Turn your classroom into a personalized learning environment
Note: This article originally ran on ISTE’s EdTekHub. Read the full version here.
by Robyn Howton, National Board Certified English Teacher, Mount Pleasant High School; Member, Rodel Teacher Council
By now you’ve probably heard of personalized learning, which tailors instruction, expression of learning and assessment to each individual’s unique needs and preferences. While one-on-one instruction geared toward the strengths and challenges of each student has always been an ideal, only in recent years have technological advances allowed it to become a reality in public education.
Personalized learning capitalizes on today’s students’ almost instinctual ability to use technology, but it is so much more than letting them use iPads, smartphones, whiteboards and other devices in the classroom. It is the purposeful design of instruction to combine face-to-face teaching, technology-assisted instruction and collaboration to leverage each student’s learning style and interests for deeper learning. When done right, it meets several of the ISTE Standards for Students and Teachers while leading to a more rigorous, challenging, engaging and thought-provoking curriculum.
Over the last two years, I have transformed my traditional classroom into a blended learning environment that provides a more personalized learning experience for each one of my students. It hasn’t been easy. It’s taken a lot of research, trial and error, and adjustments on my part. But the results have definitely been worth it.
Here are five lessons I have learned that have helped me take my classroom from a traditional sage-on-the-stage affair to a tech-assisted personalized learning haven.