Personalized learning is a new trend that is starting in schools. Instead of teachers standing at the front of a classroom teaching students, each student is equipped with a laptop or iPad that is teaching them the lesson with the teacher being more of an assistant. There are advantages and disadvantages to this type of learning but overall this trend isn't helpful. Students learn the most when they interact with other students and the teacher. Our readings for this week focused on personalized learning and what it means for future classrooms.
The Coiro piece- Let's Get Personal detailed the differences between personal learning and personalized learning. The most important quote from the personal learning section was "technology is not critical for learning to be personal." Personal learning focuses more on students setting goals for themselves with help from the teacher. This article also detailed why personalized learning was ineffective for a few reasons: students spend most of the time on a computer, students need discussion to build knowledge, and overall interaction with other students. I think it's important we stick to the main point of students coming to a school: to interact with their peers and teachers. Students at any age need to make friends with other students and discuss ideas or problems they have with a human teacher.
The Couros article Developing Teacher Candidates in a Networked World reminded me of some practices we use in our own class. Ideas such as having a positive image on social networks, class hashtags, and blogs in which we post and comment as a class are all things we do in our class. I've enjoyed using these ideas so far, it feels like a more appropriate use of technology. An important quote from the article was, "teachers need to understand the reality of students' digital lives in order to make education relevant and engaging for today's young people by bringing the digital into the classroom." If we can find a balance with technology in the classroom I believe we will have much more attentive students.
The Roberts and Mahoney piece also brought up interesting elements of a personalized learning setting. One idea they mention is the sheer amount of data collection that is gained from personalized learning. The authors mention that this information could be used to create a "homework profile" much like Netflix creates a movie profile based on your interests. While most elements of personalized learning are destructive to learning, I like this idea. With a computer figuring out what a student is good and not so good at based on their homework, it could suggest websites or other problems to help. I think this would only be effective in area such as math, but still I think it would be effective. There still should be teacher input of course, with more tips on why they are doing something wrong and how to fix it. Still, I have found websites such as Kahn Academy helpful in figuring out problems.
We should not give up on schools as we have them now. Students coming to school to interact with teachers and peers is the tried and true method of school. While there are some advantages to having a digital classroom, the main reason stays the same: students need human interaction to grow and learn.
Without teachers in schools we wouldn't have cool moments like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0jgcyfC2r8
Frankie, I had the same thought when I read the Couros piece--it felt like things we were already being encouraged to do by Dr. Johnson! I also couldn't agree with you more when you talked about how important it is not to lose the teacher in the personal/personalized learning equation! We don't want to be outsourced before we even get started, right?? I LOVE the video, too, I remember being so blown away when i saw it for the first time! Talk about a personal connection that teacher has with his students. So cool. Great post! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen reading the Couros piece I also, along with you and Sarah, was reminded of what great professors I currently have! Especially considering the amount of technology and different networks I've been introduced to in such a short amount of time. I love it! I also agree that human interaction is imperative for students. I think it was in the Ted talk that we watched our first class where the speaker noted how a fifth grader said that "one day he will be able to have a conversation with another." The strong presence digital media in the classroom has been a bit conflicting for me this semester. This is because I've never been the biggest fan of it. Yet, as I stated in my blog, I've definitely been learning the benefits that come along with it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you. I strongly agree however, research has showed that teaching anything in isolation is not effective. I cannot see education going to solely Personal Learning Technology Plans and in this day and age, I believe teachers do need to incorporate technology in the classroom. I am so a believer of Social and Emotional Learning that the Inquiry tool scares me. It has to be incorporated the right way or we will see a future society full of people who cannot communicate or solve problems on their own without a "template" to follow. It totally scares me. LOL
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about Coiro. I agree that the idea of using the internet more is great in the classroom, but this can be problematic. When is it too much? I watch kids today and can't help but wonder if they are too attached to computers. It makes me hesitant to incorporate computers more. As you said, we can't forget why students come to school in the first place.
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