Personal vs. Personalized

Let's Get Personal

Personalized learning and personal learning are defined differently, but can both be intertwined in the classroom. Julie Coiro discusses the concerns and the resolutions regarding personalized learning. From what I understood, Coiro mentioned how she is against the most intense versions of personalized learning and more supportive of a balanced classroom setting. She quotes "that building deep conceptual understanding and higher-order thinking requires intensive student-teacher interactions, and technology sometimes distracts from this valuable human engagement".

Now that I've looked more closely into this article, I agree with this statement, because as a student on my own, I use technology often in class but also find advantages in meeting with teachers in person and taking notes on pen and paper. I also would motivate myself often instead of just learning from a teacher in the classroom and I think that should be encouraged for everyone. As an example, I would play with a multiplication leapfrog toy before I even learned all the multiplication tables. I also played many games as a kid, where I would pass certain levels with ease and other levels I would need more time and help with. Sometimes I would even ask a friend or family member help me with it. This relates to personalized learning in the classroom.



Think about it. What if you were stuck playing a video game at level one until the rest of your class was at the same level. And then level two, three and so fourth. You had no other way to play higher levels because you were restricted to that level. How boring.

I understand that there are classes that are separated by grade and into lower and high level classes, however still not all thirty students are learning at the same rate. With personalized learning, teachers can create lessons that fit the needs, interests and level of each student. The teacher can then still meet with students, still create a personal relationship with students, but the students can move along the lessons at their own pace and not be left behind, while the lower level students can feel more comfortable asking for individual help and they can actually learn more.

Netflixing Human Capital Development 
The article by Roberts-Mahoney compares personalized learning to Netflix Amazon and Pandora. When someone is watching a show, Netflix uses the type of show to suggest other similar shows based on the genre of show or the main plot. Amazon and Pandora also do something similar, suggesting other items to buy or other songs to listen to, based on what you have searched and bought in the past or the genre of music that is being listened to most often. Students can also get this through personalized learning. The computer can generate what level the students are at and display other lessons that relate to where they are.

Assessments can also be designed online to fit the best way to show understanding of the content. Not to mention, depending on the student, they could also meet with the teacher to complete an assessment because personalized learning does not completely cut out the teacher's position. I think that this was a good point to make, although it is creepy that the computers can tell what we are most interested in based on the click of a button. However, I do think this customized learning plan would be beneficial in the classroom and the analogy stood out as a great description of what it should look like in practice.

Developing Teacher Candidates in a Networked World
The first point was striking to me. I never even thought about how even before you are born nowadays, you have a digital footprint on some media site. Seeing as how they are though, they enter the digital world very young and it is true that technology impacts every aspect of our lives now. Technology can be used to improve the classroom and really get students engages.

I also like the next point made, that there does need to be models of appropriate usages of how to learn online. I thought of our class twitter hashtags we have going #meaningfulwriters and how are all teaching one another a small lesson every time we share something. Students can also learn how to find accurate research and information to share with others. The teacher can then look at these posts online, look into the students posts and make connections and assignments based on what they are interested in learning more about.

Technology has become a huge part of our world and I think it is important to bring this into the classroom to meet each student. I also believe in making personal connections with each students as well, but so far from what I've researched on personalize learning, they can both be applied in the classrooms.