Recipes are not personalized learning - Lauren Hobbs, Education Strategist, Dell EM

Recipes are not personalized learning 
Lauren Hobbs, Education Strategist, Dell EM

Sharing evidence of student work is key as we recognize the growth and success of our learners. Walking through hallways a few weeks ago there was an abundance of student work posted, but it was twenty-two of the exact same thing and it made me wonder:

·    How does following a recipe support deeper learning?

·   What were some of the missed opportunities to provide students with voice and choice throughout the process as well as the product?

·    Are these educators bored in grading 22 of the same things?

Take a moment, look around your building and classrooms, what do you see?

In reflecting on collaborations with teaching and learning departments throughout the country I realize we equip our teachers with “recipes” to support a continuum of consistent teaching practices and outcomes.  But does this meet the needs of our learners? Or even educators? Emphasizing voice and choice in  the ways students make their thinking visible is a key component to personalized learning, but it doesn’t stop there as the process in how our students engage, interact, and consume information are key factors in a personalized approach which can’t be confined to “recipe”.

Personalized Learning Defined

Learning is no longer a one size fits all model. The way in which learners access, share, and interact with information fosters opportunities to personalize the learning landscape promoting more authentic experiences.

iNacol defines personalized learning as; “Tailoring learning for each student’s strengths, needs and interests–including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn–to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible.”

Notice the emphasis of “student’s” in this definition. Yet at times they are the last ones (if even given the opportunity) to engage or have input in their learning or decisions within their classroom or school community.

A personalized learning framework (here is an example from LEAP) presents it challenges (especially given the slow evolution in how our educational system defines success), but being open to collaborating with students to reflect on how learning happens is an essential first step for personalized learning to occur. The reason this is so important is because at the heart of every good personalized learning model is student agency.  If voice and choice drive your model, decisions will look vastly different when you begin to implement.

Knowledge is important, but so are skills and dispositions

Many times student learning throughout the day happens in isolation from content to content, creating missed opportunities for authenticity. When connections do occur they typically happen with in “knowledge” as educators plan/design multidisciplinary experiences.

Moving this direction fosters meaning in how standards work together towards a bigger idea, but consideration in how students use/develop skills, leverage dispositions coupled with ongoing student reflection are key in the process of how learning happens. An intentional focus on not only building knowledge, but also skills and dispositions are key as we create the conditions students need for success in this digital era (above).

Thinking Forward

Many definitions and frameworks of personalized learning tend to circle back and focus on teachers leaving little opportunity for students to reflect on how learning happens. According to Personalizing Learning Through Voice and Choice (Garry, Fodchuk, & Hobbs, 2017) personalized learning means learners do the following:

●     Participate in designing their learning.

●     Identify learning plan goals and benchmarks.

●     Acquire the skills to select and use appropriate resources

●     Build a network of peers, experts, and teachers to guide and support their learning.

●     Demonstrate mastery in a competency based system.

●     Become self-directed experts who monitor their own progress and reflect on learning.

What are your empowering your learners to do?

It’s amazing what can happen when school shifts from places of students having learning done to them (recipes), to finding value and meaning beyond just the classroom. Designing systems and opportunities that support student agency and reflecting on how learning happens can shape a personalized experience to nurture the knowledge, skills, and dispositions students need to succeed today. After all, recipes were designed for cooking, not learning.

Lauren Hobbs, Education Strategist, Dell EMC @laurhobbs @DellEMCedu

Lauren works with districts throughout the country as they design transformational models to support the future readiness of students. Passionate about student driven outcomes, design thinking, and rethinking the role of technology, she looks forward to continued work with leadership around the state.