This foundational post has found a new space to be. Click here to see!
Culatta goes on to show and cite how personalized learning through unnamed online course offerings at multiple schools across the country have innovated and led to student success in the classroom, lowered numbers of discipline instances, higher high school graduation rates, more students starting college, and greater success on standardized tests. I needed to find additional information to provide a well-rounded foundation to personalized learning, so I located two additional articles - "Strategies for Implementing Personalized Learning in Rural Schools" and "Four Reasons to Worry About Personalized Learning." The first article is from Future Ready Schools which is a program for districts to implement personalized learning, specifically course offerings that it otherwise cannot provide due to a small teaching staff and limited resources and/or finances. The overview caters to what the school, specifically rural schools, already have to offer in order to get them to bite on the other amenities of the process. Personalized learning is presented as online learning capabilities to allow the teachers to provide to students and enhance their learning through their established relationships with students and understanding of the community's needs and wants. The other article provides the other end of the spectrum and is provided by Alfie Kohn, an opinionated blogger in the field of education. Kohn (2015) provides four reasons to worry about the promises personalized learning provides: 1. "The tasks have been personalized for kids, not by them." As with the traditional classroom, personalized learning curriculum has been created by "experts" in the field. Kohn argues that students are fed "mass-produced" and "standardized" curriculum that they can navigate at their own pace rather than experience authentic learning. 2. "Education is about the transmission of bits of information, not the construction of meaning." Kohn believes the delivery of information is not effective when by a provided by a computer or scripted curriculum. He believes that education is about transmitting the information in chunks by an educator, and perhaps improving this delivery if needed, not trying to get students to understand a concept and then move on. 3. "The main objective is just to raise test scores." Standardized tests are beginning to dictate education more and more. Most of the articles I skimmed promised personalized learning would raise test scores and assist with getting students into colleges because their test scores AND GPAs would be higher because they were learning in a personalized way. 4. It's all about the tech. Technology equates to money and programs that the school district have to purchase for personalized learning. Kohn believes it is just another business venture and sale for the education companies selling the programs and computers. Essentially, personalized learning is the new format of a pre-packaged textbook. Kohn wraps up this reason by saying, "technology can be used to support progressive education, but meaningful (and truly personal) learning never requires technology. Therefore, if an idea like personalization is presented from the start as entailing software or a screen, we ought to be extremely skeptical about who really benefits." What do you think about personalized learning? Can it be more than just digital curriculum? Let me know! References:
Kohn, A. (2015). FOUR REASONS TO WORRY ABOUT "PERSONALIZED LEARNING". Tech & Learning, 35(9), 14-15. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/1683977126?accountid=12598 Strategies for implementing personalized learning in rural schools. (2017). The Education Digest, 83(3), 40-50. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/1949505147?accountid=12598 TedxTalks. (2013, January 10). Reimaging Learning: Richard Culatta at TEDxBeaconStreet. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0uAuonMXrg
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This week in CEP 811: Adapting Innovative Technology to Education, we were tasked with manipulating everyday objects into a purposeful educational technology.
This left me with shuffling through items within my apartment, such as pop cans, paperclips, spoons, keys, coins, tea tins, paper, etc. I fiddled around with teaspoons from the kitchen and the Makey Makey piano. I had to brush up on my piano skills. It has been awhile for this music minor. Most items, to my surprise, would not work with my circuits. As I tinkered, I kept asking myself what objects interacting with my Makey Makey make the most sense within my classroom and teaching context. This has been the largest hurdle for me so far - the skepticism of integrating Makey Makeys into the English classroom. After finding both complicated ideas and elementary school ideas online, I expanded my scope to classroom implications and then it hit me - Exit Ticket! Lately in my building, we've been pushed to assess students' learning on a daily basis. While I can assess student learning with both formative and summative assessments, I need to incorporate more low stakes formative assessments. The Exit Ticket is the way to do that. Rather than having students fill in slips of paper or crafting tweets to post on a Twitter back drop on my door, students would select an item that represents how they are feeling about the day's concept(s). Below are the materials needed and detailed instructions for creating this Exit Ticket and a short walk through video. Exit Ticket Prototype Directions
Step 1: Hook up the Makey Makey alligator clips to the corresponding letters you wish to use on the back right side of the board. Then attach the other side of the alligator clips to the objects of choice. Step 2: Hook up an alligator clip to "Earth" and then tape the other end down, so the circuit can be created and sustained. Step 3: Prompt students the Exit Ticket's question about the topic discussed in class and have them select their option as they leave the classroom. Options:
Once students have left, review data and make adjustments for the next lesson. How do you use Makey Makey in your classroom, library, or maker space? If you are an English teacher, please let me know or direct me to resources!
I've always been skeptical about the maker culture, especially because I'm unsure of how it connects to my work and teaching requirements as an English educator. I have seen a bunch of great examples and applications in the STEM-related subjects of how maker culture can play a key role in students' learning. Now is the time to learn about it through this graduate course. After reviewing course expectations for CEP 811: Adapting Innovative Technology to Education, a few thoughts are beginning to reverberate inside of my mind, especially with ideas associated with maker spaces, technologies, and the culture itself, such as: Where does it fit in to the English curriculum? What can students in my classroom make?
According to Dale Dougherty (2011), creator of Maker Faire, "All of us are makers" (We are makers). This positive maker mindset can be applied to English education along with Kirby Ferguson's (2010) take on creativity and remixing, specifically those in the arts, music, and film. Applying all of these positive maker-related thoughts to my context and classroom will help me guide my students through potential remixing projects based on essays, book reviews, timelines, character profiles, etc. In addition to watching and reading introductory texts related to this culture, I spoke with Andrew Shauver, an instruction and technology coach at the Ingham ISD. He helped ease some of my worries about making connections to English education by providing me with insight into various maker kits suggested for the course. I was going to check out a circuitry kit with two Makey Makey from the REMC13, but the kit was unavailable. If you are looking to check out materials from REMC13, double check with them to make sure the kit is available. I ran into a bit of a jam by thinking it was available, when it was not. I've remixed my thought process of where I started from prior to the class to the end of Week 1 utilizing Creative Commons videos and music into the following video using WeVideo. English educators: Please share resources and insight for using MakerSpaces or adopting the maker culture in your classroom! I am looking forward to the opportunity to study the maker culture this semester! References:
Dougherty, D. (2011, January). We are makers. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/dale_dougherty_we_are_makers Ferguson, K. (2010, September 12). Everything is a remix part 1. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/14912890 Lakeland PBS. (2017, February 23). Golden apple: Young innovators create through makerspace. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbFXHhHJklA religiongonecrazyll. (2011, October 14). Crazy creationism in a high school classroom. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0fPDnjZpz0&t=24s Western University. (2016, January 28). Tour of the d.b. weldon library. Retreived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSKz8FEW3kg Woodcock, B. (2017, January 14). Cep811 remix video. Retrieved from https://www.wevideo.com/view/1052977566 Check out all the details about my presentation here.
I am looking forward to reading in this new year and am setting my sights on some new goals and challenges that I hope will enhance my reading habits. This post has been moved to a new space of reflection.
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EducollecTIONsAs an educator and lifelong learner, I have a collection of "-tions" involved in my studies and practice as an educator. Archives
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