Personalized Learning with Technology

What is Personalized Learning?

• Teacher is the guide not the center of knowledge
• Students have a choice
• Students have ownership of their learning and assessments

How is Technology Involved?

• District Initiative 1:1 iPad initiative
• Every Student has an iPad in our district
• Students also have access to three other computer labs with 140+ desktops in our school

Personalized Learning In Human Geography

• Students researched resources in St. Paul
• Students compared resources across St. Paul
• Students studied the disparities in their neighborhood and came up with resolutions and presented it to public officials using their data

Here is a student example from the Urban Project

Personalized Learning in Asian Studies

• Students researched the influence of Chinese Confucianism in Japan and Korea
• Students chose between the following topics: social/entertainment, economic, and political
• Students presented their projects on keynote using their iPads

Here is a link to our district website detailing my pilot with Personalized Learning

Student view on pros

• They have choices in their learning
• Students can choose to focus on their strengths

Student view on the cons

• Students may not have enough background information to choose their topic
• Topics can stray from the learning objective with insufficient guidance

Teacher's Pros

• Students are independent with their research
• Students seem more engaged in the learning proces

Teacher's Cons

• Sometimes, there needs to be more front loading (guidance) before the independent work begins
• Often, students will choose topics already familiar to them and not explore other arenas of the learning objectives

Student Testimony

References

• Bray, B., McClaskey, K. (2013, May). A Step-by-Step Guide to Personalize Learning. Learning & Leading with Technology, 40(7), 12-19.
• Clark, C & Rust, F. (n.d.) How to do action research in your classroom. Lessons from the teachers network leadership institute. Retrieved from http://teachersnetwork.org/tnli/Action_Research_Booklet.pdf
• Sagor, R. (2000). Guiding school improvement with action research. ASCD Chapter 1: what is action research?