Unit 1 Activity 1

Read/View

Video Interview: Jeremiah
Video Interview: Krista1 | Krista2
Video Interview: Megan & Kacee1 | Megan & Kacee2
Video Interview: Tyler
Video Interview: Samantha

[When clicking on the links above, you will see the interview page broken up by question–click on the top video on the displayed page]

Read the article Orchestrating the Move to Student-Driven Learning

One of the tenants of customized /personalized learning is for teachers to take a larger facilitator role. That is nothing new–since the 1980’s we have heard the phrase “guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.”  But what does taking a facilitator role really mean? You will get clues from all the interviews above, but particularly Jeremiah hit the mark for our purposes here. Note the words he uses to explain the facilitator: encourager, motivator, assessor, and feedback-giver.  While these words can also describe teachers in a traditional setting, they take on a renewed importance in a customized classroom. Take note of the variety of comments from all these interviews of  customized learning teachers.

What is the Difference Between Differentiation/Personalized/Customized Learning?

Quote from Tapping the Power of Personalized Learning

“Currently, the best-known and most widely publicized definition is the one included in the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) National Education Technology Plan (2010): Personalization refers to instruction that is paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalized, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may all vary (so personalization encompasses differentiation and individualization).

Though helpful, this definition misses a key element of truly personalized learning environments: repositioning of the student within the learning and teaching process. The USDOE definition stops short of recognizing the powerful role students must be allowed to play in setting learning goals, planning their learning paths, tracking their progress, and demonstrating their learning as partners and codesigners alongside educators. It misses the shift in instruction from something we do to learners to something we do with them, which accounts for the real power of personalization. In a truly personalized environment, learners play a key role in planning, developing, demonstrating, and applying their learning, and in so doing develop greater self-efficacy, ownership, and learning independence—key preparation skills for the lives they will lead and careers they will build.

We define truly effective personalized learning as follows: An approach to learning and instruction that is designed around individual learner readiness, strengths, needs, and interests. Learners are active participants in setting goals, planning learning paths, tracking progress, and determining how learning will be demonstrated. At any given time, learning objectives, content, methods, and pacing are likely to vary from learner to learner as they pursue proficiency aligned to established standards. A fully personalized environment moves beyond both differentiation and individualization.”