Institute for Personalized Learning, “...our current system was not designed for all learners to be educated at high levels.” The Institute further states, “The [current] system has not become worse. It actually continues to improve--just not enough.” Our society has changed drastically. Students’ needs have changed with the vast amount of technology advancements that have become available. Our current system is lagging behind in its ability to meet those needs. The end goal is to engage learners, and to help them become more independent, more socially aware, and to prepare them for life after high school, whether they choose to attend college, become an apprentice, or directly enter the workforce. Hanover Research, in their 2013 report, “Professional Development for Personalized Learning Practices,” declared personalized learning as “an emerging trend that seeks to support student‐centered, 21st century teaching and learning.” Benjamin Herold, in his EdWeek post from July 11, 2017 titled “Personalized Learning: Modest Gains, Big Challenges, RAND Study Finds,” states this interpretation of personalized learning: “In the world of K-12 education, personalized learning generally means using software and other digital technologies to tailor instruction to each student's strengths and weaknesses, interests and preferences, and optimal pace of learning.” The researchers at RAND identified four components essential to what they refer to as personalized learning:
Hanover Research also included these essential elements of personalized learning, as identified by attendees of a 2010 symposium:
The role of the teacher changes in a personalized learning environment from an information “giver” to more of a “supporter” or “coach." The following key practices, identified by Hanover, are important to the success of the program:
As with anything, challenges come about when trying to implement personalized learning programs school-wide:
John F. Pane, a scientist and chair in education innovation at RAND, said that “while there’s enough evidence to date to keep pursuing personalized learning, this will likely be a race won by slow-and-steady tortoises, rather than hares who rush out of the gate with the expectations of quick, dramatic transformations.” In summary, we can conduct months and months of research about personalized learning, but the truth is, we won’t know the outcome and how our students will respond until we take the risk and begin giving them more choice in class. I am proud of our ONEThing Cohort members who have taken the leap and implemented changes in their classrooms to make their students' learning more personalized. Some have changed the format of their lessons and have given students more voice and choice (such as a “Must Do, May Do” list of options). Some have changed the physical classroom environment by bringing in flexible seating and creating various zones (quiet zones, collaboration zones, etc.), to help meet the needs of individual learners. Based on my unscientific opinion and observations, some students do well with having more freedom. Some still need more structure with less freedom. I had a very clear picture of what I thought personalized learning should look like in a math classroom, only because I had seen it in action upon visiting several different school districts across the state of Missouri. However, trying to re-create an exact replica of what other districts have implemented is a challenge in itself. Trying to change what has “always been” takes time, patience, flexibility, and a great deal of communication between teachers, administrators, students, and community. Sometimes success will come. Sometimes failure will take its place...and this is where everyone learns to be resilient. Bottom line, as educators, we want to give every single student the best opportunity to succeed in our ever-changing world, and we continuously look for ways in which to accomplish this goal. It’s up to us to communicate this vision to our students and, without crushing their creativity, model that vision over and over again until they can branch out on their own and fully take charge of their own learning. Links to personalized learning resources: Personalized Learning: Modest Gains, Big Challenges, RAND Study Finds http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2017/07/personalized_learning_research_implementation_RAND.html?cmp=eml-contshr-shr Professional Development for Personalized Learning Practices http://www.hanoverresearch.com/media/Professional-Development-for-Personalized-Learning-Practices.pdf Personalized Learning Implementation Toolkit https://www.kmsd.edu/cms/lib/WI01919005/Centricity/Domain/484/PersonalizedLearningImplementationToolkit.pdf Training Tools for Curriculum Development http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002500/250057e.pdf These 7 Trends Are Shaping Personalized Learning https://www.educationdive.com/news/these-7-trends-are-shaping-personalized-learning/434575/ ThingLink: 7 Principles of Personalized Learning (Fulton County Schools) https://goo.gl/images/8fzCeC
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