I’ve been thinking a lot about learning lately. Most of the time I hope teachers do, but the lsat week it’s been right at the forefront of my thinking.
My school has been talking more about personalised learning lately, and what that might mean at our school. At first I was really worried about this, not because I don’t believe in it, but as a digital literacy coach I could sense some anxiety from my colleagues. How do we really create personalised learning? What does that mean, and how do we get to it?
This year, so far, the iTime experiment has been going really well. Students are creating apps, making a siren, creating websites, making a stand for my ukulele, making some cars and many other things. It’s interesting to see what the students have chosen to learn more about. The hardest thing for us (as a learning community so far) is how do we authentically assess this. We have a form which allows us to identify how we want to be assessed and how we think we are doing in regards to that and our project. But it seems forced at the end, because it just doesn’t seem like it fits at that time. Next week I think I will have some conversations with them as they head towards self/peer assessment using these forms.
I think a lot of it goes back to the idea of time though, and how the idea of limited time, or a rushed curriculum can hinder someone’s ability to be really creative, or take risks. I wonder how we as teachers, especially in a “competitive, international” environment can really make a move on this without a fear of repercussions.
Anyway, if you’re doing personlised learning, how do you do it? What area your tips?
Joe Teft 