Inevitable – Personalized Learning

http://cmslearning1.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/inevitable-personalized-learning/

It is Inevitable. It is already happening in many places, but when will it happen here?

Are we ready? Do we have the tools? Do we have the mindset to make it work?

What are the weight bearing walls? A.K.A. what’s stopping us from providing Mass Customized/Personalized Learning?

After reading Charles Schwahn and Beatrice McGarvey’s book Inevitable I have more questions than answers, but I do know we should be and can do a better job of personalizing student learning.

Basically every student would have their own Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that is revisited every 12 to 15 weeks.

No more grouping of students by age, but by ability.

No more learning for 7 hours a day for 5 days a week and 170 days a year in a school building, but a combination of face-to-face, online, and seminars throughout the year.

Education for our students is NOT a one-size-fits-all and the students of today are not the students we were. So why are we still teaching them the same way we have always taught them?

Until we get to the above we need to utilize the 170 days we spend with our students by personalizing the time we have with them.

“What is the best use of YOUR class time?” Ask this and you will find your answers to how you should be teaching.

Class time should be used to allow students to create and for teachers to answer questions and guide the learning. Worksheets be gone! Sit and get be gone! Direct Instruction has its time and place, but it is being overused.

Facilitate and guide the learning, but let the students show what they know.

The following information I gathered from following tweets from the #flipcon12 keynote given by Brian Bennett (@bennettscience) last week in Chicago and are the steps needed to take place to get where we need to be with educating our future and it must begin today.

Change 1: Learning spaces will evolve.

Change 2: Gamification in schools.

Change 3: Hiring practices will evolve

Change 4: Differentiation will become king in schools.

Change 5: Personalization is the final goal

Change 6: Student-created content mathtrain.tv

The following is a 4:23 video from YouTube of a “veteran” teacher from St. Louis Public Schools in Michigan explaining how and why he changed how he taught his students from what “we’ve always done” to having students create. “Change happens when we want it to change.”

Veteran Teacher explaining how/why he changed

Kids don’t need standardized learning they need customized/personalized learning!

We must be learners before we can be teachers.

Do you want to change to what’s best for our students? What’s stopping you?