Personalize Learning (#plearnchat)

Don't miss these top 10 blog posts from 2015, the year of the learner! Topics that put the learner at the center of education attracted thousands of readers worldwide. Enjoy and share!

Jim Rickabaugh shares the wisdom contained in Henry Ford’s quote in the image above. He states that Ford's statement captures the core of what we call "self-efficacy." The idea of believing in yourself if you can or cannot do something holds significant implications both for learners and for us as educators in our journey to nurture high levels of skill and knowledge. Jim eloquently explains how learners can develop a sense of confidence by developing good strategies, practice smart persistence and utilize the full range of resources available to them, they can and will succeed.

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!

Check out this blog with the Storify of our first #plearnchat from Monday, January 12th. The six questions we discussed were:

1. What is Personalized Learning?
2. What are the myths about Personalized Learning?
3. How does Personalized Learning affect teacher practice?
4. How is a learner different than a student?
5. When you were in school, did you see yourself as a learner or a student and why?
6. What type of support system needs to be in place to personalize learning?

Join us on our next Twitter Chat on Monday, January 26th at 7PM ET where the topic will be Flexible Learning Spaces.

Take a close look at the 10 Trends to Personalize Learning in 2015 and follow us this year as we blog on each trend.

Join us on December 17th (5pm ET, 4pm CT, 3pm MT, 2pm PT) to talk with David Truss and The Inquiry Hub learners!

Learn from the learners how the Inquiry Hub provides them with blended instruction, reduced timetable structure, and a learner-driven inquiry approach to learning. See how they have topical workshops instead of daily classes, use extensive online learning resources, a small school learning commons environment, and dedicated inquiry time. David asked some of the kids to share with you what learning really looks like at the Inquiry Hub.

We would like to thank Classroom 2.0 for supporting this webinar series!

Brian shares how he transformed his classroom to a learner-centered environment and what happened in the process with his learners. Here is a glimpse of his journey:

"As teachers, it is difficult to let go of control and to let our learners find the best ways for them to achieve content and curriculum goals. To be clear, our role in the classroom needs to change, and I think the trend in education is moving the correct direction--achieving and creating a learner-driven, personalized atmosphere is the key. Providing learners with the tools to succeed should be the goal, and we should focus on allowing them to use those tools in the way that works best individually. Instead of providing the blueprint for learners to achieve a goal, educators should be allowing and guiding them in designing, developing, and implementing their plan for accomplishing it. When this happens, drastic changes take place regarding engagement in our classrooms and ownership of learning appears, leading to a higher level of achievement."

The Institute for Personalized Learning asked some middle and high school students from their member districts to reflect on what learner agency means to them and to answer a few questions on the topic. 

This brings our collaborative series on learner agency to a close. As we stated in the first blog post, Learner Agency: The Missing Link, “Learner agency often gets missed in conversations on transforming the educational system.” It is clear from the responses that kids have a sense of ‘agency’ when they feel in control of things that happen around them. They want to feel like they can influence events, especially how and what they learn. 

Discover Wildlands School who began their journey 10 years ago to create a school that would be learner-centered. They have written about this journey in their book, An Improbable School. Here is what they say in how they personalize learning.

"When it comes to personalized learning, Wildlands emphasizes personal relationships with individual students. We have learned it is more important to provide opportunities for students to be heard, be involved, be connected, find relevance, and play an important role in the school, than to tell them what we (or some far away committee) think they need to know. Honest conversations build relationships. Quality relationships build supportive and open learning environments where learners feel valued, connected, and are willing to take part." - See more at: http://www.personalizelearning.com/#sthash.mW9W4SSq.dpuf

Learner agency often gets missed in conversations on transforming the educational system. We have a sense of ‘agency’ when we feel in control of things that happen around us; when we feel that we can influence events. This is an important sense for learners to develop. Learners must understand:

• when they need new learning and how to learn what they need
• when they need to unlearn what will no longer serve them 
• when they need to relearn what they need to be successful 

- See more at: http://www.personalizelearning.com/2015/09/learner-agency-missing-link.html#sthash.WbCFgqKN.dpuf

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

Personalized Learning Newsletter for May is out and filled with great articles and stories. You see, 2014 is the year of Personalized Learning. The buzz is out. Teacher and learner roles are changing. There are more stories in the news about learners taking responsibility for their learning. There are more examples of teachers creating learning environments that encourage creativity and collaboration. We wrote the 10 Trends of Personalized Learning several months ago and realized we needed to share it with our followers.

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An expert learner is a learner who is self-directed, self-regulated, motivated and engaged to learn. They have a purpose to learn something they are interested in. They are responsible and own their learning and monitor their progress. However, this doesn't just happen overnight or even all the time. Plus, learners may not be an expert on every concept, strategy or skill. So what we did was create a continuum to develop expert learners that provides the journey learners of all ages go through to build expertise.

The second webinar of the Personalize Learning Webinar Series included David Truss and five learners from the Inquiry Hub. They shared  their main reasons for choosing the Inquiry Hub, what the biggest challenges are and what they enjoy the most. View the webinar archive and discover their amazing experiences at the Inquiry Hub.