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ICT teacher in elementary school Hugo Badalic in Slavonski Brod, Croatia.  My students are 11-15 years old. I am school ednevnik administrator, web editor for school web site, učitelj savjetnik, MIE expert 2018-2018, participant in eTwinning projects...

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Osnovna škola Hugo Badalić, Slavonski Brod

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1.3 What is formal/non-formal/informal learning?

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1.3 What is formal/non-formal/informal learning?

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"Yes I Can" - 1.3 What is formal/non-formal/informal learning? Survey

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Web survey powered by SurveyMonkey.com. Create your own online survey now with SurveyMonkey's expert certified FREE templates.

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1.4 Linking non-formal/informal learning & formal learning

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1.4 Linking non-formal/informal learning & formal learning

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1.5 Strategies to empower students in their formal & informal learning

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1.5 Strategies to empower students in their formal & informal learning

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Diana Rhoten on Sparking Student Interests with Informal Learning (Big Thinkers Series)

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The Shift from Engaging Students to Empowering Learners

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I didn`t watch live webinar, because I was in class at that time.

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NESTT Webinar 1: Formal, nonformal and informal learning

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Done. 100%

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How Do You Define Personalized Learning?

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“Yes I can” – Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey (What is personalised learning?)

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“Yes I can” – Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey (What is personalised learning?)

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"Yes I can" - Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey (What is personalised learning?)

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View and analyze results from the "Yes I can" - Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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This video is part of the Creative use of Tablets in Schools course on the European Schoolnet Academy. For more information visit www.eunacademy.eu

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Personalized Learning: Teaching to the Students in the Back Row

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This is a two-minute explainer animation describing the value of personalized learning approaches.

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“Yes I can” – Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey

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“Yes I can” – Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey

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"Yes I can" - Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey

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View and analyze results from the "Yes I can" - Empowering Student Learning: one-question survey SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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2.3 Formative assessment – identifying what your students know and need

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2.3 Formative assessment – identifying what your students know and need

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Future Ready: Personalized Learning Tied to Student Passion

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Formative Assessment To Initiate Personalized Learning

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Formative Assessment To Initiate Personalized Learning

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"Meeting all of the different needs is tricky." This quote from 2nd grade teacher Brooke Johnston could be the understatement of the year! When Ms. Johnston returned to her Alpine Elementary Classroom in Grand Rapids, Michigan after taking leave to start a family, she was faced with a challenge that rings true for most educators across the country: How do I meet the unique needs of each individual student? How do I provide the exact lesson at just the right time for a class full of students whose knowledge varies greatly? How do I both support and challenge simultaneously?

In order to truly personalize the learning environment for students, teachers need to have a genuine and comprehensive understanding of their students. This means knowing their academic strengths and weakness as part of a complete learner profile that gives a holistic view of each student. However, the academic strengths and weaknesses is not something that can be monitored a couple times of year. The assessment process should be embedded within each lesson and used as tool for immediate and consistent feedback.

The Difference Between Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment

When it comes to assessing student knowledge, we have traditionally followed a model in which we teach and then assess. In this situation, teachers, students, and parents identify what has been learned only after the assessment has been completed ( and graded). An example this type of summative assessment would be an end of unit exam. As we move towards more student centered and personalized learning environments, it is essential that we go beyond assessing to determine knowledge and move into assessing as part of the learning process. This formative assessment is embedded within the lesson and gives teachers and students an immediate feedback loop that enhances learning.

Formative Assessment in the Classroom

Formative assessment may look different in different classrooms, but the purpose remains the same. Formative assessment should:

Inform knowledge

Inform and redirect practice

Provide immediate feedback for teachers and students

Occur frequently

Provide useful data

Be ongoing and embedded

Include formal and informal assessments of knowledge

Whether a class has high or limited access to technology, frequently checking for understanding allows students to practice in low risk environments and gives teachers the information needed to adjust lessons to ensure that each student is given the support needed to succeed.

5 Ways to Quickly Check for Student Understanding

Thumbs up/Thumbs Down (or 1, 2, 3)

Wondering if your class is ready to move on? Just ask. It doesn't have to be complicated, show a thumbs up for solid understanding and a thumbs down for additional support.

Colored Cups

A variety of tools can be used here, but Solo cups or post it notes work great. Each student should have a red, yellow, and green cup. Throughout the lesson, students can use the cups to let you know where they are in their understanding. Green, ready to move on or needs a challenge, yellow indicates a level of confusion, and red tells you the student is struggling.

Mid Lesson "exit slips" with Mini Whiteboards

Traditional exit slips wait until the end of the class to ask a couple questions that will tell teachers what material sunk in and what needed to be reviewed. Why wait until the end of the class? Pick a question that will be easy for you to review quickly and assess understanding on the spot. Determine and prepare these questions ahead of time.
If you don't have mini white boards you can even just use a blank piece of paper. Ask a question, and have students show your answer. Adjust your game plan based on what you see.

Polling

If you are in a 1:1 classroom, use polling software, such as polleverywhere or todaysmeet to ask classwide information.

Auto-graded Assessments

Use a tool like OpenEd to assign students independent assessments. The platform will autograde and provide results as well as recommendations support. The advantage to an auto-graded assessment is the personalized recommended next steps for students based on formative assessment results.

In order for these informal assessments to be valuable, the learning environment is essential. Students and teachers should embrace a growth mindset, and the classroom should be a place where mistakes are valued as part of the learning experience.

Technology as a Tool for Efficient Formative Assessment

General checks for understanding are extremely helpful, however in a personalized environment, these students will most likely be working on a variety of material in a variety of ways. Technology offers the opportunity to utilize formative assessment in a more personalized manner, while increasing teacher efficiency.

Tools like OpenEd help teachers to link assessment directly to instruction. As the world's largest online library of standards-aligned resources for K-12 teachers, they house more than a million assessments, videos, games, and lesson plans for every Common Core Math and English/Language Arts Standards as well as Next Generation Science Standards. With OpenEd, teachers can assign unique assessments to each student. These assessments are automatically graded, and then provide the student with instant feedback and accompanying recommendations (individualized videos and additional resources for support); making the process of quiz to instruction practical, powerful AND supportive of an environment that tailors the experience for each student and their unique learning gaps.

In Ms. Johnston's classroom, the typical 2nd grader has an NWEA MAP assessment score of 190, with students ranging from 150 - 223. She has 15 iPads, but the students do not have internet access at home. Johnston uses OpenEd to help differentiate formative assessment. "Having quick, automatically graded formative assessments on our iPads has been tremendously helpful. I can easily tell who is ready to move on to the next standard and who needs additional instruction."

We are at an interesting time in history, in which the way students learn is drastically shifting. The combination of powerful technology with passionate teachers is creating a new path for personalization. Formative assessment is one of the first steps to personalizing the learning experience for students. In order to provide a personalized path, we have to first understand students' strengths and weakness. Whether in a traditional classrooms or a next gen environment, understanding where your students are at academically, allows you to navigate the tricky path of meeting each students where they are at and excelling their learning path forward.
This is the first in a three part blog series on how personalization powers competency-based learning and is sponsored by OpenEd, the world's largest resource library.
For more on formative assessment, check out:

Megan Mead is an education advocate and blog contributor at Getting Smart. Follow her on Twitter @MegMarMe.

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Formative Assessment To Initiate Personalized Learning

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"Meeting all of the different needs is tricky." This quote from 2nd grade teacher Brooke Johnston could be the understatement of the year! When Ms. Johnston returned to her Alpine Elementary Classroom in Grand Rapids, Michigan after taking leave to start a family, she was faced with a challenge that rings true for most educators across the country: How do I meet the unique needs of each individual student?

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Six Examples of What Personalized Learning Looks Like

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Six Examples of What Personalized Learning Looks Like

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We have a few answers to this question. One is that personalized learning always involves these core four elements - targeted instruction, data-driven decisions, flexible content, and student reflection and ownership. Check out our Core Four white paper for a more detailed description of these elements, as well as classroom examples.

Another answer is that, "it depends" - we believe strongly in the design thinking process, and that school leaders and teachers are in the best place to put together instructional models that meet the needs of their students. Check out this great blog post on the process by my colleague, Kelly!

That being said, we realize that we can never answer this question enough. In response to this demand, here is a short collection of videos, photos, artifacts, and teacher testimonies that we hope will help illustrate what personalized learning could look like at your school or district. Some of these examples are from Education Elements districts and schools, and some are from other places!

Personalized learning is: Incorporating Self-Reflection and Goal-Setting

In Middletown, NY , the school culture incorporates student reflection and goal-setting starting with the youngest grades. Check out these classroom photos of goal-setting artifacts.

From a Middletown teacher: "[Students] use a Google form, and t
he forms are sent to me automatically so I am able to instantaneously see how they are self-assessing. It gives them a sense of accountability and it also lets me be aware of how they think they did... I use their self-assessment to help guide my instruction and to help group them for math and ELA." Check out this classroom teacher as she talks about her approach to Student Ownership & Reflection
Personalized Learning is: Flexible & Intentional Master Schedules

In Wake County, NC, school leaders at Rogers Lane Elementary School have created a master schedule that's aligned to their three core principles: Agents of Change, Out of this World Learning, and Intentional and Reciprocal Relationships. While it's still a work in progress, the schedule does a wonderful job of showing the back-end work it takes to explicitly incorporate co-teaching, multi-level classrooms, student choice, and blocks for targeted small-group instruction.

Additionally, to help parents and students better understand how this schedule would affect a student's daily experience, Rogers Lane created a "Day in the Life of" Primer .
Check out this classroom teacher as she talks about her approach to Flexible Path and Pace Check out this video from a high school teacher, where she describes how she has students use a digital tool to demonstrate their ability to collect and analyze data from a field exercise.
Personalized Learning is: Using Digital Content and Tools in a Purposeful Way - Flexible Path and Pace
Check out from an elementary school teacher about how he uses a portfolio of digital content tools in his classes. These last 2 videos are part of a larger collection of great this video videos from BetterLesson on blended learning strategies.

Personalized Learning is: Incorporating Personalized Playlists

Many personalized learning classrooms incorporate flexible pacing by having students go through content via playlists. However, not all playlists are personalized.

My colleague Brittany, in partnership with teachers and school leaders at Rochester School District, NH, put together this helpful Playlist Building 101 Guide that describes how to build a personalized learning playlist.

Personalized Learning is: Planning for Flexible Seating
Photo: Loudoun County Public Schools (VA), Twitter #LoudounPL Photo: Loudoun County Public Schools (VA), Twitter #LoudounPL

Flexible seating is a popular strategy because it is a physical manifestation of targeted, fluid instruction. With a focus on student choice and comfort, flexible seating is a great way to convey to students, "You matter."

Edutopia has a terrific article specifically focused on flexible seating at the high school level, including classroom photos and teacher testimonies. Ashley Rice Broomfield, a 1st grade teacher, shares, " I am in my 13th year of teaching, but this is my first year incorporating flexible seating into my classroom. I will never go back to traditional seating."

EdSurge also has a great post on 10+ brain-based methods to redesign your classroom, and how to include your students in the redesign process. We love this quote: "A good friend of mine often reminds me that we aren't raising a class of second graders, but in fact, we are raising future adults. She says, 'If they're old enough to do it for themselves, they should not only be allowed to, but expected to do so.'"

Finally, see these pictures above from our awesome partners in Loudoun County Public Schools, VA!

check out the BONUS:#LoudounPL hashtag for more amazing pictures of how Loudoun County schools are personalizing learning.

Personalized Learning is: Involving Students in Grading Conversations

Prolific blogger Catlin Tucker offers another great strategy - including "grade interviews" with students. Tucker shares, " As grade reporting approaches, I sit down with every single student for a grade interview. Students come to these grade interviews prepared with a formal argument. These conversations are invaluable. Students walk away knowing exactly what they need to work on or what they are doing well. Also, I feel like I know my students so much better because we sit down and chat about their learning every 5-6 weeks!" Check out her full blog post !

Additionally, student-led conferences (SLC's) can be a great way to engage both students and parents in reflection. In an SLC, a student might not only explain what progress he or she is making, but why it is that progress is occurring. This Edutopia post has a great set of resources on SLC's, sourced from articles like this Atlantic piece to protocols and videos of SLC's in action.

To learn more about how these examples build on the core four elements of personalized learning, check out our white paper.

More Personalized Learning reading

Blog: Personalizing Learning: Getting it Right

Blog: Personalizing Learning: Reflection and Goal-Setting

Blog: How to Pick the Right Instructional Model for Your Classroom

Blog: Personalizing Learning: Flexible Pace & Path

Blog: Personalizing Learning: Targeted Instruction

Blog: Personalizing Learning: Collaboration & Creativity

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Six Examples of What Personalized Learning Looks Like

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Personalized learning takes different forms in different classrooms - here are six examples of what personalized learning looks like.

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Which of the personalised learning practices listed on this Tricider do you have experience with?

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Which of the personalised learning practices listed on this Tricider do you have experience with?

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Which of the listed personalised learning practices do you have experience with? Mention some of their pros and cons. Add other personalised learning practices to the list if they are missing. - brainstorming and voting | tricider

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Student are more interested and satisfied when the lesson content is relevant to life, or when they do the things themselves.Hacer Turkey

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2.5 Fostering student agency (more autonomy in learning)

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2.5 Fostering student agency (more autonomy in learning)

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Facilitating Learning in a Student-Driven Environment: Keys to PBL Series Part 4

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Personal Learning Paths

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2.7 Personalised learning & flexible learning spaces

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2.7 Personalised learning & flexible learning spaces

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Flexible Classrooms: Making Space for Personalized Learning

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Done. 88

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https://padlet.com/eunacademy/2u130g4mqf08

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Tablets Course | M3 Why students enjoy group work

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https://padlet.com/eunacademy/6n4ohcweollw

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3.3 Collaborative learning through project-based learning

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3.3 Collaborative learning through project-based learning

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Collaborative teaching & learning | Collaborative learning through project-based learning

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3.4 Collaborative learning to build deeper understanding

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3.4 Collaborative learning to build deeper understanding

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3.5 Collaborative learning in a flexible classroom

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3.5 Collaborative learning in a flexible classroom

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Remake Your Class Part 1: Planning for a Collaborative Learning Environment

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3.6 Collaboration for personalised learning

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3.6 Collaboration for personalised learning

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Collaborative & personalized learning (2)

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3.7 Your “Bridge the Learning Scenario” (step 2)

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3.7 Your “Bridge the Learning Scenario” (step 2)

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Done. 100%

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4.1 Elements of effective collaborative work

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4.1 Elements of effective collaborative work

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Elements of effective collaborative work

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4.2 Assessment of collaborative learning

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4.2 Assessment of collaborative learning

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4.3 Student collaboration outside the classroom

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4.3 Student collaboration outside the classroom

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Creative Classrooms Lab - Tablets in schools - Austria

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The Creative Classrooms Lab project (2013-2015) is working with 45 schools in eight European countries and policy-makers to collect evidence on the implementation, impact and up-scaling of 1:1 pedagogical approaches using tablets. The project, funded by European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme, is coordinated by European Schoolnet, and has 10 partners.

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Done. 71%

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4.6 Final Learning Activity: Your “Bridge the Learning Scenario”

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4.6 Final Learning Activity: Your “Bridge the Learning Scenario”

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Done.