Personalized Learning

I just happened to be browsing the web recently and came upon two great articles on personalized or individualized learning. Both speak to the necessity for schools to change the way they do business in order to prepare students for the twenty-first century. As the school year nears an end, and quickly, I would like to reflect a bit on some of the things Guernsey-Sunrise has done this past year to begin to move in that direction.

One of the biggest changes we made was to implement a 1-1 computer initiative this winter. While the district had several mobile laptop labs for teachers and students to use in the classroom, going 1-1 meant students would have access to computers whenever they needed them during the day, and for most students, away from school as well. This provides the opportunity for "on-demand" learning, or the ability to find information very quickly when needed as well as providing avenues for students to pursue individual topics of interest that may relate to the subject or topic at hand.

One aspect of 21st-century education is the need for students to be able to collaborate. The district has been laying the foundation for project-based learning for the past year or more. Projects provide a basis for integrated learning, where multiple subjects may be taught within a single project. This also requires collaboration, not only for students, but teachers as well as they work together to develop lessons that provide not only interest to the student, but tie into each others' content and the project as well. While only in the beginning stages, and small steps are important to create success for future work, this promises to be an exciting development in the future.