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We recently ran our first full day teacher training on how the school library works within the curriculum. Read our story.

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This blog was written as part of the #futureReadyLibs #blogchallenge which can be found here. I agreed to write about professional development and hopefully have demonstrated how we did this by providing training for our teachers in their inset day. Enhancing their skills through using the school library and its online resources and demonstrating how information literacy linked with the curriculum. #FutureReadyLibs #bloggingchallenge

Making changes

St Anne's school library in Alderney has undergone some big changes in the last few months. Schools' Library Service (SLS) supports this school from a distance as we are in Guernsey which is a short flight away. This means that we only visit twice a term. On one of our visits, last year, we discussed how we could support the school library and help create a space that was well used by both students and teachers. We agreed to weed and renew the resources and gave them some ideas to move the library around to suit the needs of the school. It was lovely to go back a few months later and see how they had been empowered to change it again.

This led to conversations about the importance of information literacy and how it can support and encourage students to use the school library to become independent learners. Exciting discussions have been had about embedding information literacy into the curriculum, meaning that the school library, its staff, SLS and teachers will become a hub of teaching and learning for the students of St Anne's.

Will you run our inset day?

Early last month Martin Winward, headteacher at St Anne's, and I were chatting about how we could ensure the changes in their school library could continue to have an impact on students and teachers. We both agreed that after the initial excitement and interest in the changes, it was important that we found a way to continue engagement. Martin asked me if I was willing to run an inset training day about information literacy and the school library because it was apparent that unless we had teachers on board, who understood what we were trying to do, nothing was going to change. We needed to share out vision. I jumped at the chance, how often does the librarian get the opportunity to demonstrate the importance of the school library and librarians to teaching and learning. This was especially important as the new Guernsey curriculum is due to be implemented in September. It is very much skills based curriculum and this is what information literacy is all about. it was perfect opportunity to talk to teachers about how we can support them and have an impact on student learning.

Martin sent me an outline of the areas he wanted us to cover. Improvements in the school library, Information literacy and the framework, resources and tools to support learning and examples of best practice. We also wanted to demonstrate how this all fitted in with Educations 'big picture'. After a couple of conference calls I started to create my presentation and shared it with Martin and Wendy, deputy head. Luckily for me, Wales is currently creating a new curriculum and have decided to incorporate information literacy into it so I was able to incorporate their slides into my presentation. It was important for me to make sure that the day was full of information but hands on too so I made sure it included :-

I felt It was important to start the day by demonstrate that this training and message was not just coming from me. That schools all across the world are using their school libraries successfully alongside the internet and that the two can and should work together, it is not about one or the other, it is both. It was also important for me to show that there are many school librarians out there doing inspiring things and working with teachers so I started with a demonstration of how social media was important to me and my own personal learning. I explained that I had sent a message out to my followers on twitter asking the following:-

I had some wonderful responses which I shared with the teachers but the one that I finished with was this one. A brilliant message!

I then moved onto information literacy and how the f ramework SLS are currently using links and supports the new Guernsey curriculum. We were able to show how the framework and SLS staff can support students to becoming independent learners through using the school library. We demonstrated how we could support and train teachers to use the school library in an innovative way, opening their eyes to the countless possibilities of using resources that were already in their school and just waiting to be used. All at no extra cost to the school and with full support and training included.

We played Kahoot an online quiz that you can create yourself. We wanted to demonstrate how easy it was to create a quiz but also use it for our own purposes. Our quiz made sure teachers knew about the support available from SLS and how to use the school library. It caused some great discussions especially around the thorny issue of using pictures without credit. We will be following up with some guidelines on this for teachers.

We had planned to play breakoutEdu after break but we began to realise that we needed to help the teachers understand what was available from the school library and how to access it otherwise they would not be able to play the game so we spent some time showing them how to find their way around the resources that we provide, how to access and use their ebook collection and their school library catalogue. We explained that they needed this information to play the next game.

Julia created our breakout game for this inset day. Breakout is based on a gameshow in America where contestants had to break out of a locked room. As it is not appropriate to lock students into a room this game has been adapted by school libraries, especially in America, to challenge students to unlock a box, using clues. Ours was set up to ensure that teachers used the school library in order to work out the clues but teachers can use this game for their own subjects too. They had to work as a team in order to get into the box in under 30 mins. It was great to see how fully engaged all the teachers were.

The box is in the middle of the teachers!

They managed to breakout in 23 mins...

Photo's by Martin Winward

I am very lucky to had made some very strong connections with librarians from twitter, so we decided to invite a couple to our inset day through Google hangouts. It was important to demonstrate how easy it was to connect with others around the world but also to help them understand how other school librarians support teachers in their schools. We invited Stony Evans a library Media Specialis t at Lakeside High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas and Caroline Roche , a school librarian at Eltham College, South East London to give a 15 min presentation about how they collaborated with their teachers. Both gave really interesting presentations and shared lots of idea with us. We were very grateful for their time and enthusiasm in sharing their best practice with us.

Stony, talking to us at 7am in the morning!

The day ended by giving teachers the opportunity to feedback on what we had covered during our inset day and to decide how they would include any of this in next term's lessons. Several teachers commented on trying to use the Kahoot and Hangout within a lesson. There was also a lot of feedback on using the SLS website more and asking for support.

"I feel more confident to take a more immersive approach to topic work. I will utilise the SLS website and will liaise more closely with them."

"Loved the cross curricular approach / opportunities.... MORE / MORE / MORE PLEASE"

We look forward to supporting St Anne's more in the future. We are very grateful for this opportunity and for your enthusiasm throughout the day.

This blog was written as part of the #futureReadyLibs #blogchallenge which can be found here. I agreed to write about professional development and hopefully have demonstrated how we provided training for our teachers. Enhancing there skills of using the school library and its online resources.

Does the LMS provide or facilitate professional development? What format do you use to provide professional development? How do the librarians identify the professional learning needs of their staff related to technology and information literacy resources and tools? Do you provide professional development on strategies for encouraging discovery, analysis, creation and presentation of learning?

#FutureReadyLibs 10-Week Blogging Challenge

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Inset training - How librarians can support teaching and learning.

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This blog was written as part of the #futureReadyLibs #blogchallenge which can be found here. I agreed to write about professional development and hopefully have demonstrated how we did this by providing training for our teachers in their inset day.

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Website & Resources: Future Ready Schools Initiative

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Website & Resources: Future Ready Schools Initiative

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Future Ready Schools - Preparing Students for Success

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A movement of thousands of district leaders who are accelerating the transformation of schools through the effective use of digital learning strategies.

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#Future Ready Librarians: Leads Beyond the Library

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#Future Ready Librarians: Leads Beyond the Library

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1. Are you involved in the district strategic planning process?

2. What is your vision for a future ready school?

3. How does the librarian communicate what the library program does to support other district goals (equity, access to resources and space, etc.)?

4. How do you identify any roadblocks to collaborative leadership and ways to move beyond them?

Select 3 different resources that will help you lead beyond the library. Add comments/notes. Feel free to add other resources to this padlet.

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Blog post: 15 Essential Skills Your Students Must Develop Now To Meet The Challenges Of An Uncertain Future

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Blog post: 15 Essential Skills Your Students Must Develop Now To Meet The Challenges Of An Uncertain Future

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Geurin, David. "15 Essential Skills Your Students Must Develop Now To Meet The Challenges Of An Uncertain Future."

The @DavidGeurin Blog

. N.p., 08 July. 2016. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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What are you preparing your students for? College or career? The next grade level? Standardized tests? Or something more? We can't afford to be shortsighted in these challenging times. But is it even possible to predict what students will need to be successful in the future? The world is changing at such a rapid pace, the only constant seems to be rapid change and increased uncertainty.

I n fact, one report estimated that 7 million jobs will disappear globally within the next five years. The same article reported over 2 million newly created jobs will help offset that loss. These new opportunities will emerge in technology, professional services, and media. These extreme shifts are happening because of advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology.

LinkedIn published a list of jobs advertised on its site that barely existed five years ago. 8 of the 10 jobs on the list belong to the digital world- Android developer, digital marketing specialist, cloud services specialist -to name a few. It's easy to see examples of how technology is changing the workplace.

Beyond the implications for employment, changes in population, politics, culture, climate, diversity, etc. will also present significant challenges in other areas of life. Being 'future-ready' goes beyond just 'college/career' readiness, because life extends beyond our need to earn a living.
Tragic events in just the last few months illustrate the magnitude of the problems we face in our contemporary world. Just last night there were the Dallas Police Shootings, preceded by the Philando Castille shooting in Minnesota and Alton Sterling shooting in Louisiana. This summer we've had Brexit, more ISIS bombings, the Orlando night club massacre, and more bad news about rising ocean levels and climate change.
While the future should be viewed with optimism, the current headlines are warnings of the need for change. To navigate the challenges of these disruptive times, we need the mindset of adaptable learners. It's the ability to adjust to meet the needs of the future by learning, unlearning, and relearning. We must develop the ability to quickly learn the knowledge and skills needed to survive and ultimately thrive.

The list below includes 15 skills that will help your students adapt and be ready for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

4. Taking Risks
Adaptable learners are willing to take risks to try new things. They step out of their comfort zone to pursue learning and innovation. Fear of failure doesn't hold them back.
5. Continuous Growth
It's not enough to develop expertise in an area and then ride the wave the rest of your life. Constantly growing and learning and building on expertise is the wave of the future.

Teamwork involves shared ownership of goals, tasks, and outcomes. Together we are able to achieve more. A high-performing team is characterized by positive interdependence of team members. Or in other words, you have each other's backs.

10. Managing Change
Change can be unsettling and even frightening. The learner who will thrive in the future won't deny change or simply react to change. With the right mindset, it's possible to shape and influence change while remaining flexible.
11. Interpersonal Skills

Learners need skills to relate to others positively. Our success in life is tied closely to our social skills. Empathy, compassion, honesty, trustworthiness characterize the adaptable learner.

12. Embracing Diversity
Globalization continues to make our world smaller and more interconnected. Diversity will be more evident in every aspect of life. As a result, there will be even greater need to work effectively with others who have racial, cultural, religious, and political backgrounds different from our own.

When learners recognize a purpose for life beyond themselves and work to make the world a better place, everyone benefits. A future ready learner recognizes the need to give back.
14. Sharing Knowledge
Adaptable learners create value, not by storing up knowledge, but by sharing it with others. Being recognized as an expert comes from the influence of sharing what you know and the ideas that identify your brand.

15. Perseverance
Perseverance is perhaps the most important skill of all. The future will demand the ability to stay with problems longer, to be persistent, and to never give up.
Question: What skills would you add or remove from this list? How are you helping your students become adaptable learners? I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or respond on Facebook or Twitter.

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15 Essential Skills Your Students Must Develop Now To Meet The Challenges Of An Uncertain Future

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What are you preparing your students for? College or career? The next grade level? Standardized tests? Or something more? We can't afford to be shortsighted in these challenging times. But is it even possible to predict what students will need to be successful in the future?

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Video: Individualization, failure and fun

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Video: Individualization, failure and fun

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Third grader Cordell Steiner makes a pretty convincing argument for using video games in the classroom in this TEDx talk Published on Nov 3, 2014

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Individualization, failure and fun | Cordell Steiner | TEDxUniversityofStThomas

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Resource: ISTE Standards for Students 2016

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Resource: ISTE Standards for Students 2016

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The standards were recently revised. Have you looked at them?

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Today's students must be prepared to thrive in a constantly evolving technological landscape. The ISTE Standards for Students are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process. Connect with other educators in the ISTE Standards Community and learn how to use the standards in the classroom with the ISTE Standards for Students .

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Today's students must be prepared to thrive in a constantly evolving technological landscape. The ISTE Standards for Students are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process. Connect with other educators in the ISTE Standards Community and learn how to use the standards in the classroom with the ISTE Standards for Students .

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Article: The Benefits and Challenges of Student-Designed Learning

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Article: The Benefits and Challenges of Student-Designed Learning

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Schwartz, Katrina. "The Benefits and Challenges of Student-Designed Learning." MindShift. KQED Inc., 26 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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"It was really about what they got done, and the quality of work, and did they respond to our feedback about the plan," Block said. The point was that students should be making progress on their work, and if they finished one thing, they should begin something else that caught their interest.

"A real challenge is how to figure out the gradebook for something like this because suddenly I'm not putting in the same grade for everyone," Block said. He admitted it took effort to let go of the idea that he'd be entering the same number of points for each student.

The foray into self-designed learning was an experiment for both Block and his students, but it yielded some helpful results and feedback from students.
STUDENT REACTIONS
A common reaction from students to this experiment was that, without concrete deadlines, it was hard to motivate themselves. Students expressed excitement around the ideas they were exploring, but often found themselves stagnating somewhere between idea conception and execution.

"When we hit a wall or a lull, we didn't really know what to do," said senior Aaron Block (no relation to his teacher). "There were times when we were really on it and we were really productive, and then there were some classes where we hit a wall and that didn't happen."

Block worked with four other students to produce a radio piece about gentrification in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Philadelphia. The students interviewed residents about their experiences of change in the neighborhood, pairing those personal viewpoints with research on gentrification. Block felt that being forced to be self-motivated made the work go slower.

"But on the other hand, we also have this high-quality tangible thing that we're leaving the class with, and I think that's worth it," Block said. In his reflection at the end of the class, Block said he was more proud of the radio piece he worked on than any other project during the semester. His groupmates agreed, adding that because the radio project took a long time, they were all juggling other assignments while working on it. During the second quarter the whole class read "The Namesake," and many class periods were devoted to discussion, cutting into time for the group to work together.

"The freedom. of course, in theory is good, and it forces us to be adults about the work that we're doing. But on the other hand it would have been nice to have had a little more structure and not be so free-floaty," said student Anna Sugrue.

Several students had no problem motivating themselves, but universally these were students who had hit upon a subject that had become all-consuming to them. Imani Weeks, Joie Nearn and Sydne Hopkins-Baker chose to research "colorism," a very personally motivating issue to these three African-American women.

They found the topic after reading "On the Run: Fugitive Life in An American City," by Alice Goffman about police interactions with African-American men in a Philadelphia neighborhood. The book got the three young women talking about other issues that face the black community, and they became incensed by something that has affected all three of them: a sense within the black community that lighter skin is more beautiful.

The three students interviewed more than 15 classmates and teachers about the subject and made a documentary video and website to showcase their findings. They wrote personal reflections about the research they had done, and even when the project was finished, all three still felt fired up.

"It made me very upset to hear some people's views," Nearn said. "In a way, I think some people are brainwashed." These three students, along with two boys who worked on a radio story about skateboarding, were so passionate about their projects that they liked working on them, and felt no difficulty motivating themselves to work without deadlines. Their passion fueled them, which seems to be a hallmark of the most rewarding self-designed learning experiences.

Even students who wished there had been more structure recognized the value of learning how to motivate themselves, including coming up with strategies to set personal deadlines. "I hated [design your own learning] at first and part of me still does," said student Kara Rosenberg. "But I think it's challenging, which is why I do like it."

Rosenberg partnered with another student who had attended the same middle school to design a lesson around gender stereotyping. Together they went back to their middle school and presented the lesson to a group of sixth-graders. Rosenberg loved the experience, partly because it gave her some perspective on how much she has grown and matured since middle school, and partly because the lesson hit home.

"I had a girl talking about how she loves to go camping with her dad and they go all the time, but when it's just her and him he will tell her she has to do the dishes because it's her job, and that's what women have to do," Rosenberg said. The girl was hurt by her father's words, but didn't really know why. Other students also shared personal stories and seemed glad to have a framework to name why those experiences had unsettled them.

Researching, planning and delivering the lesson took only a few weeks, so Rosenberg also worked on a radio story and wrote a thesis paper. Most students seemed comfortable with the idea that when they had finished a project, they would naturally move onto another one. And, surprisingly, very few students expressed concern about how the class was graded.

"I don't think it's fair to compare someone to someone else," Rosenberg said. She thinks it's important that there be a standard for quality work, but thinks it is totally appropriate for each student to be judged "on their own scale." Many students expressed this sentiment, aware that some classmates were more verbal, while other excelled at writing, but that each had valuable thoughts to offer.

Several students said creative projects were actually harder than more traditional assignments, like analyzing literature and writing papers. "I feel like creative projects might be a little harder because there's more to do," said Jada Terrell. "With thesis papers you're thinking of a thesis, writing a draft, getting peer reviews and then writing your final draft, and that could be the end of it."

Her radio story, on the other hand, has required extensive research, interviewing, transcribing, script writing and revision, time in the WHYY studios and recording. The payoff is the chance to have her work aired on public radio, recognition all the radio groups hoped to achieve.

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The Benefits and Challenges of Student-Designed Learning

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"It was really about what they got done, and the quality of work, and did they respond to our feedback about the plan," Block said. The point was that students should be making progress on their work, and if they finished one thing, they should begin something else that caught their interest.

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Video: If students designed their own schools...

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Video: If students designed their own schools...

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Charles Tsai reports on  a town's experiment with self-directed learning at its public high school. Published on Feb 13, 2013

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If students designed their own schools...

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Report: Updating the National Education Technology Plan - 2017

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Report: Updating the National Education Technology Plan - 2017

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Tech, Office Of Ed. "Updating the National Education Technology Plan - 2017." Medium. The Office of Educational Technology, 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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In just one year since the release of the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP), we have witnessed rapid change across the country in fundamental aspects of the educational technology landscape. These changes include:

The number of schools that that have access to broadband in their classrooms

The types and cost of technology available to schools

An evolution in the approach of leaders to the procurement of ed tech solutions as well as a greater emphasis on data security and digital citizenship

The advent of new research on the use of technology by early learners and,

An increased emphasis on preparing teachers to lead with technology before they arrive in the classroom.

In order to keep pace with the changes we are seeing in schools, districts, and states on an almost daily basis, we will be updating the NETP more regularly than in years past. This is, in part, in response to feedback from stakeholders within the educational technology field that the previous five year update cycle was not frequent enough. With the release of the 2017 update, we are proud to have commenced a pattern of yearly, smaller scale updates to the NETP to better account for the pace of innovation in the field to provide the necessary resources and supports educators and students need.

This publication continues to uphold the plan and vision for equity, collaborative leadership, and active use of technology that was originally put forth in the 2016 National Education Technology Plan. Building upon this base, the 2017 update also highlights some of the progress we have made as well as emerging challenges:

We are encouraged by the fact that most classrooms in our country now have access to broadband, yet we know that many that do not are in communities where the potential impact is the greatest.

We welcome lower price points for devices designed for school use, but also lament that most ed tech purchases are still based on word of mouth rather than evidence of effectiveness.

We look forward to a greater emphasis on the use of evidence as outlined within the reauthorization of ESEA, as amended by ESSA, yet recognize that educators will need assistance in expanding their efforts to infuse an evidence-based culture when it comes to ed tech in their schools and classrooms.

We are pleased to find that, in some districts, librarians and teacher leaders are stepping into more prominent leadership roles that leverage their existing skillsets to lead their peers in pedagogically driven classroom technology use. Yet we also see library positions cut back in other districts as a cost saving measure and the under utilization of librarians and classroom teachers as leaders of digital change.

We are proud of the growing number of students who work with teachers and peers to become responsible digital citizens in their schools, yet recognize that many of these low-income students, especially in urban and rural areas, lack internet access at home to complete their digital homework assignments and to use powerful digital tools at home to create, to solve, and to communicate that their better-off peers across town take for granted.

We are eager to take a step forward in understanding and recognizing how the active use of technology by early learners with adults can positively impact them, yet are concerned by the number of children left alone for long periods of time with a passive digital babysitter.

We applaud those who are increasing their efforts to prepare pre-service and in-service teachers to use technology in transformative ways for learning. Yet we know that almost half of our teachers desire more training than they currently receive in using technology effectively.

And against this backdrop, it is now more apparent than ever that the courageous efforts of educators to embrace the role of thoughtful, reflective innovators who work collaboratively with each other and alongside their students to safely explore new learning models, new digital learning environments, and new approaches to working, learning, and sharing is essential if we want technology to be an effective tool to transform learning.

We hope you will review the full 2017 update at http://tech.ed.gov/netp/.

Whether you are reading it for the first time or are revisiting the NETP once more, we are pleased that you have chosen to take that journey with us to better understand how technology can be a powerful tool to transform learning.

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Updating the National Education Technology Plan - 2017

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In just one year since the release of the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP), we have witnessed rapid change across the country in fundamental aspects of the educational technology landscape.

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Resources: What Is Personalized Learning

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Resources: What Is Personalized Learning

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Tech, Office Of Ed. "What Is Personalized Learning?" Medium. Personalizing the Learning Experience: Insights from Future Ready Schools, 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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In the past if you'd seen one definition of personalized learning, you'd seen... well... one definition of personalized learning. While this is a common occurrence in the early stages of disruptive innovation in any field, the lack of a consistent definition and language for a relatively complex idea has hampered both understanding and effective implementation.

The situation was further complicated by the use of several terms interchangeably with personalized learning, most notably: adaptive learning, blended learning, competency-based learning, differentiated learning, and individualized learning. Today, however, most in the education community would agree that while each of these learning approaches shares attributes with personalized learning, none is synonymous.

One-line descriptions of each of the following terms offer insight into how the confusion between them and personalized learning might have arisen. Each definition overlaps in at least one key area with personalized learning.

Adaptive learning: technology used to assign human or digital resources to learners based on their unique needs

Individualized learning: the pace of learning is adjusted to meet the needs of individual students¹

Differentiated learning: the approach to learning is adjusted to meet the needs of individual students

Competency-based learning: learners advance through a learning pathway based on their ability to demonstrate competency, including the application and creation of knowledge along with skills and dispositions

In the desire to establish clarity around definitions and practices, we also sometimes neglect to emphasize what's most important - when done well, personalized learning has the potential to radically transform how we teach and learn and how we create more equitable opportunities for students.

Defining Personalized Learning

It is important to recognize that personalized learning entails more than a definition: school culture, pedagogy, curricular choices and available resources all influence the shape personalized learning takes in any given learning environment. Still, a shared definition is helpful in supporting this work. In the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan: Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education (NETP) and the 2017 NETP Update, the flagship policy document for educational technology, the U.S. Department of Education defines personalized learning:

Personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner. Learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and its sequencing) may all vary based on learner needs. In addition, learning activities are made available that are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests and often self-initiated.

Though there are subtle differences, mostly around emphasis, the definitions of personalized learning that have been put forward recently, by organizations equally motivated to resolve field confusion, are strikingly similar to ours and to each other. Across these definitions the following similarities emerge:

The pace of learning is adjusted

Learning objectives, approaches, content, and tools are tailored and optimized for each learner

Learning is driven by learner interests

Learners are given choice in what, how, when, and where they learn

Learning is often supported by technology

Working Definitions

U.S. Department Education's 2016 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) and 2017 NETP Update

Personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner. Learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and its sequencing) may all vary based on learner needs. In addition, learning activities are made available that are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests and often self-initiated.

The District Reform Support Network (District RSN), an organization formed to offer technical assistance and resources to grantees of the Race-to-the-Top-District education reform initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Personalized learning emphasizes student-driven instructional objectives, content, pace and sequencing. Ideally learning activities are frequently student-initiated, meaningful, and relevant to the learner. Personalized learning often includes the use of technology to facilitate student ownership of learning and to provide tools for individual pacing and more efficient assessments to inform and tailor instruction.²

The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University

Personalization refers to instruction that is paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalized, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may all vary (so personalization encompasses differentiation and individualization).³

Digital Promise

Personalized learning, learning that is connected to each individual's development, background, interests, and experiences, provides an approach that broadly and equitably supports educators' efforts to empower learners as individuals.

Personalized learning offers a path to effectively support the growing diversity of the population of students by understanding how individual learners learn best and actively engage, motivate, and inspire them with the right resources at the right time, in the right medium, and at the right pace.⁴

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and EDUCAUSE

Personalized learning seeks to accelerate student learning by tailoring the instructional environment - what, when, how, and where students learn - to address the individual needs skills and interests of each student. Students can take ownership of their own learning, while also developing deep, personal connections with each other, their teachers and other adults.⁵

International Association for K-12 Learning Online (iNACOL)

Personalized learning means tailoring learning for each student's strengths, needs and interests-including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when, and where they learn-to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible.⁶

Rhode Island Personalized Learning Initiative

Personalized learning is student-centered learning approach where learning experiences are tailored to meet the unique needs and ensure strong growth of each individual student on a real-time basis.⁷

*Also incorporates NETP definition.

Alliance for Excellent Education

Personalized learning is a student-centered approach designed to help all students, including students from low-income families and students of color who have been traditionally underserved, develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities that will prepare them for college, a career, and life. Personalized learning means that educators develop caring and trusting relationships with their students, who, because of these relationships will put more effort into their school work and achieve at higher levels.⁸

LEAP Learning Framework for Personalized Learning

Personalized learning occurs when all learning is focused on, demonstrated by, and led with the learner, and connected meaningfully with mentors, peers and the community.⁹

Great Schools Partnership: Glossary of Education Reform

The term personalized learning, or personalization, refers to a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students.¹⁰

Personalized Learning in Action: The Continuous Learning Process

In addition to defining personalized learning, we want to understand how teachers, learners, and learning resources and systems work together to achieve personalized learning. Here is where learning science and researchers can work with practitioners and providers to identify what elements make the most difference in moving the needle. What does personalized learning look like in action? While the specifics of personalization can and should vary based on individual learners and their unique situations, most practitioners of personalized learning today agree that typically the same general process is followed:

1. All learners are engaged in a tailored learning experience. This could include teacher-led whole-class or small-group activities, learners working in groups or individually, and learners engaged in digital learning activities.

2. Each learner's performance is measured. The type of learning experience determines the types of data that can be collected. For example, as learners participate in a small-group activity, the teacher might ask them targeted, open-ended, probing questions that will help in tailoring upcoming components of the lesson. When technology is used, performance can be measured continuously in real time.

3. Each learner's performance data is interpreted against established criteria. Criteria could include learning objectives and formal standards for college and career readiness. It could also include measures of other success skills like problem solving and critical thinking.

4. Learning experiences are personalized for each learner based on data. A learning experience can be personalized by teachers or the technology-based personalized learning system or some combination of the two. In some approaches, learners can also make their own adaptations based on the data.

5. Each learner's performance is measured again. Once a learning experience has been personalized, the teacher and a technology-based system measures performance again and the cycle repeats. Data collected is used by the teacher, and sometimes the learner, to improve the experience for the learner as well as to improve the technology-based system designed to support the personalized learning.

It's worth noting that while each of the five components in this continuous process can be done without technology, technology makes it possible for a teacher to scale these activities consistently and accurately to more students, which is important given the practical realities of teacher-student ratios in classrooms.

Why Personalize?

What can sometimes get lost in the focus on a consistent definition and process is the potential power and benefits of personalizing learning, which are many:

When the pace of learning is adjusted for each learner, all learners have the time needed to demonstrate mastery.

When learning is optimized and tailored for each learner, and driven by learner interests, it can be more meaningful and relevant, which can lead to greater engagement and achievement.

When learners are given more choice, they tend to take more ownership of their learning and develop the academic mindsets, learning strategies, and self-regulated learning behaviors that are necessary for meeting immediate goals and for lifelong learning.

When learning is supported by technology, learners can receive more frequent and immediate feedback through formative assessments, quizzes, and checks for understanding with results provided to teachers and learners in real time.

With the right tools, learning gaps that impede progress can be identified more quickly, allowing learners to close those gaps.

The use of technology to provide teachers with the ability to tailor instruction to individuals allows teachers more time to provide targeted attention to learners who are struggling or who are progressing more rapidly than their peers, rather than being forced to "teach to the middle."

When teachers can use technology to identify or modify existing resources more easily, teachers can then build stronger and deeper relationships with each learner and provide more resources for dealing with specific challenges. This can promote a greater sense of belonging among students by demonstrating that there are adults who care that they thrive.

There is one more important advantage to personalized learning that cannot be underestimated. We know that all learners have different abilities and experiences and will respond in unique ways to learning opportunities. An enormous challenge we face in our public education system is how to equitably recognize these differences and develop learning approaches that help all learners achieve. Creating tailored learning environments for each learner can increase equity by providing every learner what they need to be successful, regardless of race, ethnicity, first language, culture, socio-economic background, physical and mental abilities, or geography.

Conclusion

Like other educational technology terms, the definition of personalized learning is in danger of becoming diminished to the point where it becomes no more than marketing hype. We hope that the field can converge around a definition that accounts for the key aspects of a robust system discussed above, that respects learner agency and expands learning communities, and that is attuned to issues of equity. If personalized learning is to deliver on its promise, then those who implement these systems need to measure and optimized these impacts side-by-side with learning outcomes. Our approach to personalized learning needs to reflect both our aspirations and our values.

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What is Personalized Learning? - Personalizing the Learning Experience: Insights from Future Ready Schools - Medium

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In the past if you'd seen one definition of personalized learning, you'd seen... well... one definition of personalized learning. While this is a common occurrence in the early stages of disruptive innovation in any field, the lack of a consistent definition and language for a relatively complex idea has hampered both understanding and effective implementation.

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Article: 7 Skills Digital Kids Will Need in 2017 and Beyond

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Article: 7 Skills Digital Kids Will Need in 2017 and Beyond

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Graber, Diana. "7 Skills Digital Kids Will Need in 2017 and Beyond." Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 2 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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It's 2017. Do you know what your (digital) kids are up to?

Chances are they're glued to a new gadget they received over the holidays-an iPhone 7, Kindle, or electronic toy of some sort. You can expect, if they are like most kids surveyed last year, that in 2017 they'll spend 4 1/2 hours per day with their screens (for tweens); and nearly 7 hours per day (for teens), and this doesn't include time using devices for school or in school, which is increasing each year.

So will they spend this time safely and wisely? Not without these seven indispensable skills:

1) Knowing How to Unplug. According to a Common Sense Media study, parents are "moderately" or "extremely" worried about screen time. Over half (56%) indicate concern that their children may become addicted to technology. Ironically, parents are spending record time with media too...averaging more than 9 hours (9:22) per day. 82% of that time is devoted to personal screen media (not work).

So how can plugged-in parents help kids unplug? Well, we can start by putting down our own devices to demonstrate that it can actually be done. If that's too painful, we can use technology (i.e., parental control software) to manage our kids' screen time.

But the only long-term, fail-proof strategy involves kids wanting to unplug themselves. Try introducing them to new habits like "no tech" family meals or outdoor activities. Sound crazy? Well by their own accounts, teens say they feel "addicted" to their devices. Maybe this self-assessment is their way for asking for help.

2) Social Skills. In the well-known book, "All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten," author Robert Fulghum lists the skills one needs to live life well: share everything, play fair, don't be mean, etc. These are the same skills kids need online too! In fact, media experts agree the most essential online skills are social and behavioral skills.

The best way for kids to learn these skills? Through face-to-face interactions with live human beings. This is how we develop empathy, compassion, kindness-the capacities, when expressed online, that turn it into the safer, kinder environment adults dream about.

3) Reputation Management. According to experts like Social Assurity's Alan Katzman, colleges and employers are increasingly looking online to determine who to admit or hire. So not only do kids need to be mindful of what they post about themselves online, they also need to think about what their followers and friends (and parents!) post too. Sound like a lot of work? It is. But knowing how construct a positive digital reputation that can open doors to opportunities is a life skill every kid needs.

4) Maintaining Safe Relationships. Parents justifiably worry about the bad things that can happen when kids make and maintain relationships online-cyber bullying, predators, sexting and such. That's why it's important to have frank discussions about these issues, starting the moment they first go online. If you think your kids are learning about these issues in school, think again. According to those who work the front lines of cyber bullying, like Sameer Hinduja of the Cyberbullying Research Center,

Schools desperately need some clear, practical guidance from the federal government as to what is expected within a 21st century school in America to reduce online (and offline) harassment and promote peer respect, tolerance, and kindness. It's 2017, for crying out loud.

In the meantime, this important work falls on the shoulders of parents. So in addition to teaching (and modeling) safe screen use, why not advocate for in-school education too?

5) Knowing When To Keep It Private. Kids today are caught in a perfect storm when it comes to online privacy, or lack of it. Adolescence, as we know, is a time a self-discovery when teens seek attention and approval from peers. It's also when most get unfettered access to a whole world of peers (via their devices). This explains all those selfies, embarrassing photos and posts. Without adult role models to lead the way (or, sometimes, very poor ones), young people often share too much personal information online, especially when kids too young to know better use social media ( 7.5 million Facebook users are under 13). It's important for them to learn to weigh the benefits vs. the pitfalls of posting too much personal stuff online (see #3).

6) Identifying Fake News. The explosion of "fake news" in 2016 brought us one good thing: awareness of the importance of teaching kids how to be critical consumers of online information. Many call this " media literacy " and it is needs to be taught early and often, because kids with sharp critical thinking skills will be better media consumers and producers. They will be smarter citizens. We need to help them learn these skills now.

7) Ingenuity and Leadership. Finally, let's help kids bring their natural ingenuity, curiosity, and creativity to the online world. Why? Because adults have done a crappy job keeping the Internet civil and safe and I think kids can do this better. In fact I know they can. When I have tasked kids in the classroom to come up with ideas for apps and website that make the world "safer and kinder" they have dazzled me with their ideas - software that transforms mean comments into kind ones, algorithms that send two warnings to bullies before simply deleting their accounts, or apps that deliver meals to the homeless (via drone) every time a paying customer orders one.

Additionally, while the importance of teaching "Digital Citizenship" (the safe and responsible use of digital tools) received a lot of attention in 2016, I hope 2017 will be the year of "Digital Leadership." Educator George Couros says that being "citizens" is just average; we should be encouraging kids to be "digital leaders" who are,

Using the vast reach of technology (especially the use of social media) to improve the lives, well-being, and circumstances of others."

Now that's a New Year's resolution I can get excited about.

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7 Skills Digital Kids Will Need in 2017 and Beyond

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It's 2017. Do you know what your (digital) kids are up to? Chances are they're glued to a new gadget they received over the holidays-an iPhone 7, Kindle, or electronic toy of some sort.

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Video: Innovative Teaching and Learning: Lessons from High Tech High's Founding Principal

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Video: Innovative Teaching and Learning: Lessons from High Tech High's Founding Principal

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High Tech High's CEO Larry Rosenstock speaks about this high school's innovative model that combines project-based learning with technology. Published on Mar 6, 2012

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Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education

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Innovative Teaching and Learning: Lessons from High Tech High's Founding Principal

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High Tech High's CEO Larry Rosenstock speaks about this high school's innovative model that combines project-based learning with technology. Be sure to click "like" if you enjoyed this video!

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Article: What It Takes to Become an All Project-Based School

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Article: What It Takes to Become an All Project-Based School

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Schwartz, Katrina. "What It Takes to Become an All Project-Based School." MindShift. KQED Inc., 16 May 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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"From where we stand, public school districts are as capable of innovative schools as charter schools."

Here are a few of the statistics New Tech has gathered from their schools: students graduate at a rate six percent higher than the national average and enroll in college nine percent more than the average. They also persist in four-year universities at a 17 percent higher rate and 46 percent higher rate when it comes to two year colleges. Perhaps most importantly, they claim that students' higher order thinking skills between freshmen and senior years grow 75 percent more than a comparison group that did not attend a New Tech high school.

New Tech calls itself a school development organization and is a non-profit subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, another non-profit that acts as a foundation, education policy advocate and on-the-ground work through mergers with groups like New Tech, Strive and EdWorks.
GRAPPLING WITH THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
New Tech offers whole-school change to any school interested in contracting with them, including public schools. It has implemented the model in charter and private schools as well, but the majority of its clients are public schools. "From where we stand, public school districts are as capable of innovative schools as charter schools," said Lydia Dobyns, president of New Tech Network. But as everyone in education knows, every school and every district has different needs, and the organization's offerings are changed accordingly.

New Tech schools are entirely project-based and cross-disciplinary. Students take courses like Bio-literacy, which mesh subjects together, emphasizing that disciplines are not stand-alone endeavors. Technology is woven throughout the school day and at home seamlessly. Many New Tech schools have one-to-one programs and all schools in the network use a learning management system called Echo that tracks student progress, is open to teachers and students, and connects New Tech educators around the country.

Assessments are designed to measure different kinds of learning outcomes. Mike Reed, principal of Columbus Signature Academy in Indiana, said that only 60 percent of assessment is based on content. The other 40 percent is based on what he called "school-wide learning outcomes," things like written and oral proficiency, work ethic, presentation skills and the ability to give and take feedback. Students can see the project rubric and know where they need to improve their skills.

"Looking at school performance is really different from looking at student growth, which is really what we want to focus on," Dobyns said. That's why New Tech doesn't promise to increase school test scores - it sees that as a separate question, and one that they're not necessarily interested in.

The schools that have taken on this model don't seem to mind that test scores aren't the focus. "A big difference you'd see is student engagement," Reed said. "Students are working on authentic projects and problems." He gave an example of a cross curricular physics and environmental science class that studied the physics of power and electricity. "Our students learned those skills and then rewired houses that were destroyed in New Orleans' 9th Ward. They're going to remember that far longer than regurgitating a test or a lab."
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
New Tech works with schools individually, offering professional development as the school gets started. "One of the things we've learned and changed is that every implementation is now a custom designed implementation plan," Dobyns said.

New Tech sticks with a school for five years, spending the first year laying ground work, listening to what schools want and need and garnering teacher buy-in. They offer intensive trainings to help teachers retool skills to teach entirely-project based and cross-curricular classes. Each school is given a coach who visits throughout the school year, checks on lesson plans, suggests changes and helps troubleshoot problems. And New Tech focuses on nurturing the leadership capacity of principals so they can continue to innovate with teachers.
[RELATED READING: Are Teachers of Tomorrow Prepared to Use Innovative Tech?]
At Columbus Signature Academy, Reed and his staff discussed the professional culture they wanted to promote and decided they'd make decisions by consensus. "That changes everything in a school," Reed said. Those affected by a decision get equal say in making it, and that includes students. For example, teachers are in charge of the master schedule because it affects them most, but students can weigh in about how changes affect them too.

If gaining consensus is important in New Tech Schools, so is transparency. Teachers share and vet lessons with colleagues at the beginning and end of every project to learn from successes and mistakes. Teachers aren't penalized if something they try doesn't work out. They share their successes, experiments, and failures and everyone learns from the experience. That's the kind of collaborative learning schools expect from students and Dobyns thinks it's important that teachers experience and practice it too.
TRANSITION CHALLENGES
Opening or converting to a New Tech school can mean some growing pains.

"It's almost a month of de-programming," said Randy Hollenkamp, director of Bulldog Tech in San Jose, one of the few middle schools New Tech has begun to pilot. When kids enter his seventh grade they are so used to the traditional school system, they don't know how to work collaboratively on projects. "At first their grades go down just because it's projects. It's actually kind of harder because you have to be a self-learner." In traditional schools, kids are constantly being directed, so they don't have to think for themselves as much, Hollenkamp said.

"Every year, as you grow into it, it's difficult for the group of students who aren't a part of New Tech," said Jason Witzigreuter, principal of Adams Central in Monroe, Indiana. Adams Central is a unique school in the New Tech Network because it is a K-12 school under one roof, but only the high school uses New Tech's model. Witzigreuter calls his school a hybrid model and a learning experience. The school is three years into the experiment, which means the seniors are the only class without their own laptops and without some of the communication and presentation skills that the freshmen quickly pick up.

"Our kids at a lower grade are able to understand how to collaborate better and use those soft skills, or 21st century skills, better because they've been taught that through New Tech," Witzigreuter said. He tries to use the younger students' success to encourage seniors into demonstrating the same kinds of higher order thinking and maturity.
[RELATED READING: How Can Teachers Prepare Kids for a Connected World?]
From New Tech's perspective, one of the hardest things about working on a five-year timeline can be school leadership changes. And, like any part of the public school system, funding cuts can affect whether a district is able to continue to pay for the program.
COSTS
New Tech's model is not cheap. It costs about $100,000-$120,000 per year for each school. That hefty fee includes support, training, professional development, and access to the knowledge and experience of all the other schools in the network. Still, to pay for it, districts have done everything from pass school bonds, apply for state innovation grants, apply for private foundation grants and beg districts for the money. In addition to New Tech's service fees, schools have to pay for the technology that accompanies the program and often facility redesign to foster more collaborative "studio" spaces.

Though it's a big price tag, the principals interviewed at three New Tech schools thought the money was well spent. Success For All is another school development program that uses a "whole school" model at the elementary school level. They estimate that for 500 students, their program costs $120,000 in the first year and decreases to $50,000 in the second year, finally reaching $30,000 in the third year. High schools programs generally cost more than elementary programs, though.

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What It Takes to Become an All Project-Based School

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New Tech Network, which was founded 15 years ago, is taking its school-wide project-based model to national scale. The organization, which offers a paid program for schools to use its model, began with a flagship school in Napa and has grown to 120 schools in 18 states, most of which are public schools.

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Infographic: What Education Technology Could Look Like Over the Next Five Years

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Infographic: What Education Technology Could Look Like Over the Next Five Years

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Schwartz, Katrina. "What Education Technology Could Look Like Over the Next Five Years."MindShift. KQED Inc., 29 June 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2017. <https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/06/29/what-education-technology-could-look-like-over-the-next-five-years/>.

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Article: What a School District Designed for Computational Thinking Looks Like

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Article: What a School District Designed for Computational Thinking Looks Like

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Report, Chris Berdik The Hechinger. "What a School District Designed for Computational Thinking Looks Like." MindShift. KQED Inc., 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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South Fayette's four schools all sit on a single campus overlooking a rolling green expanse of farmland that will soon be gobbled up by housing developments. The population in this region around Pittsburgh is surging, thanks to a thriving medical and technology economy and a natural gas-fracking boom. South Fayette's high-performing schools make it attractive for newcomers with kids, and it's among the fastest-growing districts in Pennsylvania.

The South Fayette school district's transformation began on a rainy October afternoon in 2010 when Aileen Owens, the district's newly hired director of technology and innovation, got a call from Frank Kruth, a middle school science teacher. Kruth ran an after-school STEAM club for girls, and the rain had dashed their hopes of launching rockets. He needed a plan B. So he asked Owens if she could swing by and teach the girls Scratch, a "block-based" computer programming language in which students program computers by stacking color-coded digital blocks of plain English commands rather than keying in the precise syntax of a text-based coding language such as Java.

"I went in, and the girls were so enamored with coding that they asked me back the next week," Owens recalled. The girls quickly moved well beyond the tutorials and started experimenting and coding little animations related to topics they were studying in school.

The STEAM club success gave Owens and like-minded teachers such as Kruth, who is now the middle school STEAM coordinator, a model they would use to remake the entire district over the next five years. They started incubating coding, robotics and other computational project classes in after-school programs and summer clubs. Then they would show off the students' projects and enthusiasm to teachers, who would soon ask for help incorporating the technology into their classes.

"We started being invited into classrooms," said Owens. "We might go to a third-grade teacher or the middle school art teacher and say, 'What do you think about using Scratch?' Then we would go in and co-teach a class with them and help them fit it into their lesson plans."

Owen's first STEAM assistant, Melissa Unger, now teaches the elementary school STEAM lab, which is filled with bins of age-appropriate supplies-markers, clay, straws, motors, pipe cleaners, bottle caps, sensors, felt and wires. On multicolored posters, kids have translated lines of Scratch into English: "Start flag. Go forward five. Go right two. Wait two seconds. Spin around three times. Repeat."

Classroom teachers take kids through Unger's lab for one period, three days in a row, followed by six days off. To make a little extra room in the schedule, on lab days the teachers also dispense with the morning "seat time" of class announcements and discussion. And the STEAM projects mingle with their regular lesson plans. For instance, one class of second-graders recently learned how to use simple circuits to make a game in which the correct answer to a double-digit math problem would light up a little bulb.

"Last year, we did a digital storytelling project in here using stop-motion photography," Unger said. "It was spring, and the kids were learning about the life cycle of a butterfly in their regular classroom. So the teachers took that technology piece out of here and back to their classrooms, where students created animations of the life cycle."

In elementary school, students learn the foundations of computational thinking, such as collaborative problem-solving and trial and error. For example, Unger made sure the kids tested every circuit they made for their math game before moving on to the next one. If one didn't work, they needed to figure out why and fix it. That required persistence and good communication with fellow students, two of the "habits of mind" prominently displayed and reinforced in South Fayette classrooms as critical supports for successful computational problem-solving.

It's not just South Fayette's students who must master this type of self-directed, collaborative, project-based learning. Classroom teachers admit that it took some time to adjust to the new focus.

"At first, it scared me to death," said fourth-grade teacher Samantha Bozzer. "If you give them a challenge, and no hands shoot up with the answer, your first thought is, 'I must be a terrible teacher.' You have to get comfortable watching them struggle."

In her third year at South Fayette, Bozzer said she's still getting used to it: "There are times when they're just looking at me like, 'help!' And I want to help. But when I tell them to turn to each other, use prior knowledge, explore and work through it, that's when some of the best, deepest learning happens."

Three new 3-D printers hummed quietly in Anthony Mannarino's seventh-grade technology education class. A large display window allowed passersby in the hallway to watch the printer platforms pivot and gyrate as various student projects gradually took shape in orange plastic. Students have created everything from model planes to gears to more ergonomic handles for pots and pans, all designed on the computer and printed out here.

"Whatever you design, there's a lot of math," one student said. And there's plenty of trial and error. "I printed a case for my phone, and the first time, it was a couple millimeters off," the student explained. "So I had to fix it and print it again. You have to keep trying until you get the result that you want."

An after-school club of middle school girls assembled and programmed these printers with grant-purchased kits from the Ohio-based education technology company INVENTORCloud. According to Owens, a couple of girls from that group let slip that they couldn't wait for a printer malfunction so they could show off their technical chops and fix it.

Middle school in South Fayette starts the transition to specific technology skill courses, such as mobile app development. Also, a STEAM coordinator works with subject teachers to weave the technologies into their lesson plans. Students have made apps to help learn foreign languages. They have parlayed a science lesson on energy into the building of tiny, electrified, energy-efficient houses. They've used Scratch to animate their writings from English class and mixed music lessons with coding to build digital bands.

In Mannarino's classroom, the 3-D printer hum was soon drowned out by the excited chatter of kids taking their seats at computer workstations.

"Ok guys, let's settle down! Now, go ahead and open up App Inventor," Mannarino called out, referring to another block-based coding language, developed at MIT for making mobile apps. The class was finishing a tutorial begun the day before: how to build a simple app in which a button with a cat picture meowed when tapped.

"I want to go over a few little things that I saw some people were having trouble with," Mannarino said. He walked them through the steps for adding and subtracting components, such as sounds and buttons, and for changing the properties of those components. Within minutes, a chorus of meows filled the room.

The students' next app project was a "magic 8 ball" that generated answers to questions when somebody shook the phone. The app used a sensor hardwired into smartphones called an accelerometer, which detects physical movement. It's what triggers the display to shift from vertical to horizontal when a phone flips. After some initial instructions, Mannarino stepped away from his computer monitor's projection at the front of the room, and his students set to work on the app.

"In every class, I have a few students who go above and beyond, and go home to teach themselves and create their own apps that they bring into to show me," Mannarino said. He showed off a few student-created games on his tablet - one with a Pong-like bouncing ball and another in which a basket caught falling apples while avoiding falling bombs.

South Fayette teachers and administrators recruit such self-motivated students for more practical challenges in after-school and summer workshops. For instance, last year, Owen asked Parv Shrivastava, who was then in seventh grade and had taught himself Java and C++, to help a team of high school coders. The team was making an app that could use radio-frequency tags to keep track of students getting on or off school buses. This year, an after-school group is working on an app linked to moisture sensors in the school's outdoor "Discovery Garden" that will send alerts when the plants need water.

In Mannarino's next class, students used a Scratch-like code to program robots for a simulated search-and-rescue mission. The kids had three classes to get their robot through the floor plan of a building where the first room had a "fire" that the robot had to extinguish; the next room was cluttered with debris that the robot had to navigate; the third room had to be searched and signaled "all clear," and the fourth room had a box of "explosives" that the robot needed to pick up and carry to a safe area.

"In the first class, I told them to break it down into four smaller codes, because if they try to program everything at once, there's just going to be a ton of issues," Mannarino explained.

Admittedly, South Fayette is a relatively affluent district. Only about 12 percent of its students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, according to district administrators, compared to the state average of 40 percent, and it has a higher median household income than 85 percent of Pennsylvania districts, according to the most recent Census data. Computing devices and broadband Internet are abundant both inside and outside of school.

Still, the district's leaders insist that their model isn't just for wealthy schools. Since 2013, South Fayette has partnered on grants with less-advantaged districts to help their schools upgrade devices and jumpstart their own STEAM labs and after-school technology pilots. The districts include the inner city Manchester Academic Charter School in Pittsburgh and nearby Fort Cherry, where farms still dominate the landscape. South Fayette has hosted students from these neighboring schools for coding and robotics workshops, and its STEAM coordinators have given the schools classroom support and professional development.

According to Fort Cherry's curriculum director, Trisha Craig, before her district's partnerships with South Fayette began, their technology programs "were sporadic" rather than aligned. "We had good technology initiatives here," said Craig, "but we didn't have the K-12 comprehensive program, and that's what we really wanted."

Back in South Fayette, they aren't finished building. Plans for a major expansion of the high school include a "fab lab" filled with 3-D printers and other computer-guided fabrication machinery. Technology integration in the high school is similar to the middle school, but more advanced and more elective - students can take courses in technology entrepreneurship and human-centered design, as well as the usual Advanced Placement programming classes. Several of South Fayette's high school students have printed up business cards declaring themselves "computational thinking consultants," and they have competed and won a number of statewide and national STEM innovation challenges.

Last April, for example, a team of South Fayette high school coders presented their customizable flashcard application called MyEduDecks at an education technology workshop hosted by Microsoft in Seattle. Another South Fayette team won an award for engineering a new geriatric walker that deploys an extra stabilizer when helping someone get up from a chair and sounds an alarm when the walker is tipped beyond its center of gravity, among other features.

Asked if there are aspects of education in which computational thinking is extraneous, or if a school might risk losing something by focusing too much on computational learning, South Fayette superintendent Bille Rondinelli demurred.

"We are not out to create an army of coders; we want to create students who will be successful in the world," Rondinelli said. "It's not that we've veered away from traditional education. But we've built in a research and development space with these labs and STEAM coordinators that allows us to change and adapt as the world changes."

South Fayette's assistant superintendent, Michael Loughead, noted that the district's already impressive statewide assessment scores have increased in tandem with the computational-thinking initiatives. In 2015, South Fayette was number one in the Pittsburgh Business Times annual rankings of western Pennsylvania school districts, completing a steady climb from number 15 in 2007. "Some districts feel that the only way to raise test scores is to focus on the test," Loughead said. "But when we have engaged students who understand concepts deeply, we don't need to sacrifice one thing for the other."When pressed, a few high school students admitted to one or two classes in which technology or a computational project didn't seem to add much value. But the dominant sentiment from interviews with these students was that they wished they'd gotten in on the ground floor of the district's computational overhaul.In his elementary and middle school years, junior Nick Wilke, a member of the MyEduDecks team, considered coding to be "black magic." His computer, he said, "was this magic box that I played games on. Actually making my own games for it seemed unattainable, really."Indeed, the real value of South Fayette's initiative will only be evident when today's first-graders are high school seniors, said Brian Garlick, the high school industrial technology teacher. Last summer, Garlick agreed to lead a 3-D printing workshop for a group of fourth- through seventh-graders.

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What a School District Designed for Computational Thinking Looks Like

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South Fayette's four schools all sit on a single campus overlooking a rolling green expanse of farmland that will soon be gobbled up by housing developments. The population in this region around Pittsburgh is surging, thanks to a thriving medical and technology economy and a natural gas-fracking boom.

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Article: 5 Essential Effective Blended Learning Best Practices

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Article: 5 Essential Effective Blended Learning Best Practices

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Davis, Vicki. "5 Essential Effective Blended Learning Best Practices." Powerschool.com. PowerSchool, 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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Online and face-to-face spaces blend to create a today's classroom. Most schools have physical buildings. For purposes of this article, we'll call these "the bricks." Also, schools also have online spaces where students work and collaborate. We'll call these, "the clicks." When bricks and clicks combine into a powerful learning experience for students, we have an effective blended classroom.

In the final analysis, don't think that blending doesn't apply to your classroom. As an illustration, this summer at ISTE, I facilitated a panel of blended learning experts.

As they presented, it became clear: most classrooms are already blended classrooms, whether they realize it or not. For this reason, let's explore the essential elements of effective blended learning so we can all level up.

Blended Learning Tip #1: Use Videos to Supplement Face-to-Face Instruction

In flipped learning, students watch videos at home. Typically, these videos contain information that would be in a teacher's lecture. Then, in the classroom, students do activities they typically would do for homework.

Why I Use In-Flip Teaching.

The in-flip method is similar except students watch the videos a during class. In this technique, I take the software tutorials and "point and click" instructions into videos. At the present time, I prefer the in-flip method for several reasons:

Help when they need it. Students can get help from me whether they are watching videos or doing work. (Just like some kids don't listen in class, some will tune out videos too!)

Learning while watching tutorials. Students often pause software videos and work on the software. (I've found that for software, it is best to pause and learn at that moment.)

I become a better teacher. Students can give me feedback to improve the online classroom so other students won't have the same problem.

Video tutorials help students work at their own pace. They can back up or forward whatever I've shared. I post these tutorials on my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/coolcatteacher if you wish to see some of the tutorials.

Personalize Learning and Save Time.

This method of teaching is like I've given a copy of myself to every single student.

There's an old movie, "Click," with Adam Sandler. The character played by Adam Sandler was able to rewind and replay important scenes of his life. Now, my students can replay me - their teacher - any time it suits them.

It's a compelling method of learning. In addition, I can also go around the classroom and help everybody with what they're doing.

Select a Simple Video Creation Tool.

I have found that videos and items created for student use, should have my voice in them. I like to use Office Mix, to create these quick videos but have used several tools with good results:

Screen-cast-o-matic - This tool runs in a web browser. As a free tool, it is the one my students use. (PC, Mac)

Explain Everything - This tool is perfect for iPads. Math teachers make quick "explainer" videos about how to work math problems. This tool is perfect when you want to hand write in your video. (iPad)

Screenflow - Tony Vincent shared this tool with me. I use it to capture my iPhone and iPad and more. (Mac)

Office Mix for Powerpoint - Office Mix is a plugin that you add to PowerPoint 2013. This tool is the easiest video creation tool. I'm convinced any teacher can learn to make a quick video in minutes. (PC only)

My Simple Show - This tool makes a quick "explainer video" with nice graphics. All you need is a simple script, this easy, free tool does the rest. (Runs in a web browser.)

Blended Learning Tip #2: Select a Flexible Learning Management System

I could not teach without my learning management system any more than I could teach without my physical classroom. I need both of them to nurture and create a successful learning environment for my students. Understanding how to use them both successfully is part of being a great teacher, in my opinion.

Why I Chose an LMS.

A Learning Management System (LMS) is not required. However, several years ago I moved to an LMS for several reasons:

We use lots of apps and tools and needed one place for the links and assignments.

Students needed one place to turn in work.

We needed a simple system to assess student work including built-in rubrics.

College and virtual high schools use learning management systems. My students need to be ready.

We needed a streamlined place to hold videos and their accompanying essential questions.

Class discussion boards needed to be easier to find.

We just needed to make it all simple!

We assembled a team to evaluate a variety of websites. Haiku Learning was our highest-ranked LMS. Recently, PowerSchool purchased Haiku Learning and rebranded it PowerSchool Learning. Even better, the grade book was integrated with PowerSchool. Now, when I enter grades in my LMS, they go straight to my PowerTeacher grade book. After entering assignments, I just open PowerSchool and click "publish" so parents can see the grades. This saves me so much time!

Whatever LMS you select, look for one with many features. If you can save time with entry, great, but it isn't required. (I know of teachers who use PowerSchool Learning but have a different Gradebook system.)

Blended Learning Tip #3: Consistently Layout the Screen

Could you imagine a classroom where the inbox for student work moved every week? Would you do that to students?

I consistently put essential questions above each video so students can prepare to take notes. Also, I clearly mark assignments. Each year, I make small additions to make my online classroom easier to use.

In the first place, teachers who constantly change how students turn in online work are confusing their students. Secondly, I have found that a consistent layout of the screen lets students focus on the content. Finally, I teach students how to use the LMS in order to learn the content.

Tips on LMS Layout

Essential items in the layout of my online classroom include:

Essential questions - I list these for each video. Students make sure they look for answers to these questions as they watch videos. I have students use these to take notes in OneNote and submit a link to the notebook page to me when finished.

Videos - Videos have lesson numbers. I also use custom YouTube thumbnails for the videos so they are clearly labeled.

Assignments - Each assignment has a number. That way, students can easily find an assignment if they need to get work done. I also embed assignments on the page so students can see them and if they've submitted work.

Simple, repeated graphics - I have consistent graphics for Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 that I now use. This helps beginners learn to move through the assignment without getting confused.

Blended Learning Tip #4: Create 2-Way Communications with Your Students

Effective communication with students comes in several forms. Understandably, an important part of beginning a course is practicing successful LMS habits.

Give Feedback on Assignments.

Giving students feedback so they can improve is essential to learning. We want our students to understand their mistakes so they can correct them.

Currently, I give online feedback in our LMS several ways:

Annotation. If it is a Word, Excel, PDF, or PowerPoint files, I just click and type on the file. In the LMS, I click "return files" and students get them.

Rubrics. Build-in rubrics let me mark the rubrics. I print them as PDF's and give them back to students for re-work and feedback.

Messages. I send students messages to clarify instructions or let them know what they've done wrong. I can send messages on assignments or to a group of students.

Grades. Grades on the assignment go directly to the gradebook. Students can use the assignment number to look them up in the LMS. The assignment is also included in the gradebook.

How to Review Feedback.

Students often know how to turn in work but not how to improve the work they've already done. Feedback is not effective if students don't know how to read it, download it, correct it and return it. At the same time, you have to teach students this valuable skill. So, I teach students how to read their messages, how to look up assignments and review rubrics, and even how to ask questions before turning work back in. Communication must be two-way to work.
Assignment and Communication Notifications.
You also want to make sure that students understand how to notify themselves of important activity. While many more options are available, I recommend that students set up their cell phone to receive text notifications when:

work is handed back,

they receive a message in their inbox, and

when they successfully turn in an assignment.

These notifications help students stay "on top" of their work and prevent procrastination.
Grade Notifications.
Students also set up notifications inside our gradebook student information system (SIS.) The PowerSchool App also works with their Apple Watch or email. Students should set up notifications to come to them in the way that they will check. Whatever method they choose, students if students handle the grades promptly, we both remember and can teach.

5. Blended Learning Tip #5: Promote Student Professionalism

I'm the oldest daughter of a south-Georgia farmer. So, when school was out, my sisters and I worked on the farm. During school, however, my Dad told us that our profession was that of "student." Since being a student was our "job," he expected us to do it well.

Understandably, I teach my students the same thing. Here are a few ways I teach my students to be professional scholars:

IM Speak. In discussion forums, many students use IM speak. Sometimes they'll interact in 140 characters like they would on Twitter. Other times, they have no capitalization like they would on Snapchat. Interestingly, students also do this when communicating with me. IM Speak is not allowed.

Commenting. Also, students struggle to have discussion that is much past "good job" or "I like this." Students have to learn how to respond to other student work in meaningful ways. Many don't know how.

Following Instructions. Recently I had a student turn in random screeenshots because I asked for a screenshot. However, I asked for a screenshot of a specific item, not just a screenshot. I've found that students often don't pay attention to assignment requirements when they are online. Part of being a professional is learning how to turn in excellent work that meets or exceeds requirements.

Blended Learning Is Here to Stay

The biggest shift is helping students understand the online classroom is as important as the face-to-face one. It's easy to put the virtual aside and think the physical classroom is all there is. But, in today's interconnected world the bricks and the clicks both matter. Helping students succeed in our blended classroom is a high priority for me. Online learning is here to stay and every classroom is becoming blended.

Listen to the Blended Learning Webinar! I go into blended learning in more detail during the free blended learning webinar that I hosted on November 30, 2016 at 4:30 pm EST. Listen here.

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5 Essential Effective Blended Learning Best Practices - PowerSchool

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Online and face-to-face spaces blend to create a today's classroom. Most schools have physical buildings. For purposes of this article, we'll call these "the bricks." Also, schools also have online spaces where students work and collaborate. We'll call these, "the clicks." When bricks and clicks combine into a powerful learning experience for students, we have an effective blended classroom.

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Article: Why Personalized Learning Should Start in School Libraries

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Article: Why Personalized Learning Should Start in School Libraries

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Stansbury, Meris. "Why Personalized Learning Should Start in School Libraries." ESchool News. ESchoolMedia & ESchool News, 02 Feb. 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

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Why personalized learning should start in school libraries

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With personalization a growing initiative in schools, the library may not be the first thing educators think of as a resource. However, according to Michelle Luhtala, library department chair at Ne...