Wednesday, March 9, 2016

It Should Be The Charm...



YEAR 3
It should be the charm in the development of
Blended/Personalized Learning Paths...

But, how can it be when we have just as many questions as we had during year one! 

Big questions like:
  •           Which is the most effective digital content to meet the diverse learning needs of each student?      
  •       How do teachers stay on top of student-generated data, necessary for maximizing student learning potential?
  •           How is it possible for one teacher to sit with a small group of students, during teacher-directed instruction, and oversee two other groups: one group on computers and one group engaged in project-based learning, simultaneously?
·      Compound the three-station rotation monitoring challenges with the fact that the students’ ages are between 5-10 years old, depending on the grade, and the challenge is extremely apparent, daily.
     
      Then, remember that fundamentally,


“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”


This question lurks, loud and clear:

 Is the “doing” on the computer really enough engagement for the internalization of knowledge over time?

Our students are engaged in digital content programs, daily, and the data generated illustrates lines of percentage growth, reaching peaks of performance. The more time spent on the programs, the higher the growth lines peak.

Yet, as peaks of performance present themselves, facilitators of student learning paths are realizing that digital engagement, in and of itself, cannot stand alone in students’ acquisition and internalization of sustained knowledge over time.

In order to maximize a student’s learning experience, with authentic and unwavering understanding of new knowledge, the development and integration of individual and collaborative activities, which enable student-directed and student-centered opportunities, must be presented.

Computer-generated learning must be partnered with project-based learning, for without the “doing” component all that students may possibly reap is the data paper peaks of performance, which may be as flimsy as the paper itself.




The challenge for teachers:

Reinforcing what’s being delivered via adaptive digital content, when the expanse of content and the pace of delivery are not only differentiated, but perpetually changing for every student.

It’s probably going to take at least another year, or two, before blended learning/personalized learning paths and related best practices, flow with ease, deliver perpetual productivity and ultimately deliver pure, uninterrupted, student learning.